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Jussal cleared his throat, breaking it. “Welcome Thessa, just in time.” He waved her over. “Have a seat.”
Soren was a replica of his father, the only difference being a few strands of silver hair, the addition of facial hair, and lines around his eyes and mouth. They had the same sun-bronzed skin, obsidian eyes, and angular jawline. Even their mannerisms were similar: tense shoulders, slight furrow to their brows, and jaws that never seemed to stop working. She knew it took immortals five hundred years before showing their first signs of aging, which begged the question in her mind, how old was Soren?
As Thessa sat, Jussal said, “This is Silanthe Stenmeier.”
“Call me Sila, my mother was Silanthe,” Sila clarified, swiping her long wheat-colored hair behind her back.
Thessa managed a smile and took her seat, eyeing Jussal. “Thank you for having me. I’m truly sorry … about everything?—”
Jussal raised a hand to silence her. “What happened was a tragedy, but we’ll be with Maradine again.”
He was just like Soren. His eyes wore grief, yet there was seemingly no time for mourning.
Jussal continued, “Now’s the time to act. All we’ve worked for, will be lost otherwise. We’ll respect the fallen by defending our honor—our home. Just like the last time.”
Ignoring the cries of her empty stomach, she asked, “The last time? You mean the UnResting?”
He shook his head. “There’s a lotnottaught in primary school, and a lot that happened before the UnResting. This realm was built by the Blood Sacrifice of our fallen Supremes, that much is true, but they won’t dare mention who else was required to complete the energy exchange.”
“Who?” Thessa blurted the question.
“The Blood Sacrifice ofourSupreme.”
“What? There was a Shadow Supreme?”
“We call her theForgone One,” Sila added. “There’s a reason night falls in this realm, and it’s thanks to her sacrifice.”
Jussal went on, “After this world was forged, we really thought it was a sanctuary. Just as we were promised. Thousands of us had crossed over from the Mortal Realm, with all the other witches, desperate for escape. But our freedom didn’t last long. When the Supremes’ heirs stepped into power, everything changed.”
Thessa listened intently.
“The Elemental heir, General Valstrom, was threatened by our bloodline,” Jussal explained. “The power to smother—ablanket of death as they say—was never one carried orjudgedlightly. You’ve heard the folklore, I’m sure. She laid claim that shadow-magic had no place in the new world, preaching it would only cause harm. Her motives were effective enough to dethrone our Supreme and banish our bloodline from the world we helped create. Formally, after forging their Troika, the Supremes agreed to demote the line of shadow-wielders to demon status.”
Thessa didn’t understand. “Why would they do that?”
Soren chimed in. “To incite fear; to justify their claim.”
Sila tapped her pointed nail on the table between them. “The same type of fear the mortals instilled,” she added. “Fear which led to witches burning on stakes, I’ll remind you.”
Thessa remembered what the voice had said upon their visit.
What you see is not the darkness to fear.
Jussal cleared his throat. “But there’s more. Banishing our Supreme and redesignating our line caused an uproar. As you can imagine, we demanded a throne and respect. However, it turned out there was no room for negotiations, so General Valstrom gave the order for a mass execution instead.” He shook his head. “The few of us that survived the flames, fled.”
“So the UnResting was a retaliation.” Which was not at all how she’d learned it. She’d been taught that demons wanted to dominate the Immortal Realm, but it was the other way around.
“Yes. Except the UnResting took place a century after the realm was forged. That’s how long it took for us to rebuild and restrengthen our bloodline after so much loss.” He eyed Soren.
“But it wasn’t enough,” Thessa said, shifting her eyes between the younger and older versions of the same male.
“No, it was utter defeat,” Soren said grimly, “and history is set to repeat itself.”
“But the Hidden Grimoire of Eiliana could hold the answer that saves us all. The way it found you both. This was fated.” Jussal tapped the grimoire between them.
Sila twirled a black-tipped finger along the cover. “That is, if we can get it to cooperate, it seems to like Soren though.” She winked. Her turquoise eyes reminded Thessa of two gemstones.
Thessa asked, “Cooperate?”