So he was the one who’d freed Reev. My dad. It felt strange just to think the words. My dad.
Reev’s hand tightened around my wrist. He had been meant to find me, to take me in. For some reason, knowing we had been designed to meet didn’t bother me. Reev was meant to be mine.
“To hide me,” I said.
“Ninu was one of the few Infinite with the power to, in a way, counter my own. You probably realized that in your duel.”
I nodded. It had been unbelievably frustrating.
“The blood of descendants who are not our own will not kill us, but it does weaken us. Ninu had managed to injure me in the battle before I could force him and his sentinels from my palace. But as long as I refused to reverse the River for him, I knew he would target you in my place. I couldn’t protect you.”
He had left me on a riverbank with no memory of who I was, no family, and no understanding of what I could do. The truth finally sank in. Ninu had been right. It was cruel. Letting me think I was human—the only thing I knew how to be because I sure as drek didn’t remember being one of them—it was too cruel.
I stared at Kronos. I could tell he wasn’t fully recovered. Irra wore the emaciated look like a perfectly fitted tunic, but Kronos looked ill. His cheeks were too wan, and his shoulders sagged beneath his cloak, as if all of time weighted them down. He might have been handsome if he’d been healthy.
“Why didn’t you tell me who I am from the start?” I asked Kalla.
She glanced dispassionately at Ninu’s body. “Ninu had few mahjo to begin with, but after Rebirth, he was especially careful not to leave any human descendants. Since we were incapable of killing him directly, we needed someone with the strength of a full-blooded Infinite—someone who could wield my scythe and not be drawn into death by it—but, at the same time, not bound by our laws. Kronos trapped you in a mortal body. You can age and sicken and die. It was a perfect disguise from Ninu, but we didn’t realize until recently that it was also the perfect weapon. And since Ninu wanted you, it gave you access to him.”
She hadn’t answered my question. They could have just told me all this. Instead, they had manipulated my every move—and now, recalling my conversations with Irra, I had little doubt that he’d been in on this as well. I had been as much a puppet as Ninu’s human decoy.
If they had told me what they wanted, would I have helped them? I didn’t hate my life. It wasn’t ideal, but I had Reev, a place to sleep, and enough food to keep me going. What did I care about their stupid immortal feud? I had always wanted to know where my powers came from, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be like them.
I didn’t want to be Infinite.
“Exactly,” Kronos said, watching me closely. “You wouldn’t have done as asked. Your humanity, your emotional attachments hinder you.”
I scowled. “You can read minds, too?”
“Your eyes give away your thoughts.”
“You wanted Reev dead,” Avan cut in.
I turned to him. He looked steadier, and he’d been watching the conversation unfold with an increasingly dark expression.
Reev added, “They probably expected Ninu to have me rebranded already. And once you killed him, there would have been nothing left—no emotional attachments—holding you to your human life. They would have used that to persuade you to join them.”
They thought Reev’s death would convince me to let my humanity go. They obviously knew nothing about humans.
From the moment Kalla attacked me in that alley, I had performed according to their script. But, because of Ninu, it hadn’t gone exactly as planned. Instead of just creating a mental block, Ninu could’ve begun Reev’s rebranding at any time, and he hadn’t. For that, I was grateful. They were out of their immortal minds if they thought I would want anything to do with them now.
“You screwed up,” I told them. “I’ll never be one of you.”
“I never intended for you to remain human, Kai,” Kronos said. “Ninu may be gone, but Reev’s life remains tenuous.”
I didn’t care that he was my dad. Reev was my family. I moved to put myself in front of both Reev and Avan, and silenced their objections with a glare. “If you hurt him, I swear I’ll never leave this body. I’ll find a way to bind myself permanently.”
“That’s impossible,” Kalla said.
“Then why do you look so nervous? I’d rather die human than be like you.”
A weak laugh pierced the room. It resonated in my chest. On the floor, Ninu stirred. It was the slightest movement, the most he could manage.
“Yes,” he whispered. “Yes. That’s the right choice. Don’t ever let them take that from you.”
I felt nothing but hatred for Ninu, but I understood his words.
Kalla’s perfect lips pursed. Even annoyed, she looked unnaturally beautiful. I should have realized it at the Raging Bull.
“Persistent, aren’t you?” she said.
“Well, it is rather difficult to pass on with our dear friend Time weaving his interference,” Ninu replied. “I stand now at the gates to your realm, Sister.”
I could sense all the tones and tremors in his voice. It conjured images of glass shrines that reflected the sunlight and billows of greasy smoke that reminded me of the market outside Zora Hall. Then he dragged in a shallow, wet breath, and the images dispersed.
“There are no more restrictions holding you. Help me along, won’t you, Sister?”
Kalla’s scythe appeared in a flash of light. She approached Ninu, weapon raised. I looked away, focusing instead on the stubble on Avan’s jaw. It was a good look on him.
Kalla’s blade whined as it sliced the air. I flinched.
CHAPTER 39
A SHIVER OF power went through me, and I knew Ninu was gone. I held my breath in the silence that followed.
Kronos sighed heavily. “I’m not unreasonable, Kai. I do not wish for you to hate me. You are, after all, my daughter.”
I didn’t tell him that, after all their scheming, our relationship didn’t mean much. Especially since I couldn’t remember any of it. I wanted to ask if I would get my memory back, but the answer scared me. If I remembered, if I knew where I’d come from, would it change who I was now?
For the first time, the answers were within my grasp, and I couldn’t reach for them. Not without betraying Reev and Avan.
“I may not be fully recovered, but I don’t have need of my heir yet,” Kronos continued.
“You’re immortal,” I pointed out. “When will you ever have need of me?”
His eyes were cool. “I am the oldest of the Infinite, and immortality has grown weary. When I have decided it is time to rest, I will call on you. For now, you may remain with the humans. But the next time I come, you will be prepared to join me. And I will not be so charitable.”
I didn’t reply. He would just remind me of the control he had over the lives of anyone I cared about.
“For now,” he said, apparently taking my silence for agreement, “make your peace with your human bonds.”
I leaned back against Avan’s chest and felt his fingers against my waist.
Kronos gave me a steady look. I had the impression I amused him, but I couldn’t be sure.
“I have one final task before I leave,” Kronos added.
I waited for him to elaborate. He looked over my shoulder. I twisted around to stare at Avan.