Page 76 of Somnium

He let out another long sigh as he ran a hand down his face, his expression strained.

“It’s … complicated.”

Cadi’s jaw tensed, his continued deflections only serving to feed her growing irritation. “Then uncomplicate it.”

His face drew tight, and his eyes never left hers as he reached for her with a steady hand. “What do you know about the gods?”

23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CADI

Cadi blinked, certain she had misheard. Her eyes darted to where Sera now sat on the couch beside Seth, hoping to gauge whether or not they should be concerned for Elias’s mental status, but only found her watching the two of them expectantly. Almost like she, too, was interested in hearing Cadi’s answer.

Clearly, she was the only person in the living room who found Elias’s question odd, so for the sake of moving things forward, she decided it was best to play along. “As much as the next person, but I don’t understand what that has to do with this?”

“Only everything,” Kai scoffed from the kitchen.

Cadi leveled him with a cutting glare. Just because he was rich didn’t mean he needed to be rude. He held her stare as he raised his glass to take another sip, completely unbothered by her admonishment.

Turning back to Elias, the tiny flutter in her chest returned at the sight of the protective look on his face as he stared over her shoulder at Kai. Normally she would find it kind of hot that his instinct was to defend her, especially against someone as powerful as Kai Aurelian. But right now, she needed him to focus. She cleared her throat and gave his hand a gentle squeeze to bring his attention back to her.

Elias pulled in a breath, almost like he was a battle to reign himself back in before his eyes finally shifted to her and softened.

“What Kai meant to say,” he continued, his eyes flicking back to the kitchen, “is that those sigils are directly tied to the gods and why they have been disappearing.”

Cadi studied his expression for any hint that this was the start of another story meant to distract her, but from what she could tell, he was dead serious. Yet, nothing about what he had just said made any sense to her.

“Okay, you lost me. Those sigils are used for Somnium. How does harvested dream energy make gods disappear?”

“You’re right,” Elias confirmed, “they are used for Somnium, but not to extract dream energy; that’s just the story that those in positions of power within the Order spin to cover the real purpose of the ritual, which is to extract divine power.”

He paused, watching her closely to check that she was following—or to make sure she wasn’t about to bolt. Cadi gave him a small nod, urging him to continue.

“Every one of those sigils once belonged to a god. They were used to sustain them through worship, but they’ve been corrupted, altered to siphon their power instead. Power that Oneirios has been hoarding for years.”

Cadi’s stomach twisted. The words crashed into her, but they landed jumbled and wrong in her mind. She had been in the temple, seen the sigils glowing, felt their power wash over her, which meant …

“So, does that mean that everyone who goes to Somnium, that I …” Her voice trailed off, unable to breathe life into the question she was asking. She needed to know the truth, but she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to.

In quiet confirmation, Elias nodded. “They’re being used to power those sigils.”

Cadi’s grip on his hand tightened, anchoring her while the floor seemed to sway beneath her. Every time she’d stood on that stone and let the drums and smoke drag her down into a euphoric trance, the Order had been using her. A shudder raced through her as the violation seeped into her skin, her soul.

“Did I … are they …” The thought alone was enough to pull bile into her throat. “Dead?”

Elias took her face in his hands, forcing her eyes to meet his. “No, love. And you did nothing wrong. You had no way of knowing what Oneirios is up to.”

She nodded, swallowing hard. “What’s happening to them?”

“They’re very weak, practically mortal in most cases. Forced to blend in with everyone else for their own protection.”

“A weak god is a vulnerable god,” Sera added, flicking a piece of invisible lint from her knee. Cadi turned to look at her, her movements slow and arduous. Her thoughts weren’t much better as she stared at her friend, trying to align what she knew about Sera—good, magnetic, amazing Sera—with what she had just learned about the Order. About Somnium.

“How can you still go?” she asked, her voice hollow. “Knowing what they are, what they’re making you do?”

Sera’s eyes lifted, locking with Cadi’s. Something flashed in their hazel depths, gone before Cadi could begin to comprehend it, covered beneath the soft smile Sera pushed across her lips.