The sap had cleared the fog from my mind, it dulled the pain, sharpened my thoughts, but my body was still failing. The wound had begun to fester again. More pus oozed from the raw, inflamed flesh, and I winced at the sight. It looked worse than before. The infection had spread, dead flesh blanketing my chest, crawling toward my neck and heart.
I shouldn’t have survived this. Whatever Raithe had done, it hadn’t cured me, it had only delayed what was coming.
Raithe jerked back, his face twisted in something nightmarish. “Get up,” he ordered. “We need to go. Now.”
Fury surged in me. “No.”
“This won’t heal on its own, Odessa. There’s only one way to put an end to it.”
I met his eyes with a glare. “I have no idea why you feel this constant need to protect me, Raithe, but whatever story you’ve built about us, it’s all in your head. This talk about us belonging to each other, about some twisted connection, it’s delusion.”
“Odessa,” Raithe’s eyes darkened with warning as he said my name.
I rose, despite the pain. “Each time you’ve come to me, you’ve made it clear that no bargain could be made. That your power came with no cost, no obligation. And yet here you are, staking claim over me. Whether it was the first time, the second, or the third, all we’ve ever been were fleeting moments in each other’s lives. A means to an end. You’ve used me as much as I’ve used you, and there has never been anything more.”
“Don’t say another word,” his voice shook, low and dangerous.
“Don’t say another word?” I snapped, my voice rising. “I could’ve lived my entire life in Brier Len without ever knowing you. I could have stayed there. I never wanted this. So why did you come looking for me?”
“Do you hear yourself?” he scoffed. “You knew Torhiel would finally come for you. It was only a matter of time.”
“And still, I never asked for you.”
“You know that’s not true,” Raithe seethed. “You called for me every time. You screamed for Vengeance, and I came. You wanted retribution, and I gave you the power to wield it. Who else has done that for you? Tell me, Odessa. Who? No one has loved you the way I have.”
“That doesn’t mean I needed it or wanted it.”
“Then why did you reach for me?” Raithe demanded. “Why did you kiss me? Why do you keep calling for me, again and again?”
“I was sick! Fevered. My body was rotting from the inside. It meant nothing. And you know why I called for you, Raithe. It was not for love. You are a demigod of Vengeance, and I’ve only ever used you for that.”
Raithe’s golden eyes burned. “And you are a demigoddess of Wrath. How long have you run from that truth? You cling to your human life, you nurture your lesser half. And what has it brought you? You’ve ignored Torhiel’s call. You’ve denied your birthright. And now, you’ve run out of time.”
He stepped closer, voice furious, “So tell me, Odessa, how does it feel to be torn in two? To have your mind pulled between the divine and the mundane? Which will it be, will you die as a mortal or finally live as a god?”
I shook my head violently, refusing to hear the words spilling from Raithe’s mouth.
“No more running, Odessa. There is no world, no realm, where you and I exist apart. Vengeance cannot exist without Wrath, and the purest Wrath is born from a thirst for Vengeance. We are two halves of the same twisted whole.”
He lifted his hands, caressing my face. “You are mine, and I am yours.”
37
I pulled awayfrom Raithe’s touch, swiping an angry tear from my cheek. “I see now why the folk of this realm call you a devil.”
“I am a god,” he said.
“A demigod,” I corrected.
“And still, a god no less,” he replied.
I let out a hoarse, bitter laugh. “Vanity remains one of your more prominent traits.”
“And brutality, one of yours,” Raithe replied almost admiringly. “I’ve watched you through the years, my light. Waiting for you to come. I had to be sure you were safe. I never spoke a word of you. Not to anyone, not even to those who suspected you existed. I let you live the life you chose until Torhiel demanded your return.”
His voice held firm. “Your cries went unanswered by all but me. Maybe they were a song only I could hear, or a message only I was meant to understand. But I kept you safe, Odessa. Until you came back to me.”
“I’m not like you,” I said, shaking my head.
