Guide me, blessed Saudra.
The prayer rose up on instinct.
But a moment later, Andras’s power speared into her, diving deep into her well andwrenching, and suddenly Aya was alight with a white-hot agony that no god would allow.
She screamed, her body trying to curl in on itself, but the guards held her still, even as her chest jerked with the pain Andras inflicted. His power scraped against hers, tangled with it and yanked, and gods, she had never felt suffering like this.
It was in her bones.
In her blood.
In hersoul.
It was a ripping of her very self, a severing that brought bile to the back of her throat and ringing to her ears as she screamed, and screamed, and screamed.
She would not survive this.
She would not survive this.
She would not survive this.
Please, Saudra, do not let me survive this.
She did not know how much time had passed before Andras stepped away and she collapsed to the floor, the guards finally loosening their hold as her vision blurred. She was crying, her body trembling violently.
Her last thought before she slid into the darkness of unconsciousness was that she was still alive. And that, perhaps, was the worst betrayal from her goddess of all.
11
She has been through enough.
The thought was a steady refrain in Will’s mind as he stared at the fire while Liam recounted the details of what had been reported in Sitya, and how those reports had ignited an angry mob in the streets of Tala.
She has been through enough.
Aya was stronger than anyone he knew. But after her mother, and Tova…
Even the strongest of people could only take so much. Even the strongest of people eventually broke.
“What does Hyacinth have to say about these rumors?” Will asked as he rubbed at the hinge of his jaw, sore from his clenching.
Liam sighed. “As I said, Hyacinth is desperate to keep the city from descending into hysteria. I doubt she will argue against the news coming out of Sitya.”
“So I’ve kidnapped Aya because I’m partnering with Kakos, but she’s also the Dark Saint and is willingly aiding their cause?”
It made little sense. Though hysteria often had that effect. Will had seen it spread through a crowd faster than fire, and it had been far more destructive than any flame.
“Hyacinth had yet to address the rumors about Aya when I left,” Liam continued. “But I expect some will say you forced her hand, or were responsible for her corruption.”
“A fool’s lie,” Will scoffed. “Gianna had a Diaforaté in her clutches that managed to turn over half of the Dyminara! Even Hyacinth cannot be so disillusioned as to believe—”
“The people are terrified—”
“And so theymurderan innocent man?!” Will all but shouted as his anger crested. He chucked his sword across the cave, the blade clanging as it skidded across the rocks. Azul growled and leveled him with an unimpressed look, but Will was too furious to care.
“They point a finger wherever they can find a target, and they forgo reason entirely!”
“The gods are angry,” Liam began to say, but Will flung out a vicious finger to stop him.
