My mind was split in two, just as my heart had been. Half of me was trying to convince the other that it wasn’t him who attacked me. That he had been under the influence of whatever darkness had taken him. That he was merely a puppet in a malevolent show we were all being forced to watch play out.
But then there was the other half. The one that screamed, why didn’t he try to fight harder against it? The realization that love wasn’t strong enough to battle back the darkness. That it didn’t conquer all as the storybooks had us believe.
A truth that was hidden under the shadow of fairytale lies.
My uncle’s jaw tightened.
“You can’t go near Riley. He’s dangerous, Alex,” he said, as if he himself had just experienced that danger first-hand.
But then again, I knew my uncle. I had no doubt that seeing the state I was in when Aster must have carried me back here was more than enough to warrant his fears. Fears I knew I would have to ease for my uncle’s sake.
“Yes, and right now, so am I,” I bit out, letting my anger coat every word. Then I felt my arm in his gentle grasp and my name whispered like a plea.
“Alex.”
Both of which were finally enough to get me to stop and take a breath.
“Have you ever felt as if you were born for something?” The question came out before I could hold it back. One that startled me as well as my uncle. I knew that when I turned to look athim, and the confusion in his eyes morphed to understanding in seconds.
“You feel as if you need to do this?”
I shook my head at his question and rephrased what it should have been.
“Iknowthat I need to do this.” I released a sigh and continued on, “I was the cause. The key to opening that damn Rift, and I don’t know why, but what if the cause can also be the solution? What if I started something I was always meant to finish?”
My uncle swallowed hard before nodding, telling me without words that he understood.
“You know the Minotaur won’t like it.”
“Yeah, well, he doesn’t have to like it… he just has to accept it,” I replied, prompting him to nod his head again just before I felt my hand being taken in his.
Feeling metal and plastic pressed into my palm, I looked down and saw a pair of car keys.
“It’s the black SUV parked outside. Riley is in Prison and in the same cell you broke him out of before. Go now and let me deal with Aster.”
I swallowed down the lump of emotion I felt rising before throwing my arms around him, ignoring the pain in my back and instead holding on tight.
“Thank you.”
His arms tensed around me, before they relaxed as the last of the fight left him, acceptance taking its place. After that, I walked away knowing what I had to do.
I made my way down to the ground floor of the Capitol building, where light illuminated the circular hall and the compass rose it featured. It did nothing to lighten my mood. The tension in me was fueled by everything that had happened since leaving Atlas at the Rift. But the uncertainty inside me was theworst. The things I didn’t know. Like if Atlas was okay and if he had made it through without trouble meeting him on the other side.
I didn’t care what Aster had said about Atlas being more than capable of dealing with whatever threat found him; I still worried about what would happen.
I pushed the solid wooden doors open, doing so slowly, thanks to my injury, and made my way down the granite steps. In fact, I made it all the way to the front of the building and into the car without incident.
Although I knew I had counted my chickens before they hatched by thinking I was in the clear. Something proven after I had just slid behind the driver’s seat, before jumping a mile in fright, thanks to the passenger door that was wrenched open before I could even put it into drive.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I cursed, something Aster responded to in a dry tone.
“Can’t fucking help you if this goes south.”
I rolled my eyes and started to say,
“If you’re here to try and talk me out of this, then you are wasting your?—”
“That darkness that’s inside him, it took hold of him as easily as a touch, Alex… because that’s all it takes, just a single touch of pure evil to corrupt your soul. There is no saving him,” Aster stated sternly, making me close my eyes and clench my fists around the steering wheel.
