“I care about, Atlas,” I admitted, the words breaking free before fear could stop them. “About Theïkós.”
Theron tilted his head, studying me.
“You care for a kingdom you have never ruled,” he said. “Why?”
“Because I care about what happens to its king,” I confessed, and the atmosphere changed instantly.
“Ah,” Theron said, a smile tugging his lips.
“Now we are getting somewhere.” Then his tone hardened, losing its indulgence. “But care is an imprecise word. Now try again, and this time coat your words in truth.”
I swallowed hard, my throat tightening painfully, but I did not look away.
“I love him,” I said. “And yes, I want to help his kingdom. But I am also here because I don’t want him to die.” The silence that followed seemed to last forever. “And I don’t want him to kill his brother,” I continued, my voice steady, his silence urging me to carry on. “To destroy himself over a lie. To make a choice he was manipulated into making, and forced to live with that pain for the rest of his life or die by the hand of its maker.”
Theron watched me for a long moment, and for once, he looked almost sincere.
“I see,” he said at last, and there was no mockery in his voice now.
“A noble cause indeed.” His gaze flicked briefly toward Aster before settling back on me like a weight bearing down on my shoulders, before he then clicked his fingers. My leather belt appeared in his hand, my weapons still attached, and I had to stop myself from ripping it from his grasp. As if he knew what I was thinking, he lifted it higher as he freed the lightning dagger from its sheath. The blade didn’t respond to him as it did with me, but the look in his eyes made it clear he knew the history of the weapon.
“And I guess you’ll need this to help you achieve this noble cause?” he murmured, sliding his finger down the edge of the blade until blood dripped from it. “Beautiful craftsmanship, and to hold the lightning of a Cyclopes… rare indeed.”
My stomach turned as I watched him play with the dagger, hoping that his touch or his blood wouldn’t activate the lightning. Unable to take it anymore, I stepped forward, myvoice sharp with urgency. “We need that dagger to defeat the one responsible.”
Theron’s eyes flicked back to mine, and a faint, amused smile curved his lips. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” I insisted, “So I’ll need that back.” I clenched my fists.
He raised an eyebrow, tilting the dagger slightly, as if checking its quality. “You will have this back… when I am ready to give it to you.”
He returned the dagger to its sheath with surprising care before clicking his fingers again. It disappeared in front of my eyes, and my stomach dropped.
He granted me a smile that wasn’t exactly cruel but wasn’t friendly either. “Where were we? Oh yes… love. So tell me, what of Atlas, does he love you in return?”
The question struck deeper than I expected, lodging painfully in my chest. I opened my mouth, then faltered.
“Well?” Theron pushed.
But in the end, it wasn’t me who answered… it was Aster.
“Yes,” he stated firmly, stepping forward. “The king loves her.”
Theron’s brows lifted, but he didn’t look surprised.
“I see,” he said slowly, a faint smile touching his mouth. “Well. That certainly does change things.”
I caught the look on Aster’s face then, the things he wasn’t saying, but it was not the moment to address them.
Theron’s attention returned to me, completely focused. And I knew, with absolute certainty, that honesty had been the correct choice. Because whatever this was leading toward, I had just crossed a line that could not be uncrossed.
“How so?” I asked.
His grin was unnerving, especially when he said, “Because I am no longer about to make a deal with a mortal girl well outof her depth but instead, I am about to enter into an eternal bargain with…”
“…A Future Queen”
The moment he said the word queen, my body betrayed me.
