Dominic’s chest heaved with a sigh. “I find it hard to believe that there are gods watching over us. Especially after all the shitty things that have happened to people like us. I mean, if they’re so powerful, why do they let such awful things happen? Why don’t they help people like us?”
People who are broken and have long since lost the light. People who have lost everything they ever cared about. People who have been fighting for a future they’re unsure of their entire lives.
“Perhaps the gods put us here for some sick, twisted game. Some form of entertainment to appease their boredom.” His expression was impassive as he threw all of his thoughts into the air between them, eyes distant. “It would make the most sense. To toy with us. Take away the things we love and see how much it takes before we break. Then beat us while we’re down to show how weak we are compared to them.”
“I don’t think—”
“They tookeverythingfrom me. And let me rot here with no sign of hope.”
There was a glossy sheen to his eyes, and she wondered if it was merely a trick of light.
A deep shuddering breath shook his body. “How can I believe in the gods when the gods don’t even believe in me?”
Although she didn’t agree with him, she was curious to see things from Dominic’s perspective. She’d never thought of it that way. Always assumed the gods had something greater in storefor her. That perhaps after she fulfilled their prophecy, she’d finally get to stop fighting. She’d finally be at peace and could live out her days however she pleased.
But despite the prophecy, Adara had been fighting Moira all her life, trying to prove that no one’s fate was written in the stars as the goddess had demanded.
She shook her head sadly. “I’ll never be able to answer those questions.” She lay back next to Dominic. Gazing up at the stars in the dead of night was becoming their thing. A safe space to let go of the thoughts that drowned them. Let those thoughts out into the night, where they disappeared into the shadows and no one could see how terrible they were.
“And I understand why you feel as if they have betrayed you. But my gods are the reason I have this gift.” A palm pressed to the center of her chest, the flame tattoo warming beneath her hand. “I refuse to believe it is all a lie.”
Dominic scoffed. “What’s the point in power if you’re not even using it for yourself? Just some lapdog for others to command.”
Adara knew his jab was directed toward the gods, but she could only think of the Shadow Empire. How they weaponized her, fueling her fire as she pretended to be weak. They quickly learned otherwise when she escaped.
“I’ll be a lapdog if it means I get to sink my teeth into my owner’s unsuspecting throat when I’m finished,” she said.
She couldn’t meet Dominic’s eyes as she sighed. Scanning the skies for the constellations that depicted the gods from Blemythia, Adara’s heart lurched. Sometimes, she wondered if Blemythia ever existed at all. If she’d made up the magical land she called home as a way to cope with losing everything. But the gods’ spirits were still in the stars, so her home was still here . . . somewhere. She would not stop until she found it. “My home is called Blemythia.Battlefield of the Gods, in the common tongue,” she whispered, not exactly sure why she told him.
A huffed laugh. “That explains a lot.”
“One of the five kingdoms is my home. Ignatius.”
“I thought you said the Goddess Adara didn’t want to rule so she made a tribe of Flamecarriers in the mountains.”
Adara nodded. “She did.” Her ancestor had never stepped into one of the five kingdoms. Instead, she lived her life out in peace in the mountains, training her children who received her gift of fire. “My father was born in the mountains, but Flamecarriers were being hunted by the new ruler who rose to power in Zenura. So when he was young, his family set out on a journey to Ignatius. They knew Ignatius would protect them, but my father’s family was slaughtered on the way.
“He escaped and made it to the kingdom, where he was welcomed with open arms by my mother. They fell in love, had a key trading ceremony, and found out they were soulmates, then had me and my twin brother.”
Dominic’s brows pulled together. “How’d you end up here, with no way to return home?”
“I fell through a portal,” Adara said. “And when I woke and asked around Lykrios, not a single soul had ever heard of Blemythia. But I know it’s out there.” Adara’s heart pounded in her ears. “It is why I need the Realm Fracturer.”
A strong, calloused hand brushed over hers. “Wewillforge the Realm Fracturer,” Dominic promised. “Wewillget you home.”
At the complete raw emotion in his voice, the way his eyes came back to life, she almost sobbed with joy at his words.
The glide of his fingers across her cheek made her breath hitch. Despite herself, Adara closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. The droning of ocean waves filled the silence until she gave Dominic a playful smile and said, “You know, I think I’m beginning to tolerate you.” She had to admit, Dominic was not the monster everyone had made him out to be.
He smiled and huffed a laugh. “Careful, love. You wouldn’t want to give up your key, now would you?”
She rolled her eyes and shoved him as she stood up. “Tolerance doesn’t mean love. It means I no longer have the overwhelming urge to hurl you off a cliff every time I see you.”
Dominic tipped his head back and laughed, and gods,it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. “In that case, I’m beginning to tolerate you too, love.” He reached for the bottle of rum she’d been drinking. Then, as if thinking better of it, retracted his hand, his lips twisting in disgust. His attention flitted back to her. “I’ve learned all about you and your gods and your home tonight. Now you ask me something.”
A crease formed between her brows, shocked that he would so openly offer his secrets. “Have you ever kissed someone?” She didn’t know why those words tumbled from her lips. Perhaps it was a result of the pleasant buzz addling her mind.
Dominic narrowed his eyes on her and snorted. “I’m the Thief of Hearts, love, making people love me is what I do. And I’ve been alive for lifetimes. You think I haven’t kissed someone?”
