In a few weeks, I’ll be mortified that I even, for a second, thought about Theo Westwood.
Sienna
Every day hereis a punishment; one more day that I miss everyone. But this is my reality now, and although I will never be the queen Helios wants me to be, I haven’t sat around wallowing in self-pity. I have been here for months with time to spare, and I’ve spent it learning how to control my power and turn it into something deadly.
I might not be on Earth to help them, but I plan to do what I can from here. Helios is powerful, and despite tricking me, he did honour his promise, and Dad is alive and happy. He showed me a snippet of Dad a few days after I got here. It’s the only thing that has given me a little peace.
And I know he has also given more to the Solaris Bloodline than many other gods have done, asking for nothing but to be remembered in return.
For the last few days, I’ve felt restless, unable to sleep, tossing and turning in sheets that feel heavy despite being weightless. I sense his powerful presence behind me and turn to look at him. He reigns in his aura when he’s around me, so I can at least look at him for a little longer than before.
He steps closer, and I turn away; I am his wife only bytitle. He was the only one who gave his consent on our wedding day. During that ceremony, I refused to even speak one word.
“I have news for you, my fiery queen,”he begins.
“I’m not interested,” I counter.
He chuckles, with that same mirthless laugh that is laced with power and something terrifyingly dominating.“I think you would be. Do you know who has stepped into my kingdom?”
I stiffen. What is he going on about? “Who?” I ask.
“The Deimos King and his brothers.”
The words crash through the air, and for a moment, time stands still.
My pulse skips; my throat tightens. Jayce.My Jayce.
Stop it.
I close my eyes, trying to steady the storm clawing at my chest. He’s here. He’s really here. And he’s put himself in danger because of me.
“Why?” I manage to ask, my voice a whisper, barely keeping the panic from breaking through.
Helios doesn’t look at me right away. The light around him flares and dims, pulsing with his anger. “He has demanded a duel,”he says finally, his tone sharp enough to cut.“I imagine he wants you back.”
My stomach twists. “Decline it,” I say before I can stop myself. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
He turns to me, eyes gleaming like molten gold.“I havehonour, my fiery queen. I will accept. But when he loses, his price will be great. Be it one or five, they cannot defeat me.”
“Yet you lost to Andronikos,” I whisper, my words trembling, but steady enough to sting.
The air tightens. The heat between us surges, pressing down on my skin like fire. He moves, and in an instant, his hand grips my arm, forcing me to face him. The sunlight bends around us, his power simmering beneath the surface of his skin.
“I have given you everything,”he growls.“Respect. Power. Worship. And still, in every moment you think of him.”
My heart is hammering, but I don’t flinch. “Because I am not yours,” I answer quietly. “You can cage me in gold, drown me in luxury, but you will never have what I won’t give. When you walk into that duel, it’s him I’ll be cheering for. Not you.”
His jaw flexes, his fury a living thing.“I am your husband and your King,”he says, each word echoing like thunder.“You belong to me. Remember that.”
A bitter smile curls at my lips. “But this heart does not.”
The light around him flares, blindingly bright, the chamber trembling with his rage.“You came here to protect him, and I honoured that,”he spits.“But now he comes for me. That mercy ends here. I will kill him, and when I do, I will offer you his head. Let’s see what you can do.”
I lift my chin, my magic pulsing beneath my skin. “He won’t die,” I promise, my voice breaking but fierce. “But if he does, then I swear on the sun itself, I will die with him.”
Silence falls. The air burns with our auras searing andheavy. His eyes, blazing liquid gold, search mine for something, but all he finds is defiance. I am not the same girl he brought to this world.
And for the first time, I see a slight change in his eyes.
