I am going to murder that lying bastard.
It was another vow that soaked straight down into her pith.
He’d fooled her, pretended to be her friend for so achingly long. And worst of all, she trusted him enough to be near Ash.
Savage images of her nephew, bleeding out, the life in his eyes running cold, all by Soren’s doing, plagued her mind.
Her heart sank.
What the fuck was I thinking?
Her attention jumped to Naia, remorse hot in her cheeks.
Her sister still gaped at Theon, mouth parted.
“I am so sorry.” Marina looked between Ronin and Naia, her chin quivering. Desperation consumed her tone, afraid they believed she was in on whatever plans Soren had. “I didn’t know who he truly was. I only wanted to protect Ash, and Soren was an old friend. I trusted him, and with that, I put Ash’s life at risk. Gods, I am so fucking sorry.”
The room and everyone in it blurred. A lump swelled in her throat, and before she could catch it, a forceful sob escaped her.
“Please believe that I had no ulterior motives.” She blurted out the words through a heavy breath, the walls of her chest pulling taut. “I don’t want you to lose faith in me despite all the awful things I have done. I am trying, Naia, so damn hard to make up for the past. Please—please—don’t think any less of me. I swear on my title, Naia, that I had no idea Soren was a High God.”
She dropped her head, too ashamed by the horrid sounds of her own crying to face anyone. The elixir’s effects still swam inher veins, and no amount of resisting won against the demand to share her sincere feelings.
In a way, though, it was cathartic to unearth her emotions when she so easily folded them away.
“Rina.” Acacius’s tender voice cut through the static of her sniveling. She could feel the soft nudge of his boot against her own.
But she couldn’t look at him either. Not in this state, so pathetic and disgusted with herself. He’d stood down and sat through Ronin’s briars and a truth serum, all for her.
She didn’t deserve his loyalty, or the second chance from Naia and Ronin.
Naia crouched at Marina’s knees, wiping her drenched cheeks with her thumbs. “I do not think any less of you, Sister. I know you were only trying to do what was best for Ash, and I imagine you are just as shocked and hurt by this revelation as we are, considering Soren is your friend.”
She hunched over as loud, blubbering cries shook out of her. The ache pulled like knots in her heart.
She squeezed her eyes shut—furious at Soren for his deception, at herself for trusting him. The ever long companion known as grief embraced her yet again, leaving her to mourn a friend.
“We must work together to see Father’s vow through.” Naia gently pushed Marina’s hair over her shoulder, rubbed her arm with gentle squeezes. She caught every new droplet streaming down Marina’s cheeks with a swipe of her finger. “It is no longer your burden to bear alone, Marina.”
It ismyreason to live, though.
My way for atonement.
Marina inhaled a short breath, exhausted from her own weeping.
Is it, though?
As if to find a way to quench her doubt, she finally allowed herself to look over at Acacius. She could feel the swollen skin around her eyes. Streams of crusted tears ran down her chin and the arch of her neck. She probably looked a mess, but she didn’t care.
He watched her with his mouth pulled into a frown, but his gilded eyes pooled with a softness reserved only for her.
For some reason, she remembered the day of Evander’s punishment, when they first spoke, and how his eyes had mesmerized her then. Like stars that had lived up in the sky since night’s creation, those always burned the brightest. They held the most light.
Even back then, his presence captivated her. In her hopelessness, his words reminded her of the power she wielded. Through her fear, his wicked charm hadexcitedher. That day with him had stuck with her, and she often used what he’d told her as inspiration to keep going.
And in the midst of being his enemy, she’d come to look forward to her entanglements with the High God. A secret anticipation that had bloomed into a desire for his presence in her life.
Was Father’s vow truly her only reason to carry on?
