Would they ever make a name for it? Be able to truly confess their hearts and what lay in them to each other?
He respected her, but he would not live out the depths of his anguish again—spending centuries of his life alongside another who he loved in unbalanced reciprocation.
At the sound of his silence, she looked up at him, brow furrowed. “Acacius?”
Perhaps now is not the time.
With the stress of the Council meeting and dealing with the trickster, they could talk about it when it was all said and done.
They would figure this out.
Acacius encased his feelings and gave her a half-smile, lowering his hand from her face.
“Right,” he said. “I understand.”
29
BECAUSE OF YOU
Acacius
“Welcome back, Lord Acacius.”Solasta bowed her head, her spiked golden hairpiece fanning forward with the motion. The goddess’s dark curls spilled across the large jewel and over the satin blush of her dress.
Acacius took a seat in his magnetite throne as he acknowledged the High Goddess of Fate with a polite dip of his chin. She sat across the pearl stone table. “Thank you, Lady Solasta.”
His pulse fluttered in his throat, the unease of the meeting agitating his stomach. It was up to him to convince the Council to punish Soren and eliminate the threat against the child, all while Marina was in Hollow City, tangling with the High God herself.
She will be okay.
Focus on the task at hand.
Tropical greenery decorated the marble room. The Land of Entity’s heavenly glow poured through the windows. Cassiusalways used to complain of its radiance, and Acacius would agree quietly, careful not to magnetize Iliana’s wrath onto him.
His sister’s realm was vastly different from his and Cassius’s. The lingering stillness of it perturbed Acacius, like talons scraping down a sheet of tin.
His heart squeezed as he fidgeted with the hem of his blazer, forcing his eyes over to the Stygian throne, sleek, with sharp, carved edges.
Mavros sat with his hands joined in front of him on the table, his thick dreadlocks pulled up in a whorl behind his nape. He gave Acacius a friendly smile and a slight dip of the head.
Acacius returned it.
“It’s about time,” Iliana scolded. Her long, ivory hair was pulled back into a neat bun, making it easy to spot the tension in her jaws.
The muscles in Acacius’s shoulders clenched in response to her judgmental tone. “Forgive my past absences, Sister, but I am here now, aren’t I?” He forced himself to meet her golden gaze.
Iliana let out an unamusedhmph, crossing her legs in her rose quartz throne. “Do get on with why you’ve called this meeting.” She waved him on.
Suddenly, he regretted agreeing to call the meeting and face his sister like this. He already knew what she would say, and for the first time in his life, he was going to have to push back against her without Cassius on his side.
Acacius licked his lips, glancing at Naia to remind her of their agreement.
Keep your mouth shut.
The High Goddess of Eternity held herself in a rigid posture, rolling her lips.
She gave a subtle dip of her chin to convey she understood, the motion clinking the chained tassels of the butterfly hairpin in her silver hair.
Acacius resisted an eyeroll and pulled at the collar of his turtleneck shirt as he addressed the Council. “It’s been brought to my attention that the High God of Trickery and Mischief is framing his illusions as my Daemons, in Hollow City. As you can imagine, that is creating a rather bad reputation to my name.”
