He kissed her temple before slipping away.
She held onto his arm, not ready to give it back.
As they journeyed through the clearing and approached the others, Ash’s blubbering grew louder.
Acacius removed his arm from her neck, letting her continue toward the child.
Cassian and Finnian remained back at his side.
Theon was gone. She’d noticed him leaving earlier while Finnian prodded at her legs in his examination. She assumed the middle god had set off to do a sweep around the area, in search of any traces of Soren.
Naia held Ash to her side, consoling the crying child, and Ronin stood between them and Marina.
Her stomach capsized as she stopped before him. “I apologize.” She bowed her chin. “There was so much commotion at the compound. Your members were dying and Ash’s life was in danger, and I knew I could fight Soren off if I drew him out. He was distracting us all to make his move on Ash.”
Ronin was silent.
Marina lifted her head, desperate to break through his intense gaze. “Please, Ronin, I never would’ve acted so rashly if I hadn’t believed Ash’s life was at immediate risk. I know what I did jeopardized your trust in me?—”
“It’s not Aunt Marina’s fault!” Ash tore from Naia’s arms and ran up to stand between his father and Marina. Looking up at Ronin, he shook his head, his silver hair matted and stuck against his damp cheeks. “My–my blood, it–it—” he sniveled.
Naia rose to her feet, frowning. “Ashy darling, it’s not your fault.”
“It is!” he yelled, bringing both of his small, trembling hands up, blood-crusted and bright red from the cold. “I hate my blood! I don’t want to be made this way anymore!”
“Ash.” Ronin’s tense brow fell as he reached for him.
Ash recoiled, backing away. “Don’t touch me! I still have my blood on me!”
Marina had heard Naia mention ingesting a potion regularly to curb the reaction of his blood if it touched her. A potion created in the early days of her pregnancy to keep her alive.
Cassian, Finnian, and Theon probably consumed it as well, with as much time as they spent with Ash. Which meant, up until now, the thought of his blood killing another was foreign to him, and by the time he remembered it was a poison, it had been too late for Marina.
Tears bit at her eyes as she kneeled eye-level with him. “Ash.”
Ash hid his face in his hands and wailed, the heart-wrenching sounds shaking his shoulders. He was only a child. One that should never have to feel such guilt and pressure. They were all feelings that she could easily resonate with, buried under Mira’s scrutiny and expectations.
Unable to take another second of his crying, Marina grabbed him by the arms and wrenched him into a hug. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Ash.”
“But I killed you!” He crumbled in her hold, nuzzling his hand-covered face into her chest.
Naia rolled her trembling lips, tears flowing steadily down her face. Ronin pulled her into his side with a pool welling in his own eyes.
“I hate myself!” Ash cried harder.
Marina recalled weeping in her father’s embrace, moments before she would send him off to the Land of the Dead, repeating her apology like a prayer that would bring him back to life.
I don’t understand how you could forgive me.
Marina’s heart fractured as she cradled her nephew.
One day you will.
“It was an accident, and I forgive you.” A lump swelled in her throat, wishing she could siphon away his pain. “But I would die a hundred times over if it meant that you were safe, Ash. I am your protector.”
The title engraved into the fissures of her soul.
Resolution locked in her gut, warm and bright. A new purpose outside of herself. And suddenly, all the hurt she’d walked with was worth it, if it meant arriving at this place in her life.
