I hadn’t asked a question, nor did he respond. If possible, his brow raised even higher, and the piercing green of his gaze demanded its due. His finger brushed across the gemstone around his neck. “If showing you my greatest fear was good enough for the necklace, I’m not sure we need to discuss it further.”
This time, I took his hand when he offered it. “I don’t understand.” My words were quiet, like I wasn’t sure I wanted him to hear them.
He heard, of course. His laugh was soft, a lover’s caress against my skin. His pull on my hand brought our bodies flush as I rose from the ground, our faces close enough to share breaths. “Yes, you do, Chaos. It’s just inconvenient information, so you choose to ignore it.”
My spine straightened, and I stepped back. That he would call me on it shouldn’t surprise me at this point in our relationship.
We aren’t in a relationship,I reminded myself. And it was directly because of Hart’s actions—his lies.
The way his gaze searched my features told me heunderstood my internal struggle all too well. “I’m here for you.” He repeated words he’d said to me when I asked about his motives, back when I thought he was one of the Blessed and a member of the Feared.
“So you’ve said. But what about you?”
He grazed a finger over the gem that flashed blue on the pendant, and I understood what he’d tried to tell me in the cave. “You were willing to die the first time. That was your path to exit the game. But Eris … wouldn’t let you.”
I still wasn’t sure I understood that particular piece of information.
He nodded. “That made my one goal finding my curse—finding the one to free me from what I couldn’t free myself from.” He paused, raking his gaze over me as if searching for some signal. Whatever it was, I must not have provided it, because he turned on his heel and called over his shoulder, “We might as well find Charon and give him an update. We won’t be able to return to the city tonight.”
“Hart?”
He turned fully, and I didn’t think I could ask the question I wanted to.
Promise me you mean it this time. Promise me there will be no more lies.
His gaze was patient, but something in my face must have given me away. His brow lowered, expression shifting from careful intrigue to something damn near disappointment. His lips flattened into a thin line. “Let’s go, Chaos. We’ve got a hike ahead of us.”
With no way to force the words free, I followed.
“She did what?!”Charon’s growl was more intimidating than ever when I told him about Eris’s visit to the cavern.
“She didn’t hurt us. She … warned us.” I’d pondered that the rest of our hike to where Charon hid in the mountains.
The valley beyond the first mountain pass had taken hours to get to, but as soon as Charon’s black scales were in sight, I felt better. Trees still dotted the landscape, and striking mountain peaks surrounded us on all sides. The scenery was so different from the foothills, where the Oldwood met the gentle slope of the Pinnacle Range. Being here, I could pretend for a moment that the horrors on the other side of the ridge didn’t exist.
The thought reminded me of Charon’s words in Ciril.You allow yourself to ignore it.His words had the ring of truth, but they ignored one fact. I could never truly ignore my fate, because Hart was still shackled to my side. His every emotion evoked my senses. If there was one thing I wanted to ignore, it was his words earlier in the forest.It’s inconvenient information, so you choose to ignore it.
Avoidance had covered all manner of sins in my childhood. But Rodric’s crimes against humans in Kavios demanded recognition. His actions required change, and I had seized the power to shape it.
Or, at least, I had the power now. Eris had been so cryptic when I asked her about Kavios. At least our initial plan still stood. If we broke the curse, I could use adamas to challenge Rodric.
Even if the thought made my skin crawl.
Hart grumbled behind me. I didn’t hear what he said.
“What was that, Cursed?”The bite in Charon’s words toward Hart had softened since we’d returned to Kavios. I hated to think it had to do with how much Charon relied on Hart to protect me when I entered the city.
One of us needed to remember why we didn’t trust Hart. My list was failing fast.
“Shewarnedus of something Themis herself already warned us of.” His use of air quotes around the word warned told me everything I needed to know about his opinion. He rubbed his hand across his brow. “Sending the assassin to Ciril seemed to indicate her position on the matter. She is determined to motivate me.”
And Hart, despite his trespasses against both Charon and me, seemed unwilling to be motivated by a goddess.
“That just means we have to move faster?—”
Charon snorted … or, at least, that’s what I thought the smoke spilling from his nostrils was. “And how are you doing with your side of the trials, Champion? From what you’ve said, the Cursed seems to be pulling his weight for once.”
My anger stirred with the comment. The glance he shared with Hart was enough to raise my metaphorical hackles. “I’m doing what I can. I tried.”
