“Which side did you fight for?”
“It wasn’t so much a side I fought for, as a person I fought with.” He pulled his shirt over his head. “I served with the Sephirii. Protected their commander.”
She paused while dressing to gape at him. Surely he was kidding.… “Jared? You protectedthatbastard?”
“No. Before him. His mother. Myone.” A tic started in his jaw as if he shared her anger for Jared’s behavior.
And when he spoke, she realized that he did, indeed, understand why she harbored so much hatred for the former Sephiroth warrior. “I was there when Jared turned on his army and led them to slaughter. Whatever you did to him while your mother held him for Artemis, I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, he deserved it. I know he thinks he had a noble reason for his actions, but I can’t forgive it. All I can say is that I’m glad his mother was dead at the time. It would have broken her heart to see him betray his oath.”
“You’re one of the few who feels that way.”
“Because I was there for it. I saw the carnage.” He fastened his pants. “There’s so much I hate the gods for.”
“Believe me, I resemble your pain.”
Falcyn moved to her side so that he could brush his fingers through her hair. “I will help your parents. Not because of what we did just now. But because I’m tired of watching the gods destroy lives for no reason.”
“Thank you.”
He inclined his head to her. “No problem. You just have to find a way to get us out of here so that I can get to them.”
“Well, that’s easier said than…” Medea paused in her sentence as a strange sensation went through her body. Like someone or something had squeezed her soul. It was the most peculiar thing.
A deep, dark ache set in. One that made her strangely depressed and exhausted.
“Medea?”
“I’m so tired, all of a sudden. Can barely keep my eyes open.” She sat down to finish dressing. “Just overwhelmed, I guess. There’s so much to do. I don’t even know where to start.” Her heart sank at the thought of what lay ahead for them. “What if we can’t get to them in time? What if it’s too late?”
“It’s not.”
“What if it is? What if we’re underestimating Kessar and Apollo? He’s a god, you know.… How can we hope to fight that?” She rubbed at her forehead as tears choked her.
Falcyn went cold as he saw a movement in the shadows to his left. Something wasn’t right and he had a bad, bad feeling that he knew what it was.
“Medea? Look at me.”
She did.
Cupping her chin in his hand, he studied her dark eyes. Her pupils were a bit dilated. She had a funny glaze over them as she continued to lament their situation.
Shit…
“Did you sit in a shadow?”
“What?” She frowned at him.
“Did one of the shadows get you? You’re whining, and that’s not the psychotic Daimon I know so well. I’m thinking you got hit by one of the SODs.”
Her eyes were filled with uncharacteristic despair. “How would I know? Oh, what does it matter? We’re doomed anyway. Even if we succeed, we’ll fail.”
Oh yeah, that had SOD all over it.
“Dee… stay with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Why bother? It’s all useless, anyway.”
Growling low in his throat, Falcyn tried to think of some way to get her back to normal.
