“Really?” I leaned forward. “You forgive me?”
“There's nothing to forgive. You were helping me.” He looked back at Agwusi. “It's so much easier now. I can breathe. I don't panic every time I look at her.”
“You panicked?”
“I didn't know what to do to save her.” Ty looked at me. “Or myself. I knew we were heading toward catastrophe, but love stopped me from acting against her.”
“Ty, I'm still sorry.” I reached for his hand. “Let me give you a blessing so that love will—”
“No.” He pulled his hand back. “I will find love on my own, Vervain.”
I nodded and leaned back. “Okay, if you change your mind, let me know. I blessed your father, and look how happy he is.”
Ty frowned. “Yes, but I can't think about love right now. Not after her.” He nodded at Agwusi. “Do you think that's what she really looks like?”
“I don't know. But human belief influences Gods. Doesn't that mean none of them look as they did originally? I know the face Odin wears isn't the one he was born with. Re certainly wasn't born golden.”
Ty chuckled.
Then Agwusi sucked in a breath and sat up, making us both flinch.
Ty and I turned to look at her. She didn't struggle or scream. Agwusi silently took in the situation, looking from us to the chains and back. “Well, that answers that question.”
“What question?” Ty narrowed his eyes at her.
“Whether I can trust you.” Then she blinked. “You're different. Do you love me?”
Without hesitation, Ty said, “No.”
Agwusi jerked back as if he'd slapped her. “I see.” She looked at me. “This is your doing?”
I nodded. “Yes, I'm sorry. My magic shouldn’t be used like that, but I was desperate to save Ty.”
“SaveTy,” she murmured. “Interesting perspective.”
Ty looked at me. I shrugged.
“I shouldn't have veered,” Agwusi murmured.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“God gave me a task, and falling in love was not a part of it.” She sighed, but then straightened her shoulders and lifted her head. “I will always love you, Ty.” She frowned and looked at me. “Unless your sister takes my love from me too.”
“Do you want me to?”
“No,” Agwusi whispered. “What I feel for him is real and mine. I prefer to keep it.”
I nodded as I realized I now had another thing to hold over her head. Yes, it was mercenary of me, but this was about saving the realms. “It's done, Agwusi. Help us dismantle the machine.”
“Why do you want to dismantle it? Now that I've got the cloak, I can replace the mirror, and the machine will run as it should without you.”
“The machine is unnecessary,” I said. “It's already caused trouble in the Human Realm. People have turned into diseases, the weather is wonky, and even shapeshifting is dangerous.”
“It only malfunctioned because you removed the mirror and left.” Agwusi rolled her eyes. “This isn't just a god replacement. It's correcting what's broken. Yes, the machine took time to adjust, and it damaged a few souls, but that is nothing compared to what the Gods have done to souls. The claiming process is inadequate at best. Gods mistreat souls. Fate has also suffered, strained to the breaking point—which you know personally. In fact, I believe your broken fate, or lack thereof, is why the machine stabilizes around you.”
“Why do you believe that?”
“You are the only living being not bound to a fixed outcome. The machine cannot overwrite you, so it must stabilize around you.
