For some reason she didn’t fully understand, her stomach sank a little. Which made no sense. She didn’t want a child any more than he did, and even if shedid,now was most definitely not the time.
He smiled sadly at her expression and brushed the tip of his nose to hers. “I know…I know. It’s okay. That feeling you have right now, it’s just the embers. Life trying to make life.”
“How did you know?” she whispered, shutting her eyes.
He kissed her again, slower this time, and the world grew hazy. “Because I feel it too,oíche rionn. Fates know I’ll always wonder what that would be like with you, Nya, and not just because of the embers.”
Her breath hitched. He had not called her that in so long.
She ignored the tears when they started to run down her cheeks at the unfairness of it all. Neither of them had asked to be what they were; choice didn’t exist when you inherited power like theirs, not in Arcadia.
But, for once in her life, shechose. She let herself fall fully into Morgen and finally gave herself permission to love him without stipulations or shame.
“Nya, I?—”
“Shh.” She kissed him softly, moving her hips in a slow, steady rhythm. “I know.”
He lifted her abruptly, panting against her mouth as he came.
She didn’t say it, and she didn’t let him either, even though she knew they both felt it clearly within every touch, saw it reflected in each other’s eyes. Telling him felt too final, and she had a terrible feeling stirring somewhere in the back of her mind that itwouldbe.
So, they pretended it wasn’t important. They didn’t talk about their shared soul, or the impending doom of the void, or the fact that Sol was assuredly breathing down their necks. She just held him until he was asleep and began to silently recite her histories and poems and lists.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Sometimes, I feel like a chess piece. My friends and I have suffered so much because of the fickle nature of gods greater than us. It pains me to watch the child from my dreams take on such a burden. And to my surprise, I feel sorrow for Kronos’ son too. He cares for her, more than he will likely ever have the luxury of telling her. They have inherited the inevitable doom of their bloodlines.
—Ana, Priestess to the Usurper King, Arcadia
Juno was staring at her,had been the entire morning. Nya tried to ignore her, but her ability to put on a brave face and pretend she was fine had been worn down from her lack of any sleep the last two nights.
Yesterday, nothing had happened, not unless she could count watching Nyx walking on tiptoes around her parents or Heles landing in the garden with an entire goat hanging from her mouth.
Morgen and Carus were growing more and more on edge as the hours passed. They had left behind an entire army in the Gods’ Aisle, but each time they brought it up to any of theprincipals, the gods insisted it was unsafe to leave the house. The one saving grace was that Nya was pretty sure Carus and her father were cooking up a plan to allow for some kind of escape. She didn’t ask them or Morgen about it, though. She was simply too tired, and as the day dragged on, it began to feel like she hadn’t slept in twoweeks.
It was why, as Juno stared at her with narrowed eyes for the third time that hour, she snapped harshly, “What?” at the Goddess of Fate.
Juno’s brow rose, but to her credit, all she said was, “Something is wearing thin in you, Nya. I am simply trying to figure out what it is.”
From the corner table where he stood behind Carus and her father, Morgen turned his head, and Nya was grateful he was the one who asked in a sharp voice, “Care to explain what you mean, Juno?” because she didn’t have the energy.
Juno tilted her head. “I’m surprised you don’t know what I’m referring to.”
He took a single step closer to her, eyes narrowed. “I’m surprised it tookyouthis long to notice.”
Juno fell silent but went back to staring, this time at him. Thanatos and Nyx spoke in low tones by the hearth, Anabeth making stilted conversation with her mother, and Nya just…couldn’t. The air was so tense, she felt like she hadn’t been able to breathe in days. No one was speaking their minds, and everyone was whispering.
She stood abruptly. “I need some air.” Her parents exchanged a look, and she added, “Alone. It’s fine; I’ll just be in the garden.”
She could feel the weight of Morgen’s gaze as she headed for the hallway and the back door, but he didn’t follow her.
Nya.
She took a sharp breath, hurrying into the garden.I’ll be back. I just need a second?—
Her steps faltered when she rounded the corner of the house and saw a man standing there, observing the flowerbed she, Carus, and Morgen had crashed into a few days ago. He had dark skin and light hair just shy of golden. Though he was tall, he was more willowy than broad, and his eyes…
