Page 25

SILIA

I sit back on my hands and take in the secrets Odious reveals to me.

He told me everything about him and Diana, how they began writing letters to each other, and even about how they fell in love.

Despite death still lingering in the air of the jail cell, I smile at Odious. “Thank you for protecting my sister.”

Odious simply lowers his head into a nod of acceptance.

“Silia, there is something else you need to know. It’s about Lars,” Diana speaks up, and my stomach drops. There really cannot be more, right?

“Do you know who the God is that blessed him?” Odious chimes in, and I silently shake my head.

“He is blessed by Zothos.”

Zothos, the scorned lover of Hecate . I know nothing of him other than the small excerpt I’d read in the journal Vex gave me.

“Why does that matter?” I wearily ask, as the pit in my stomach grows.

“Zothos is the God of Deception and Tricks.” Odious bows his head once again as Diana gives me an apologetic look. “He can manipulate the emotions and memories of others.”

My whole world comes to a screeching halt as the last word leaves her lips. No, no. Words cannot form on my tongue as I go over every interaction I’ve ever had with him. The way I forgot about the journal, how he always pushes his emotions on me, all the nights we spent together…

“Silia…has he ever manipulated you in any way?” Diana reaches her hand out to grab mine, and on instinct, I pull away.

“I—I don’t know.” Should I tell them about the journal? Should I tell them how much I desperately love a man who has done nothing but lie to me?

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but Lars was working with Erebus. Lars is the one who kidnapped me.” All sound whooshes from my ears as a high-pitched ringing mutes the truth coming from Diana’s mouth.

He lied. He’s a liar.

My earlier thoughts swirl in my mind as I replay the night we’d shared in the library. He was using me. He convinced me on the way here that he had found the journal and was giving it back, and words that did not feel like my own had escaped my lips in response. He had told me that Diana was safe. He’d pretended to be shocked when we found out she had been taken.

He manipulated my mind and memories.

He lied.

Liar.

Liar.

Liar! “Oh, Gods.” I can’t stop the tears that pour from my eyes. I don’t know at what point I end up in Diana’s arms, but she’s now holding me tight to her chest. My panic only intensifies as I lie there.

“I’m so sorry, Silia.” Sobs break loose from me as Diana runs her hand up and down my back.

The entire past year has been a lie. Everything. Even Rein and my sister kept their secrets from me.

I can’t be here anymore. I need to go. The cell feels like it’s shrinking, and my lungs squeeze tight as if they’re collapsing in on themselves. I’m going to be sick.

I pull myself away from Diana and stumble to my feet. “I will not tell anyone about this, but I need to go. Please.” The plea leaves my mouth with a whimper.

Thankfully, Diana and Odious nod in understanding. I give one last glance to Rein’s lifeless body and then bolt out of the cell door.

I’d snuck out this evening to rescue Rein. I had no idea my entire world would be flipped upside down in the process.

As I stumble through the hallways, it gets harder and harder to see through the tears streaming down my face. I grip the walls for guidance as I try to find the way to my room, bumping into every table and sculpture in my path.

My head cannot stop spinning, and I’m beginning to see triple of everything. Lars is behind this. He’s behind everything! And what a fucking idiot I am for falling right into his trap. Every kiss, every touch, every laugh was a lie. Everything was fabricated from the start.

After what feels like an eternity, I finally find my door and fling it open. I stumble through the threshold and slam the door shut, sinking against it to the floor, and sob into my hands.

Nothing is making sense, and now Rein is dead. Why am I even here? What is Erebus planning?

Why did the Fates subject me to this heartbreak?

“Silia?” The voice of the last person I want to see echoes through my room. I slowly lift my head from my hands and pull out the dagger strapped to my thigh.

“ You .” That one word is coated with a promise of death, drenched in the sorrows of someone who has only ever been lied to.

“I’m sorry I came in here. I just wanted to see how you were after dinner.” Lars’s voice may intend to console me, but it only ignites the rage burning in my chest.

I rise to my feet and throw my hand out. A stream of green flames flies across the room, incinerating my bed into nothing but a pile of ash. Lars ducks out of the way just in time, and it misses him by a foot. My pulse drums loudly in my ears, egging me on to burn him to cinders.

He raises his hands in defense and slowly walks over to me. “Little Flame, I can’t know what’s wrong unless you tell me.”

“Now you want to talk? What is it you want to talk about, Lars ?” He takes one final step before he freezes. He’d be smart not to test me right now.

“Where is the journal?” I’ve been too stupid to realize it never actually went missing or was taken by animals. I can feel that he has it.

Lars reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the object I’ve been driving myself crazy over. I knew it. I knew he had it.

He wiped my fucking memory.

“Why did you do it?” I take a step towards him, and he backs up.

He drops the journal to the floor and raises his hand back in the air. “Little Flame, I don’t know what—"

“Why did you wipe my memory? I know everything, Lars. I know who you are, I know who Zothos is, and I know you kidnapped Diana.”

Lars stiffens and lowers his hands. “Silia, I can explain everything. That’s why I came here tonight.”

“No. I’m sick and fucking tired of people trying to explain things to me.” Rein had said the same thing to Diana just under an hour ago. How many damn secrets can a group of people have?

“It’s true. I did kidnap Diana,”

Another stream of green flame bursts from my fingertips, incinerating the desk in the far-right corner.

“Erebus has been extorting me for years. He told me if I don’t do what he says, he’ll kill my mother.”

I stop in my tracks and scoff. His sorry excuses don’t change the fact that he went through with it.

Deep down, I don’t want to hurt him. But he lied to me.

“All you’ve ever done is lie, and you really expect me to believe you now?” I toss my dagger to the floor and throw my hands up in the air.

“You know what, I’m done. I’m done with this fucking palace and all its secrets. I’m done trying to figure out what’s a lie and what isn’t, and I’m especially done with you—”

“I love you.” Lars interrupts me with his confession.

Silence.

One heartbeat, two. Three painfully slow heartbeats pass before I can register what he said to me. That same scent I smelled earlier, lavender and the night sky, appears once again.

Love , he was showing me he loved me earlier.

“ I love you ,” he sends through the eather.

Tears that had since dried begin to resurface. He loves me.

I love you too , I want to say back. But my mind wins the battle against my heart in this moment as my own voice echoes through my head.

Liar, Liar.

“Liar!” I scream back in the eather.

Lars rushes to me and reaches for my hands. “Silia, I am not lying. There are many things I have kept hidden from you, but my love is not one of them. I cannot breathe when you’re apart from me. My soul screams in agony to be connected with yours. I know I’ve kept you in the dark about many things, but believe me when I say nothing in the entire fucking world means more to me than you.”

My lip quivers as his confession stabs me painfully deep in the chest.

“No…”

“Yes, Little Flame. I know you feel it. That pull we have toward one another, it's real. Tell me, please. Tell me what I can do to make this better, and I’ll do it. I’ll slay the Fates themselves, just please…”

Lars drops to his knees in front of me, releasing my hands as his voice cracks with painful sobs. His hands slide down my waist, then my thighs before he pulls out a dagger from his belt and holds it out for me.

“Take my brand. Take it if that is what you wish. My gift means nothing to me if it brings you nothing but disgust. Carve it out, Silia.” His pleading eyes sparkle in the candlelight, and I can feel myself wanting to give in to him.

I shake my head and stagger back. His face drains of any emotion as I ball my fists and raise my chin high. I know I’ll regret these next words before they even leave my trembling lips, but for both of our sakes, it needs to be said.

“I. Do. Not. Love. You.”

“Silia, please.”

“I don’t care what ridiculous tale the Fates want to spin,” I scream at the top of my lungs. My anger burns hotter and hotter with each word. But as angry as I am at him, I cannot make my body physically hurt him. It’s as if I’m being restrained by my own heart.

“You are nothing to me, just a body that kept my bed warm. Our time together was nothing more than a fleeting few weeks of lust.”

We begin the dance once again as I take one step towards him, and he stumbles up, then takes two steps back. As I speak these words, I know that they do not ring true. But I need him to leave before I do something awful, something unforgivable.

If I carve the brand out of his back, I’m no better than the brothers I swore to kill.

“You don’t mean that,” Lars retorts, inching closer to the far wall of the room. I meet his pace and corner him. Tears slowly spill from the corners of his eyes as his back slams into the wall.

“Oh, but I do. Want to read my emotions and find out?” I mask my true feelings and throw up a shield to my mind, one he cannot penetrate.

“Come tomorrow night, Diana and I will be gone, and if you try to stop us, I will see to it myself that your mother is dead. Erebus be damned,” I grit through my teeth as I stare up at him.

He searches my eyes for any truth behind the threat. But unlike him, I am not lying. I do love him, but I love my sister more.

“Get out.” Too much blood has already been shed tonight. I don’t think I can bear seeing Lars meet the same fate Rein did.

“I will prove it to you, Silia,” His golden cloud enters my subconscious and pleads for entry into my mind. “Just please don’t shut me out.”

“Get. Out.” My patience is growing ever so thin.

Lars lightly caresses my face with his hand, and I do not fight him.

Emotions of shame and longing begin to seep into my veins. I do not fight those either.

I do nothing but watch him as he silently backs away from me and walks out of my door, shattering my heart into a million unsalvageable pieces.

As soon as the door shuts, I suck in a deep breath, rush to the journal and rip it open—fuck the stupid lock. The book immediately flips to the page I’ve read before, and those same words appear:

When Hecate was at the age of nineteen, she encountered Zothos at a meeting of their parents. It is rumored they fell in love at first sight and began their whirlwind romance. Zothos promised a beautiful life away from the Temple where they could live the rest of their days in peace and without responsibilities. Hecate instantly accepted this promise, as her parents’ strict plans for her to become a Goddess on The Council did not align with her own wishes.

Zothos, blessed with many gifts, convinced Hecate to run away with him. While packing for this new life, Hecate’s parents discovered her plan and tried to put an end to it. Her father, Laldir, threatened Hecate with a lifetime in the underworld if she did not stay and accept her duties as a Goddess.

Late into the evening, Hecate heard a tapping noise come from her window. When she opened the curtains, she saw Zothos crouched and motioning her to open the window. She did as he asked, and he slipped inside.

Hecate confessed to Zothos that her parents knew of their plan and what they had threatened to do with her. Zothos wiped her tears and assured her no harm would come, and they could still start their new life.

Zothos offered her a glass of wine to ease her growing worry, and decided to stay the night in case her parents tried to act on their threat.

Hecate abruptly awoke to —"

Suddenly, more words appear as I finish the excerpt where I left off the last time.

“ Zothos carrying her down a set of stairs. Zothos, the God of Tricks, had lied to Hecate and did not wish to start a life with her. He had instead manipulated her into lowering her guard so he could drug her, then kidnap her to take her to Eus, the God of Hel.

Before he delivered Hecate to Eus, he kissed her one last time and wiped her memory completely of him, for he could not live with Hecate knowing what he did to her.

Deep down, he loved her more than he loved himself.”

A thought clicks in my mind.

Were Lars and I destined to relive the same fate?