Page 21 of Gods of Prey (Parallel Prey #3)

Sienna

I materialize in Jovie’s living room at precisely three in the morning, the witching hour when the veil between realms thins.

She’s waiting for me, perched on the edge of the couch with a mug of cold coffee between her hands.

Dark circles shadow her eyes, but there’s a spark of determination there that reminds me why my brother fell for her.

“You’re sure about this?” I ask, floating closer.

Jovie nods, setting down her mug. “He’s one of them. Gregory Voss. He was at the periphery of the explosion, but managed to escape with minor burns. He’s been hiding in Seattle for months.”

“And Bash doesn’t know?”

“No.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve been tracking him myself. He’s been so focused on the higher members, he hasn’t noticed this one.”

I followed her for days to find answers, the way Revel and I agreed I would. But following quickly turned into materializing, and then we got to talking.

She’s confused and in over her head. She senses something is off about Bash, but has no clue how deep this goes.

And while I love to push Revel’s buttons and remain one step ahead of him, I think he’s right about this.

Telling either of them the truth before they’re ready to hear it could end in disaster.

Based on their behavior surrounding him, they’re both clearly not thinking straight anymore.

So I’ve danced around the subject and gotten as much intel as possible.

To my surprise, Jovie has been quite busy trying to set the God of Life up on another killing spree.

“He thinks I don’t notice how badly he wants to kill again,” she adds into her lap.

I smile despite myself. Mortals constantly surprise me with their resourcefulness. “And you want to...what? Gift-wrap him for my brother?”

“Something like that.” Jovie stands, moving to the kitchen counter where a laptop displays a grainy security image of a middle-aged man entering a parking garage.

“Bash has been on his best behavior here. I know he wants to start retaliating again, but with most of the order gone and these guys not really making any waves, he doesn’t feel justified. ”

“But you do...” It’s meant as a question, though it comes out as more of a statement.

What is it about mortals that makes them think they can play gods? It seems that every being possesses some deep intrinsic need to destroy itself.

Jovie shakes her head. “I’m not super comfortable with all of it yet, but I know he’s been fighting the urges since we left New York. Killing is a part of who he is.” She glances toward me, then settles her gaze back on her coffee. “You remember that, right?”

I wish I could tell her how wrong she is about us.

Killing is the exact opposite of who my brother is.

The very idea of the God of Life ripping souls away from their body before their time makes me tremble.

Guiding souls out of the realm is my job.

I’m the fearsome reaper chasing after loved ones.

Sebastian is supposed to be sending them in with pure love and care.

It’s partially my fault. I’ve sat complacent for too long, watching him exact revenge for my mortal death with a giddy smile on my face because finally someone gave a shit.

Finally all the trauma that I’m forced to endure with every mortal death was being acknowledged.

What difference did it make to end a few mortals contracts early?

I’d return to Umbraeth and forge the numbers myself.

To hell with the Divine Council and their ridiculous punishments. I’m done bowing down to them.

But ever the overachiever, Bash took it a step too far.

As he always does. He didn’t just ignore mortal contacts, he altered entire timelines.

He grabbed hold of the shackles on his back and tore them to shreds.

Myelle, the Fates, me—none of us were considered as he fused together timelines to get Jovie back.

She’s still wearing my necklace that holds a small shred of Death magic.

I can feel my divinity calling for me every time I’m near, and I think she senses it as well.

I just don’t know how to bring it up without uncovering too much.

If the wrong people discover what I’ve done, it won’t matter how quickly we bring Sebastian back or how important the balance is.

The Divine Council will destroy me on the spot for my crimes.

The worst part is that Sebastian is the only one I can talk to about it, and he’s lost all sense of who he is.

I wish I could open his eyes and demand answers for why he thought it was okay to hand over such a powerful token to a mortal woman.

I don’t care how much he loves her. We agreed that in the lives where I die first, it’s his job to hide the locket until we return.

I can’t tell Revel about it, either. Not when he has no concept of what it is to love and be loved.

I’m already pushing him past his limits with this compromise.

If he discovers any more about how reckless we were, he’ll drag us both before the Divine Council and let them destroy us on the spot simply to rid himself of the headache.

And my spineless brother will claim amnesia and skirt all responsibility over it.

Erebus is even worse.

Telling Jovie will probably shatter her mortal brain. She needs more time to ease into these affairs.

There’s no one else.

So I’m forced to stand here as nothing more than the dead sister in hopes that I’ll be able to steal enough time with my brother to get through to him and demand answers before our entire world collapses.

Starting with helping his mortal wife serve a grown man to him on a silver platter to slaughter.

She takes my silence as confirmation and continues on. “Voss works night security at the Westlake Tower. He’s alone in the security office from two to six a.m.”

“Smart,” I murmur. “Hide in plain sight.”

“I need your help.” She turns to face me, her expression serious. “I can get in, but I need someone watching my back. Someone invisible.”

I drift closer, studying the plans she’s pulled up on her screen. “This is dangerous, Jovie. If Bash finds out?—”

“He won’t,” she interrupts. “Not until we have Voss secured.”

“And me?” I ask. “He’s already suspicious of my presence.”

I’m not sure why it makes him so uncomfortable.

Before he reset the timelines, I was his invisible accomplice in all his murders.

I supposed knowing that Jovie can see me too is unsettling for his mortal brain.

Before, he chalked my presence up to his own insanity.

He can’t do the same now without insulting the woman he loves.

Jovie’s lips quirk into a small smile. “Is that what we’re calling it? Two women conspiring behind the backs of the men in their lives?”

I laugh, the sound echoing strangely in my spectral form. Revel is hardly in my life.

For a moment, I’m back in my mortal form, sitting across from Jovie at that little café in Styx, watching her laugh over something I’d said. Before the order took me. Before my brutal death.

“We haven’t talked about the past. Or the other timeline,” Jovie suddenly mutters, her voice soft. It’s like she knows that’s where my thoughts traveled without me voicing them. “I remember most of it,” she quickly tacks on.

“No, we haven’t,” I say slowly.

“You knew who I was already, didn’t you? When you came into the café?” she hesitantly asks. Her teeth leave indents in her bottom lip where she nibbles.

I hesitate. Revel would be furious if he knew I was here, confirming the existence of another timeline. But Jovie deserves some truth.

“I did,” I admit. “Sebastian became obsessed with you before, and I wanted to understand why. I felt like it would explain how everything else...happened.”

How my brother managed to catapult us all onto a different timeline just to get another chance with you , is what I leave out. I’m not entirely sure she knows it was Bash who did it.

“I never got the chance to tell you thank you. That was a really difficult time for me, and you helped me through it. Regardless of your original intentions, I’d like to think we were friends.”

I quickly nod. “We were.”

For the first time ever, I had a friend. A real one. Not like Erebus, who was forced to rule beside me against his will. Or the fake friendships I formed along other mortal lives. Maybe Revel is right—maybe I am playing both sides.

“I think there’s more to all of this than either of you are telling me.” Her brows tent upward, but she keeps her shoulders squared in an attempt to hold her ground.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. And I’m going to figure it out, one way or another.”

“You sound like someone I know,” I scoff, looking down at the laptop to avoid her questioning stare.

“I wish you would spare me the trouble and just be honest now.” Crossing her arms, she glares at me in a challenge.

Is that what all this was? Some manipulation tactic to get me to tell her everything?

What I wish I could tell her is how foolish she is.

It takes a concentrated amount of effort to hold my voice level and say, “I can’t do that.”

“Why?” she practically cries.

“Because Sebastian needs to remember who he truly is first.” I keep a stern tone with her like an adult scolding a child, leaving no room for argument.

This is why mortals shouldn’t delve into the matters of gods. They operate with their ego first and logic second.

She’s quiet for a long moment, then straightens her shoulders again like she’s silently settled the matter in her head. “Whatever. All the more reason to do this. If capturing Voss can help Bash remember who he is—whatever that means—then I’m in.”

“It’s not that simple–” I begin to warn, but she cuts me off again.

Seattle has made her feisty.

“It never is, but at least we get to punish one of these misogynistic pigs over it, right?”

She’s got a point there. And it’s not like I can explain why this is so against what Bash stands for.