Page 35 of The Curse of Gods (The Curse of Saints #3)

“Again, you make assumptions,” Natali interjected.

“Perhaps there are other powers at play. Other powers we do not understand. But the truth remains: The realm believes a Dark Saint has risen, and that she spells destruction for Eteryium. It is exactly the fuel the Bellare needed to move against your family in light of Aidon’s treason against the gods.

Their argument has always been that Visya overstep their bounds, that their original purpose was to serve, as deemed by the gods, and whenever they step outside of such purpose, they are a threat to humans. Now, they have proof.”

Josie’s temper did not need much to ignite these days, not with all she had faced. She felt the heat of it licking against her insides, a flame that burned as hot as Aidon’s Incend fire at Natali’s accusation.

But a dawning realization doused it as quickly as it had come.

“He’ll be in Sitya,” she breathed.

Aleissande’s gaze snapped to hers. “What?” How she still managed to sound so commanding while a step away from death’s door, Josie didn’t know.

“There’s only one reason Aidon wouldn’t return home,” Josie reasoned, her heart hammering as she turned her theory over in her mind. The more she thought on it, the more certain she became.

Only one thing would keep Aidon from returning, and it was not fear or guilt.

“You think he went after Aya,” Cole remarked.

“I do.”

Natali, however, didn’t look convinced.

“I know my brother,” Josie pressed. “He would have heard news of Aya’s disappearance and acted on it.”

Natali cocked their head, their silver hair swinging with the movement as they pursed their lips in contemplation. “No one has seen Will Castell since the Battle of Dunmeaden. Is it possible they’re together?”

It wasn’t just possible, Josie thought. It was a near certainty. She knew without a doubt that Will would have gone in search of Aya. And if Aidon had not returned home, it was because he had joined Will or gone to look for her himself. Josie knew it as surely as she knew the sky was blue.

“He won’t know what’s happened here,” Josie realized. “Not until news reaches the eastern continent.” She rubbed her pointer finger against the space between her brows in an attempt to ease the tension building there.

Even if Aidon had heard that the rumors of his power had spread, he would see Aya as far more valuable to the realm’s future than he was.

The realm needed Aya, but her people…they needed their king.

They did not stand a chance against Kakos without him.

The Bellare might value human life, but they did so at the cost of the Visya.

It would take humans and Visya alike to defeat the Decachiré, and Josie knew of only one person who could unite the Trahirian people to do just that.

“We need Aidon,” Josie insisted.

Cole shifted in his seat, his elbows bracing on his knees as he leaned forward. “I’ll go to Sitya,” he offered.

Josie went to argue, but Cole raised a hand. “I know you want to go, but you can’t. Not only are you too recognizable, but you’re needed here.”

For what? Josie wanted to demand. What good had she brought to Trahir thus far? What value did she have to provide now?

“Cole is right,” Aleissande affirmed, grimacing as she pushed herself up into a full sitting position. “You can’t go.”

“Is that an order?” Josie asked.

Aleissande’s jaw tensed in the face of her defiance.

“No,” she replied evenly. “But I would have thought you’d prefer to assist here.

” She lifted her chin, and despite the blood still marring her clothes, she looked every bit the general Josie knew her to be as she said, “Or do you not wish to help me retake your brother’s throne? ”

A huff escaped Natali as they folded their arms. “You’ll need to put on a better showing than you did on the beach if you wish to defeat the Bellare.”

Aleissande snapped some retort, but it was lost to the stirring Josie felt in her stomach—an emotion building that she could not place. Not when her mind was already racing.

They would need numbers, and affinities, and an organized front. Information, too. And Josie knew exactly who could get it for her.

“Is Clyde Marin still Lead Councilor?” Josie asked, interrupting their bickering.

Natali rose a brow. “For now. But with his and his husband’s known ties to your family, I would not be surprised if they’ve fled.”

A laugh rasped from Josie. Finally, something Natali didn’t know.

Lucas and Clyde would rather die than flee in the face of a fight, especially if fleeing meant betraying her brother.

“This is why sayings about assumptions exist, Natali,” Josie parroted.

Perhaps she and Aidon should have returned that loyalty with honesty far sooner. Perhaps Aidon would not have felt so burdened by his secrets had his friends known the weight he carried.

You trusted someone with your brother’s secret once, and look how that turned out , that bitter voice in Josie’s mind reminded her.

She batted the thought away as she turned her attention to Cole. “You’re sure about going to Sitya?”

Her friend shrugged in that easy way of his. “Someone has to.” It was as good a confirmation as any. Natali seemed to think so as well, because they stood, their palms smoothing down their pant legs.

“Now that that’s settled, I’ll fetch the Anima,” they murmured, leaving no room for argument as they turned on their heal and left.

Cole stood as well, his back popping as he twisted from side to side. “I’m going to wash up. This will be my last chance for a decent bath for quite a while.” He squeezed Josie’s shoulder and nodded to Aleissande before he followed Natali from the room.

The door closed behind him, a heavy silence descending as Aleissande and Josie watched each other.

“You can’t kill Viviane,” Aleissande finally said.

Josie’s eyes narrowed, even as surprise rippled through her. Of all the things she expected the general to say, that had not been one of them. Yet disarmed as she was, irritation won out, because of course Aleissande would think her incapable of doing such a thing.

“You truly think that I would not be able to bring myself to—”

“You can’t kill Viviane,” Aleissande interrupted, her voice growing louder as she gave an exasperated shake of her head, “because you are good . And she is not worth the stain it would leave on your heart.”

Her gaze traced Josie’s face, flicking from her eyes to her lips to her cheeks and back again. Josie swallowed against the lump that had suddenly taken up residence in her throat, her voice coming out scratched and breathless as she said,

“My heart already has stains.”

Aleissande’s lips, still chapped but with that flush of pink returned, pulled down in the corners. “Scars and stains are not the same,” she murmured. “Trust me.”

Trust me .

There it was again. That impossible request. Except this time…

This time, Josie did not shy away from it.

Slowly, she reached for Aleissande’s hand, laying her own atop it gently. Aleissande’s eyes flared at her touch, but she did not pull away. Not even as Josie stroked her thumb across the top of her hand, memorizing the way small scars interrupted the smoothness of her skin.

“I do,” Josie admitted—to Aleissande and to herself. She swallowed down her fear as she wove her fingers through Aleissande’s. “I trust you.”