Page 107 of The Cursed Chalice

I feel a small relief that Hecate was looking for a loophole. “So what if there is no loophole? Was I going to be a sacrifice? What was the plan?”

“To explain things to you around your last breath…”

I smile, and another tear slides down my face. “At the last breath? You would have killed me or waited until I am old, so Talia could be free.”

I wrap my arms around myself trying to find comfort. “For the curse to be completely broken, do you have to love me or do I have to love you?”

“It goes both ways,” he murmurs.

My chest tightens because I know this will be my final draw here. “Who do you love more? Me or Talia?”

I wish he answered,“You, Soraya.”Instead, he hesitates, and that’s all I need to know.

I nod, and I can’t see as the kitchen becomes blurry.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

“Upstairs to pack.” That’s all I say as I turn away. I pause at the door. “You know what really hurts? Knowing I was never loved or chosen by you.”

He never wanted me. I walk to the stairs with my soul filled with the knowledge that I would never be Ares’s prize. I was just the price.

It’s like I can’t stop the tears from running down my face. The gaping mouth of my small suitcase sits open on my bed. I throw in everything I can get my hands on. My ring snags on the saffron veil from the wedding. Holding it, I sit at the edge of the bed. I clutch it to my chest. I thought that this time, someone loved me. Instead, he wants me dead for a past lover.

He paused when I asked him who he loves more. That pause felt like a blade twisting in my heart.

I blink away the tears, wiping my face with the back of my hand. Well, Elias is dead now, and he was my biggest threat, so…I can leave. I have money saved, and I have my job.

The scent of ash and myrrh fills my room. In the shadows near my curtain, Hecate walks out.

That was frightening as hell, her walking out of the shadows. I blink and throw my shoulders back.

She says nothing, as if she’s waiting for me to strike first.

“Out of everyone, you were the one I trusted the most.” I can hear the hurt in my voice.

Hecate licks her lips. “Soraya, there is so much you don’t know.”

“I considered you to be my big sister. All the while you were planning my death.”

Hecate laughs. “I wasn’t planning your death. You know it. Deep down, you know I would never hurt you.”

I stand with my fists clenched. “But you have. You lied, you didn’t tell me the truth, you manipulated me…because I was the fool who drank from a chalice.”

Hecate bows her head. “Fate. That’s what directs our lives.”

“What about the loopholes?” I ask.

Hecate shrugs. “They don’t exist if you know about them.”

I laugh bitterly. “So in English, I am fucked.”

“No, you’re not, because, Raya, Ares loves you.”

I shake my head, refusing to believe her. “No, he loves Talia. I am just a tool to him, Hecate.”

“No. But trust? That’s what you will have to give him.” Her voice sounds all cryptic.

I continue packing. “Is there something wrong with me? No one ever loves me. People say they love me, but there is always a price that I have to pay. This time, it’s my life.”