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She fixed a hard look on Solaris for confirmation, her trust low when it came to her sister.
He nodded. “You have my word, love.”
She raised both of her arms in surrender. “Okay.”
28
UNTIL DEATH DO US PART
“Naia!” Ronin bucked in Marina’s hold. “No?—”
Marina slammed his forehead down on the gravel.
“Marina!” Naia took a step, but Solaris caught her by the crook of her elbow. His touch was fiery, and she gritted her teeth to keep from recoiling from his grasp.
He dragged her into the center of the graveled road.
“Marina,” he called. It was an order, not a request.
Marina released Ronin’s hair and materialized at Naia’s side. Another barricade of flames engulfed them. The nightrazers wreaking havoc vanished in an instant.
For that, at least, Naia was grateful.
Marina positioned herself behind Solaris as an intimidation factor, locking her cold eyes on Naia as she pulled her mask down underneath her chin. A smirk split apart her lips and Naia’s palms went clammy in her gloves.
“High God of Marriage,” Marina said, each syllable measured and slow. “I summon you.”
Naia couldn’t resist looking back at Ronin, catching glimpses through the crackling flames. Theon held him back by the arms. Avi was on his other side, fighting to get him to swallow the potion. He batted them both away, attempting to stand up. His beautiful hair, disheveled and bloodied, clung to his face. She wanted to push it back and fix it for him; run her fingers through it one last time.
The High God of Marriage, with his slender arms and short, plump figure, hardly exuded power, but his soft-spoken nature drew Naia towards him.
He observed his surroundings with little interest, took in Naia and Solaris before him, and recognition flickered across his face.
“Solaris, High God of Fire.” He bowed his chin respectfully. “Do you take Naia, daughter of Mira, High Goddess of the Sea, to become your wife? To have and to hold, to love and cherish, until you make your journey into the Land of the Dead?”
Solaris kept his firm gaze on the High God. “I do.”
He clenched one hand into a fist at his side while holding Naia’s hand with the other. Thankfully, the thick material of her gloves kept their skin from touching.
Her fingers quivered in his grip, but she steeled her jaw.
I won’t let Ronin die.
“Naia, lesser goddess.” The God of Marriage—to her surprise—bowed his chin in the same form of respect she hadn’t expected from him. He pulled out a handkerchief from his robe pocket and handed it to her. An unspoken request to clean the blood off her face.
She did as he wished and ran the cloth over her features, trying not to think too hard on the reasoning for the High God’s request. It had been centuries since she last kissed Solaris.
Rolling her lips to inspect their cleanliness, she focused back onto the High God.
“Do you take Solaris, High God of Fire, to become your husband? To have and to hold, to love and cherish until you make your journey into the Land of the Dead?”
Naia held her breath to smother the lump in her throat.
Solaris turned to look at her. His expression held centuries of fond, bitter memories together, but all she could focus on was the threat lurking in Marina’s glare from over his shoulder.
She had to work the words up from her throat.
They sat idle on her tongue.
