“You look just like her,” the god says, his voice choked.
“Who?” I ask, though my heart already knows the answer.
“My Lynette,” he rasps. “Your mother.”
“What happened to her?” I’m almost afraid to ask, but I have to know.
“That son of a bitch Cary killed her,” he spits out, the cold rage coming from him terrifying to behold. His golden eyes are alight with a fire that would scare the bravest mortal.
“No,” I say, my hand flying to my mouth, even though it rings true. As angry as I am at my father, I still care for him, but to know he’s responsible for my real mother’s death and my real father’s imprisonment breaks something in me. Something I’m not sure can ever be repaired.
“Do you want to see her?” he asks.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I can show you some of my memories.”
I hesitate. I want to see who my mother was, but I’m also afraid of how much more it will hurt knowing she is gone. No. I’m being ridiculous. Why wouldn’t I want this gift?
“Yes, I want to see her.”
The sun god takes a step toward me, and I try not to flinch as his hands come up and he places them around my head. There’s a burning sensation in my mind, and then I’m no longer in the cave. I’m in his head but not. It’s as if I’m hovering above, observing but not quite present in the moment.
Memories of Kyros courting an auburn-haired beauty with vibrant green eyes takes my breath away. She gazes at him adoringly, and the looks he gives her scream of love, or is that obsession? More memories fly by, and I see my mother swollen with child—with me. The way she speaks about me and her hopes and dreams for my future fill me with a sense of being wanted. A pang goes through me. The mother I’d known, Cary’s wife, had never spoken to me in that way . . . never really had a kind word for me. Anger toward Cary burns within me, but I’m not even sure if it’s my anger or if it’s radiating from Kyros. It’s more potent somehow . . .
Another flash, and there I am. A tiny babe with eyes to match my mother’s . . . and somehow, despite all the memories thatwere stolen from me, I never forgot those eyes. Filled with love. Affection. Belonging. A blink, and everything changes. Instead of a flash of memories, I’m pulled into one.
Lightning cracks through the sky,illuminating two dark figures fighting with swords on a mountaintop.
“You’ve always wanted what was not yours to want,” Cary calls out.
The heavens open, rain falling in torrents, and suddenly, I’m seeing this memory from Kyros’ eyes, feeling his emotions and hearing his thoughts.
“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. She has always been mine,” Kyros says.
A piercing wail rends the night, followed by the rumble of thunder as lightning splits the sky once more.
Kyros turns and shouts at Lynette, who is hiding behind a boulder, “Get her out of here! Now!”
It would be his undoing. She’d always been his weakness, and now she’d be his ruin.
A blade pierces Kyros’ chest, and he gasps as he falls to his knees.
“Kyros!”
No. No! She needs to leave. She can’t be here.
Another flash of light, and jade eyes meet his.
“You need to go,” the words gurgle out of Kyros.
“I can’t leave you. You’re my everything,” she cries.
“Think of her. You need to go.”
A cackle of laughter rings in Kyros’ ears as rain sluices down his face.
Lynette reaches behind him. “I need to remove it. You won’t heal with it in your flesh.”
