I curl my hands into fists by my sides as I watch Ellie follow The Divine One toward the side of the room.
My phone pings, indicating another message from Dom, but I don’t peel my gaze away from Ellie, trusting Zane to regale me with any useful information.
“Apparently, Ellie’s bitch of a mom threatened us,” Zane growls out. His hand flexes around his phone.
“And you’re surprised by that?”
He snorts. “Not at all.”
Then, in a move that surprises the shit out of me but honestly shouldn’t have, Zane moves away from me, tossing his mask to the side. He ruffles his dark hair as he saunters up to Ellie and The Divine One without a care in the world.
“I heard we’re all going to be roomies now!” He practically skips the last few feet leading up to Ellie, then spins her around. “Hello,princesa.” He pecks her on the forehead before turning his dark gaze toward The Divine One. “Hello, evil cunt-sucking bitch whore.”
Someone in the crowd gasps, but The Divine One simply laughs, a strange, mechanical noise that grates at my skin.
“Zane. I should’ve known you would be present tonight. Is Beckett here as well?”
As The Divine One keeps her focus on Zane, I move through the crowd toward the back exit, making sure to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Just another waiter, another servant, another slave.
“Maybe,” Zane says cheekily. Despite the jubilant smile on his face, his eyes are hard. Granite. Even from this far away, I can see the rapid fluttering in his jaw as he struggles to maintainhis composure, to not succumb to the rage pulsating beneath the surface. “Maybe not. I suppose you’ll have to wait and see.”
“Charming,” The Divine One deadpans. She turns to Ellie. “I’m not surprised a goddess has multiple consorts. I wonder who else from the room she’ll choose to share her body with?” She speaks the last question loud enough for a few people to perk up, their heads straining.
Fucking bitch.
I know Aria is simply taunting Ellie, but it doesn’t stop anger from building inside of me, swift and relentless.
“I think three dicks are enough for our goddess,” Zane says good-naturedly. To the outside observer, he would appear to be completely unperturbed by The Divine One’s comments.
But I know him better than that.
“I suppose that may be true.” The Divine One tilts her masked head to the side, studying them, before refocusing on the crowd. “Let me make it clear—Cassia and her consorts willnotbe touched in any capacity. Doing so will result in immediate banishment. Or worse.” She allows the threat to linger in the air, to permeate it like a poisonous gas, before she turns toward Ellie and says something too low for me to hear. Whatever it is causes Ellie’s lips to purse, her eyes going flinty.
Fuck, I need to get out of here before I do something I regret.
Like racing across the ballroom, pulling Ellie into my arms, and throwing both of us out of the nearest window. We would run far, far away from this hellhole, never to be seen again.
But I can’t do that. Not with POP still at large. They’ll find us in seconds, of that I have no doubt.
Hell, they knew we were coming here tonight with Harvey. The sick bastard sold out Ellie and Dom without a second thought.
We thought we were two moves ahead of The Divine One, but this entire time, we’ve been playing checkers while she’s winning at chess.
We just need to pivot our strategy. Figure out her next move.
And then destroy her once and for all.
I imagine Landon is losing his shit right now. He hates that we left him behind, and he’ll be furious Ellie made a deal with The Divine One, despite the fact she had no other option. I can understand his anger—I feel the exact same way.
I allow my gaze to feast on Ellie one last time, fearing it’ll be the last time I see her but knowing in my heart it won’t be. The two of us are infinite. There’s no end to what we share. Not even death can keep our fucked-up souls apart.
If The Divine One wants to play chess, then so be it. I’ll learn the game, become a knight, and take down each fucking pawn on the board. All that matters is protecting my queen.
I memorize the perfect symmetry of Ellie’s face. The tousled brown hair. The blue-gray eyes, nothing but specks in the distance behind her dark glasses. The perfect curl of her pink lips.
Not goodbye, baby girl.
Not ever goodbye.
