Page 24 of His Eternal Claim

Fragile.

My lips part. “I had a…” My voice falters. “I had a nightmare… I saw him.”

Something moves in her eyes, gone in the same instant. But I see it. I feel it.

She cups my face; her touch is cool. It burns my skin. “Him?” she asks softly. “You mean that man who destroyed your life?”

My pulse roars in my ears. Destroyed.

Or claimed?

“I…” My throat tightens. “I saw something.”

“You saw a nightmare,” she says smoothly. “Nothing more. He’s poisoned your mind, even in his absence.”

But he didn’t feel absent. He felt… so real, Mama. You felt so real in my dreams too. Those shadows felt real, too. Everything felt real, except myself.

My nails dig deeper into my skin as I bite my tongue. I can’t let her know that I know her plans. She wants to use me. She wants to make me into a weapon she can use against Zagreus.

“Selene,” she whispers, leaning closer, her voice turning almost hypnotic. “You belong here. With me. Safe.”

“My name is Celestine, not Selene. Why do you keep calling me that?”

“Because you are confused, child,” she murmurs, her thumb scraping along my jawline. “Celestine. Selene. It’s all the same.”

Liar.

It’s not the same. I am not Selene.

But I remain quiet, nodding. “Mama… have I—have I known him before this?”

She smiles. “Yes, but your mind is not ready to take this conversation right now. You need rest.”

My pulse stutters. “No, tell me…”

Her fingers tighten ever so slightly on my jaw. “When you were a child, we were on good terms with the Vitales until they killed your Father.”

My stomach twists. “No… he, he didn’t…” My voice falters. “Papa is in the hospital.”

Her expression doesn’t change as she sighs. “That’s what you believe, Selene.”

“But I saw the medical bills. He’s in the hospital—”

The world tilts. “Like I said, you don’t know what’s right or wrong.”

“What…?” My voice comes out hollow.

Her thumb brushes under my eye, catching a tear I hadn’t felt fall.

“He’s dead,” she says softly. “Zagreus killed him. You ran away, found Adrian, loved him, and he killed him too.”

The words don’t register. They can’t be true. My version of the story is different.

“No.” I shake my head immediately, stepping back. “No, that’s not true.”

“You remember what I told you,” she corrects, her tone still impossibly calm. “Not what happened.”

My breathing turns erratic.