Page 63 of Heart of the Villain

“What makes you so sure you’re the one for us?” the first voice asked.

“Because I don’t just want to rule. I want revenge. Revenge just like all of you. I want the people who doubted me to suffer. The ones who made me question my worth… I want them dead. I want to watch the life drain from their eyes. I want to give you a body to call home again.”

So many sighs of agreement rattled in Marlena’s brain like a sweet caress.

Marlena knew she had them. It was the same feeling she’d had when Lucius joined her, when Ivelle fell in line. Like a fish to a worm… She just knew. “I’m not like Mira. Summoning you isn’t just for me. It’s for all of us. Imagine the world we could rule if your powers became mine. I can get your revenge and mine too.”

Marlena’s skin burned with a fire she’d never felt.

“And what are you willing to give us in return?”

Marlena hesitated, and it wasn’t nerves that kept her from answering right away. It was strategy. Her hook had sunk where it should, and now it was time to reel them in. “Anything.”

The caress she’d felt inside intensified, as did the flames of her candles.

“Anything?” a new, louder voice hissed.

“Anything,” Marlena confirmed.

Silence surrounded her at the same time the clearing went completely still. Her mare reared, braying in fear, and took off. Marlena could hear the twelve individual voices this time. “Would you give us your heart?”

Her heart.

Hearts.

Mira’s still beating heart.

Before her nerves told her to run, Marlena shoved them down. Showing an ounce of weakness would get her killed. The gods didn’t care about her… and she didn’t care about them.

She wanted their powers, and she would lie however she needed to get them. Marlena wouldn’t let them take over. She knew it was what they wanted—to make her body their host, erasing her own mind and taking over as they pleased. She’d told them she would be their vessel, but what they didn’t know was Marlena would never stop fighting for the control she desired.

She’d lost too much already. She wouldn’t let anyone else take more from her. Dead gods or not, Marlena would rule. This was her overtaking.

“What does my heart do for you?” she asked, watching the wind sweep around the treetops.

“It shows us who you really are, who you’re meant to be.”

Marlena’s heart.

My broken fucking heart.

She’d lost everyone.

Vega wouldn’t choose her.

Her parents had never loved her.

Bridger wanting anyone other than Vega was a complete pipe dream.

Khort would follow her sister anywhere.

And Arlet…

Oh, Arlet.

She had given up when Marlena needed someone the most.

What did Marlena need her useless heart for anyway?