Page 107 of Vengeance of the Gods

Vega’s hands pressed into both Bridger and Khort’s chests, shoving them away from each other with an encouraging zap from her lightning—not enough to hurt, just enough to warn them. “How do we expect people, our people, to fight for us when we act like this in front of them?”

Khort’s eyes returned to normal, no longer seconds from shifting, but his chest rose and fell heavily as he swallowed down his anger.

Bridger breathed like nothing had even happened. Slow, controlled. It was what made him a great warrior—he was calm under pressure.

Khort wasn’t built for control.

“We cannot trust him, Vega,” Khort said through clenched teeth.

Arlet sighed, coming up to grab Khort by the wrist and tug him back. She must have seen the same glimmer of excitement in Bridger’s eyes Vega saw.

They didn’t need to fight, and Bridger was always ready for one.

“Listen to yourself.” Vega let her hand fall off Bridger’s chest. “Look who’s watching.” She nodded to the gathering crowd growing, more bodies emerging from the cave. “Innocent people are suffering. His soldiers have chosen to fight for what’s right.” Vega locked eyes with Bridger at the same moment a sliver of something sweet slipped down their bond. Vega turned back to Khort. “Beside us.”

“And how do you know he’s not playing you? That this isn’t exactly what his plan has been from the start?” Khort eyed Vega. “To get you to feed him information, just like he told Marlena he was going to. What if this is a trap?”

Of course Vega had wondered about all of those things too. She’d be stupid not to. But one thing she did see that Khort couldn’t was the hurt inside Bridger—the emptiness he felt by being away from the very duty he was born for.

Bridger wouldn’t sit around in limbo for much longer. Vega could feel his patience wearing thin, no matter how well he was hiding it.

“This has nothing to do with my and Bridger’s relationship. Past, present, or future. Don’t you see that? I’m not making decisions based on whether a man loves me or not. I’m making decisions, hard decisions, to forgive, to move forward, to do what’s best for our world.” Vega wished he could see that. “You don’t have to forget everything he’s done to agree that having him here, with us, is our best chance of saving as many lives as we can. Khort, he’s built the strongest, most lethal army this world has ever seen. These people…” Vega motioned to the men and women still in their nice training suits. “They trust him. They might not be here because they want the same things as us—she pointed to herself, Arlet, and Khort—“but they trust Bridger. They trust their commander to make those decisions for them.”

She could sense a wave of calmness wash over Khort as he inhaled and exhaled large, shaky breaths. “Going to Vincere means being outnumbered if this goes badly.”

If this goes badly… meaning if Bridger does backstab us.

“I’d like to point out that while yes, you would be outnumbered, you’d also have a place for your people to live as humans, not animals.”

Tilie gabbled, and Bridger, to Vega’s surprise, responded to her. “No offense… to the animals.” Bridger had never been a wildlife kind of guy. He barely liked riding horses when forced. “Successful wars are won when you’re prepared. When your people are rested and fed, not hiding and waiting for the next fucked-up thing to happen.” He shrugged, unbothered by his brashness. “Our odds of losing are still high if we don’t level up this blended army, even with Vega’s new ability.”

The shield around the pit rattled with a muffled roar, like Death heard Bridger talking about it. Its screeching was unlike anything she’d ever heard, making her vision shake.

Death sliced its razor claws into the fabric of her shield, tearing a shred into ribbons. It went back for another slash, but Vega acted quickly.

She shot a zap of lightning through her mind. A bolt collided with Death’s shadow, losing its dragon shape as it skittered back, diving for the safety of the dark pit.

Death. Us.

Was Vega really Death? Or was she just filled with it?

It felt like a separate entity and a new piece of her soul at the same time. It wasn’t wholly Vega, and yet she couldn’t hide anything from it.

“We were doing fine until you and your army destroyed Castra.” Khort’s eyes turned to slits again.

This could get ugly very fast.

Bridger shook his head. “That wasn’t my army. That was Marlena. All by herself. She killed those people, and she will continue to kill people until she’s stopped. She knows she can’t kill us.”

Arlet shushed him, but Bridger rolled his eyes. “Has keeping secrets gotten us anywhere? Tolevarre already knows. The army knows. What are you trying to accomplish by hiding the truth from the rebellion? They’re going to find out one way or another we’re gods. They might as well hear it from us.”

Murmurs of surprise and disbelief washed over the gathered crowd.

“Gods?” a voice gasped.

“How long have they known?” another echoed from behind.

“How are any of you surprised?”