Page 118 of Vengeance of the Gods

“I really hate to be the bearer of bad news…” Everyone unwillingly dragged their eyes away from Khort and Delori. “But I think our time is up. Marlena wiped out every soldier in Vincere. Bridger found them already dead.” Arlet’s hand shot up to her mouth, and she gasped. “It’s not a blood oath. Marlena curs⁠—”

The air beside her chilled, and every person who’d arrived with Vega unsheathed their weapons. Leo’s flame whipped around above their heads with the wind Marlena had rode in on.

Vega couldn’t hold Death back anymore. It tore through her shields and slammed to the front of her mind. Her vision blurred black around the edges, and Death bared its teeth while her finger tips turned inky with its power releasing back inside Vega’s bloodstream.

She shivered involuntarily.

Message received.

We have a job to do.

“You two really can talk to each other.” Marlena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, awestruck.

Vega faced Marlena. “Makes it kind of hard to lie about what you’re doing, doesn’t it?” she asked, catching Octavia ducking into the woods with her sister in tow.

“When have I ever lied about what I’m doing, Vega?” Marlena cocked her head like a striking snake. “I may have withheld the truth, but I’ve never once outwardly lied. We’re not bringing up the past again, are we?”

Vega didn’t move. “All you’ve done my entire life is erase the things that matter most. Of course it’s time to bring up the past.”

Death slid up her arms, darkening the visible veins. Her electricity skittered, chasing it back down as if to tell it to wait.

Vega wasn’t ready.

She stared at her sister for the first time in what felt like forever, fully taking Marlena in. Against the black of the fight suit she wore, her perfectly straight blonde hair and the crystal blue eyes they shared popped. She’d been graced with an ethereal beauty anyone could fall for. The realization made Vega’s chest tighten into a dull ache.

Not because her looks had been wasted, but because her sister could have been anyone she wanted, and she’d chosen this.

Vega was no longer blind to the part she played. There was so much she could have done to help her sister—so many red flags she overlooked because it had been normalized in their lives. Vega had spent too many nights thankful she wasn’t the eldest child instead of fighting for what she knew was right.

Blaming herself wasn’t going to get Vega anywhere, but there would always be a piece of her who wished she could go back and say something—to save Marlena from herself.

“You were a child.” She’d thought the words were her own until the sensation of Bridger inside her mind told her otherwise. She hadn’t even known she’d been sharing down the bond.

“How much of the past are you willing to bring up?” Marlena asked, her gaze tracking over Vega’s shoulder to Arlet.

Vega stepped to the right, blocking Marlena’s view. “Never enough to bring her into it.” Her words took on a feral growl.

“Ah, she’s finally spilled about how she fell in love with the villain, huh?” Marlena gloated, glowing with a radiant fake smile.

Vega took the attention off Arlet. “Tell the shifters what you’ve done.” If she wanted to say she wasn’t a liar, then it was time she told the truth upfront, not withhold it until she felt necessary.

“Straight to the point, I see.” Marlena strode away from Vega, eyes landing on Delori and Khort.

Khort looked like he was still trying to thaw his mind from the shock of Delori, a step behind everyone else.

“Tell them what you’ve done to them,” Vega urged harder this time.

“I taught Delori not to trust the first person to offer help… especially not the person who cursed her land to begin with.” Marlena let out a tsk sound. “I’ll admit I never cared enough to see who was keeping the people of Demuto in line. I can say it was a pleasant surprise to see Delori’s face when I arrived.” She jumped spaces, ending up beside Delori.

Khort put himself in between his sister and Marlena, growling like the wild dragon he was seconds from becoming. His pupils turned into those of a reptile, steam puffing through his nose. “You’ll lose an arm if you lay a single finger on her.”

Marlena smiled at Khort, batting her long lashes. “Would you have killed Ivelle had you known Delori was alive?” she asked, showing for a split second that Ivelle’s death had hit something deep inside her.

Smoke billowed out Khort’s mouth as he spoke. “I would have ripped her to shreds sooner had I known it would hurt whatever’s left of your heart.”

Marlena’s smile turned haunted. “You can’t hurt something someone doesn't have.” The ground rumbled with her words, screams from behind Demuto’s border echoing through the sky. “You want to know what I’ve done to the shifters?” Marlena asked, locking eyes with Vega. “I’ll do you one better. I’ll show you.”

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