Page 141 of Vengeance of the Gods

“We are inside you. We know all your thoughts.” They spoke at the same time in two different vocal patterns and pitches. “We know everything about you, Goddess of Death.”

Vega heard the roar of Death above her then, claws scraping across what sounded like stone. Pebbles rained down, pattering against the floor but never making contact with Vega.

Vega. Vega. Vega. Vega. Vega.

She shook her head, trying to clear the echo of her name from inside her head. “Wait…” Vega felt like she was drifting, being forced out by some unknown source. “Why would we need to save my soul from who bonded me?”

Her name came again from somewhere else, down a pathway she knew. “Bridger,” she gasped.

“Use us and we’ll tell you…”

Vega.

Vega.

Vega!

Vision flooded back at the same time Vega’s electric current snapped on. Bridger’s dark eyes and worry-stricken face came into view, but it was too late to stop what happened next.

The fear consumed her, and Vega’s lightning was always there to jump to her defense. Even Death was slower to react.

It nuzzled against her mind, helping bring her back to this new reality. One where she was fitting pieces of a puzzle together she thought had been completed years ago.

Bridger managed to break away from the hold Vega had on his left forearm, but not without a jolt of lightning zapping him like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket… only ten times worse, probably. He whacked his head on the top bunk Arlet had been sleeping in, hissing as his hand shot to rub at the spot he’d hit.

Vega felt like she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs, and fuck, why was she so hot? Gripping the blanket around her legs, Vega slipped her legs out and froze when she saw the blood staining her sheets.

“Your nose was bleeding. You’re okay.” She felt the mattress sink beside her as Bridger lowered himself back down, reaching for her face.

His voice was muffled by the ringing in her ears.

He turned her head in his hands, inspecting every inch before he moved down to her neck and then her arms. Bridger paused at the knuckles on her right hand. “You must have scraped your hand on something when you were thrashing.”

“What… what happened?” Vega finally spoke, her voice cracking from how dry her throat was.

Khort came out of nowhere with a cup of water. Vega snatched it while mouthing, Thank you, and downed it in only a few gulps. It sated her thirst, but it did nothing to cool the heat of her body.

“You tell us.” Arlet crouched down to her knees by the edge of the bed. “We were the ones you woke up with your screaming.”

“Screaming?” Vega asked, trying to remember what had made her—Oh shit. Vega couldn’t see it, but she knew she’d gone pale by Bridger’s reaction.

The gods…

She shuddered at the memory of their eerie voices… But it was what the gods hadn’t said that sat heaviest on her.

Vega swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth from the nausea rolling her stomach like an angry sea. Everyone stared at her, waiting.

They all looked like they had no idea what to say.

Everyone was too quiet, making Vega’s nerves skyrocket.

Bridger finally let his hands drop from her body after he’d inspected every visible inch.

Lie.

Vega forced a laugh, and even to her own ears, it sounded fake. She pushed on, clearing her throat. “I had a nightmare.” Wiping the back of her hand over her nose, Vega smeared the sticky, drying blood across her cheek.

Death rose from its curled-up position, flaring its nostrils like it could smell her lie. It had been trying to get to her, clawing its way through layers and layers of a shield Vega hadn’t placed.