Page 25 of Vengeance of the Gods

“It’s been the only constant in all of my lives.” Vega leaned back and took a second to process what Bridger had said about the crack in the portal.

“She told me the portal started as a cursed mirror and the blood of two sisters.” Bridger leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The blood of two sisters who summoned gods that once called this world their home.”

“If the portal is my curse, don’t you think Marlena would know that? That she hasn’t probably tried to destroy the portal thousands of times by now?” Vega locked her gaze on his across the coffee table. “Wouldn’t she be able to feel it since she’s the one who created it?”

It was weird, sitting across from Bridger, talking about this revelation like they were two friends catching up.

Marlena told Vega in her last life the mirrors were pieces of her curse, the ones holding her memories. Vega had her memories, which meant half of her curse could be broken. And the crack in the portal is my sign.

Bridger shook his head in small wags. “I think that’s the point. Marlena created something she doesn’t fully understand. This curse is more linked to you now than it is to her.”

It felt right. Something inside Vega told her to trust her instinct. “When you came through the portal Marlena made, what happened?” Her eyes ticked down to where she would see the cut if it weren’t hidden by his shirt.

Bridger had a far-off look to him, his expression blank. “It felt wrong immediately. There was so much pain, like something didn’t want me to come here. I heard an almost familiar voice, and he kept saying you were his—that your death was his.” He bit his bottom lip and let it go, his eyes finding Vega’s again. “I had to fight to stay in control, reminding myself what I was coming here for.” A look of unease washed over Bridger’s face, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. “I followed the voice, fighting to get here. To get to you.”

Vega’s body went cold at the memory of the familiar voice telling her she couldn’t escape her destiny. Death is coming. Vega had racked her brain far more times than she could count trying to match the voice to a face.

Did we hear the same voice? A million questions piled on top of each other.

“Then I was thrown out of the portal and woke up to the woman at the Colosseum. You showed up minutes later.” Bridger leaned back in the chair, throwing his arm over the backrest.

The new portal had somehow set off a current of events from the moment it destroyed itself until Vega and Bridger were united at an ancient Roman graveyard. “You came through, and that’s when Chase’s attack started, when the pain in my head started.”

Bridger straightened. “So, it was Chase.” It wasn’t phrased as a question.

The waitress with the pretty hair and bright smile came back, placing the drinks in front of them on the coffee table. She turned to Bridger, making a point to lean in a little closer than needed, her tits nearly spilling out of her white button-up blouse. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“No, we’re fine. Thanks,” Vega said abruptly, waiting until the waitress got the hint and left. She blew on her espresso before taking a sip. “Chase is still overall the least problematic of the men I’ve been stuck with.” Her response wasn’t a direct answer. “But these people who’ve been in my life are controlled by my curse, so how can I blame them for their actions when they’re not the ones making them?”

A pang of something Vega knew as pity flashed across Bridger’s face. “Don’t you dare pity me. I’m who I am today because of what I’ve been put through in my lives. Just because we’re stuck together for the foreseeable future doesn’t mean we have to stroll down memory lane.”

Bridger nodded like he understood, leaning down to grab the tiny espresso cup. It looked doll-sized in his hand. “So, what’s the plan here? What’s next? If it is the portal, how do we get back to it?” Bridger took his first sip and nearly choked. “What the fuck is this?” he asked with his nose scrunched.

“Espresso. Drink it. You’re going to need the energy.” Vega took a deep breath, collecting the multiple conspiracies bombarding her thoughts at once. “We have to get you fake travel documents.” Vega rubbed her temples after setting the cup down.

“Travel documents for what? Can’t we get on a ship and sail to wherever it is we need to go? I’ve looked at the map. There’s a lot of water out there.” His full attention was on Vega, like he’d saved a batch of the real him just for her.

Oh, Bridger. Clueless, handsome, stop-staring-at-me-like-that Bridger.

She didn’t trust him, couldn’t imagine a life where she would ever fully trust him again—not right now, at least. That didn’t stop her body from playing tricks on her. “If it were that easy, do you think I’d be this stressed?” Vega asked with the roll of her eyes. “They don’t really travel by sea much here. They fly.”

“Fly?” he asked.

“As in these things called airplanes that go really high in the sky, and the thing about them and where you get on one is that they’re very, very high security. Think Curia induction day but times ten.”

Bridger’s brows rose at the same time. “Fuck.”

“Yeah, fuck,” Vega agreed, running a hand across her face. “Once we find a way to get a passport for you, we’ll have to pray to whatever gods will listen it works, and then pray some more we don’t get caught anytime between now and when we land in the U.S.”

It would have been much easier to do this on her own, but it was too late for that. Here Bridger was, trying to forge an alliance, if that was what Vega could even call it, in the wrong fucking realm.

I should just leave him here. But then what would happen? If she wanted to rid herself of Bridger, it would have to be in Tolevarre.

“Okay, so step one: find one Tolevarrian a passport. Step two: fly in a plane. Doesn’t sound worse than anything we’ve done before.” Bridger’s words came with an ease Vega wished she could feel.

Vega downed the rest of her espresso, thankful for the temporary zing she’d get shortly. “Technically, step one is finding a place to hide you while we, two, track down a very illegal group of people who make fake passports.”

The smile spreading across his face was infectious. “Good thing we know how to fight then, huh?” Bridger joked. He’d always been able to pull her out of her head, but this Bridger sitting across from her wasn’t the person she remembered.