Page 36 of Vengeance of the Gods

About anything.

Arlet never said anything. She didn’t even scream.

Arlet.

The only person who’d ever been able to break her heart.

Her hand dropped from her face. “No, you don’t, because none of this is real,” Marlena muttered, unwrapping her hand from the bar. “It’s all a dream.”

Before it could fall, Arlet pinned it in place with her own. “This is real. We were real.”

Heat burned through to Marlena’s bloodstream, and once again, she stepped through the in-between and crossed through the cell door.

Arlet retreated, taking careful steps while Marlena prowled forward. When her back hit the stone wall, there was nowhere else for her to run.

Marlena cornered her, a new fuzzy feeling overwhelming her senses. She had to blink away the black specks ready to spread across her vision. “Do you ever wonder what might have been if you would have stayed with me? What we could have become?”

She let her brain run rampant, let the dream conjure up whatever it was Marlena had been wanting to feel all these years.

She leaned into the young woman she’d once been—and she let her run wild.

If she had a heart, it might have fluttered in her chest.

Arlet’s gaze didn’t waver. Vega was strong, but Arlet… Arlet was something else.

For the first time since she’d been thrown down here, Arlet smiled. Slow at first, and then her lips snapped into a grin unsuited for her pretty face. It was too dark—too far from the soft girl she’d once known. “Yes.” She leaned forward, surprising Marlena. Arlet’s breath tickled her neck, sending goosebumps down her arms. “I think about all the things that made you tick. The way you used to kiss me when you knew no one else was around.”

Arlet’s fingers grazed over Marlena’s, and a tingle she shouldn’t have felt while dreaming made her blood run cold.

“The way you use to come when I⁠—”

This isn’t a dream.

Marlena’s hand heated with anger seconds before her lit palm connected to Arlet’s cheek. Her hand stung not from her fire but from the force of the slap.

Arlet’s head snapped to the side, colliding with the stone wall. Her hand shot up to cup the fresh bubbling burn on her cheek. She chuckled through the pain. “It was much easier to trick you than I thought it would be. You’re slipping, Mar.” Arlet didn’t say her old nickname like she had minutes ago—sweet, taking Marlena back to a moment in time she tried so hard to forget. This time it was a sneer and Arlet definitely wasn’t the girl Marlena had once loved. “When Vega breaks her curse and brings Bridger back to slaughter, you’re not going to stand a chance.”

Marlena grabbed her by the throat, shutting her up. “You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?” Marlena scowled, squeezing harder. “Let me let you in on a little secret, pet,” she spat, loosening her hold enough to allow Arlet a single breath. “Bridger isn’t on Earth playing fetch. He’s there to make sure Vega doesn’t break her curse, to get inside her head. What could I learn if Bridger was allowed inside her mind?” she whispered.

Marlena dropped Arlet to the floor with a thud.

“Bridger’s there making her believe he can be loved again, that he’s changed.” Marlena was on the other side of the cell door from Arlet in the blink of an eye. “There’s nothing left of the Bridger she once loved, and with enough time, I bet I can do the same to you.”

15

In less than twelve hours, Vega had somehow managed to pull off finding them each a fake fucking passport. Not to mention, someone willing to let her book a couple flights on their card for the cash in return, saving her the hassle of stealing someone’s wallet and credit card information.

Unbelievable. She could barely believe it herself.

Arlet was going to be so proud.

Bridger stared blankly out the cab’s window—Vega at the two forged passports in her hands.

She was right to trust her instinct. It was always the observant ones who knew where to find what they were looking for.

Jakub, the young man, no more than nineteen, sitting in the corner reading Alice in Wonderland, had spent a few months interning for a cyber security company contracted by the United States government—who also secretly dabbled in illegal document forgery.

Vega spent nearly every dollar she had to pay for two, and it was well worth having to pickpocket the rest of the way if it meant she didn’t have to go back and see Chase with his soulless eyes.