Page 5 of Vengeance of the Gods

Bridger took a breath and forced his shoulders to stay squared even though he felt them wanting to sag in defeat.

He would come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. Bridger would come every single day for the rest of time if it meant there was a chance Arlet cracked.

He turned to leave the prison, and finally, finally, Arlet gave in. “Don’t you think it’s time Marlena helped clean up the mess she’s made?”

Bridger stopped walking, peering over his shoulder at Arlet, who continued to talk.

“If the curse she created is what made the portal, what’s stopping her from making another?”

3

My name is Vega Caelum.

I’m a god.

I’m from a realm called Tolevarre.

I have my memories.

I got it right. My curse is here on Earth. But where? What?

My name is Vega Caelum, and I do not have a traumatic brain injury.

I’m a god.

I’m from a realm called Tolevarre.

“Vega.” A hand reached out and grazed her knee.

Vega jumped, the well-lit room around her refocusing.

Sasha startled, chuckling at herself as she settled back into her seat. “I lost you there for a second. Can you tell me what you were thinking about?” She leaned back in her chair, the tablet on her lap waiting to be used as a notebook.

“I…” Vega started, blinking through the pain in her head. “I…” She laughed, biting her lip as the ache subsided. “Sorry, I spaced out. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Therapy.

It was what her doctor suggested when she awoke from a six-month coma spewing details about an impossible life, with fairy-tale-like details. According to her neurologist, traumatic brain injuries had a lot of weird side effects that sometimes didn’t make any sense.

“It was all a dream,” he’d said. Vega’s brain created a fantasy land to live in while it healed.

Sasha smiled softly, slowly. “How have your headaches been?”

Vega shrugged. “Not as bad.”

The headaches she’d been getting whenever she thought about her real life.

Or the headaches from the traumatic brain injury.

The traumatic brain injury she got from the night she stormed out of her apartment after an argument and got hit by a car.

She had never met a woman named Arlet.

She had never carved her initials into the dining room table.

She had never crossed into a land called Tolevarre.

It had been a dream, and when she woke up in the hospital a month ago, Chase was right there to beg her to forgive him, to take him back. And what other choice did she have?