Page 53 of Vengeance of the Gods

They used to laugh together all the time. Vega had once been his best fucking friend. At one point in their lives, Vega was the only person who’d ever shown him it was okay to want something you weren’t supposed to.

Her laugh pulled him into the past, and he wanted to hear it again. And again. And again…

Leaning against the back corner of the SUV, Bridger sat diagonally and still wouldn’t have enough room to stretch out, but at least Vega would fit comfortably. “Do you remember when we ran into each other in Demuto the week after we met?”

Vega’s eyes returned to the rearview mirror. “How could I forget? It was the worst blizzard Demuto had seen in a century, and we all got stuck in the theater overnight.” She hadn’t mastered her control of the weather yet, and a storm that size would have been too big for her even now.

Bridger had spent the night getting to know Vega and Arlet, listening to them laugh until they cried. They had an inside joke for every day of the year.

If he hadn’t fallen in love with Vega the night he met her, he would have that night.

Khort had pretended to sleep until the girls dogpiled him and forced him to join in on the conversation. It was the night he realized Khort was in love with Vega too.

A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. It filled Bridger with a happiness he hadn’t felt in a very, very long time listening to Vega recall the details of their love story. It had ended, but that didn’t make it any less real.

“I wasn’t supposed to be in Demuto that night. I was supposed to be at Meyer’s in Ardor. Once a year, our families got together for what might have been the only normal family night, if you can call it that, we ever had. Just all of us hanging out and our parents using it as an excuse to stir up some trouble for fun.” The picture in his mind of those nights was so clear—clearer than it’d been in years. He’d done too good of a job shielding out the person he’d once been. “Anyway, I didn’t show, and I was supposed to go to some party with him that night. I think that’s why he always kinda didn’t like you.” Bridger chuckled. “Because I chose to go to Demuto, where I knew you were, on the off chance I’d happen to bump into you instead of being his wingman at some party I didn’t care to go to if you weren’t going to be there.”

The sound of Vega’s laugh shot tendrils of warmth throughout his body—like she had a personal supply of endorphins to give away and she’d given them all to Bridger.

She talked through her fit of giggles. “Arlet and I always joked that we thought he might be secretly in love with you.”

Bridger barked a laugh. “Meyer, in love with me? I know I speak for both of us when I say I’d rather eat a bowl of rocks.” Even if either of them were attracted to men, they were practically brothers. “I chose to chase down a girl I’d just met over spending our favorite night of the year together. I hurt his feelings, so in turn, he tried to hurt mine by not liking you.” It hadn’t worked. “I always knew deep down he really liked you… He was just putting on an act for the sake of proving a point, and then everything happened, so he leaned into it and told himself it was real.” Just like me. “Sometimes it’s easier to play pretend.”

Words Bridger hadn’t been expecting poured from Vega’s lips. “He came to me in my last life… offered to help me try and break my curse if it meant saving you.” Vega focused on the road, both hands gripping the steering wheel. “It was the reason I was in Schoenus the morning of the attack. I was looking for Meyer to help with my reset.”

Bridger’s shock made him freeze, unable to say anything at all.

Meyer had always been clear on his stance. He’d follow where his parents pointed.

Vega continued talking. “But then I ran into you instead. When the battle broke out and Meyer wouldn’t help me in front of everyone, I decided it was time to do something on my own for once—it was time to be my own god.”

He was truly blown away, questioning everything Meyer had said to him since Vega had come back in the last life.

His best friend had seen Bridger’s walls crumbling. He knew the shields were falling and the man Bridger had once been was starting to reemerge.

He might have even pushed him to get him there a little quicker.

Bridger didn’t know how long it’d been since either of them said anything when Vega spoke again. “Hey, Bridger…”

When he looked up, his eyes found hers in the mirror.

“Tell me something real.” Had this become their way of letting down their walls, if only for a second, to peek inside and see what was left of the person they had once loved?

Bridger took a moment, swallowing back the fear of being honest. “Deciding to come find you in Demuto was the best decision I’ve ever made. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t fallen in love with you. I never would have had the courage to fight against what I knew was wrong.” And that was what he’d done… It’s what he tried to continue to do.

It was just different now…

Bridger had never claimed to be perfect. He’d never pretended to know everything, but the one thing he was certain of was if he didn’t hold the position he held, things would be worse than anyone could imagine.

The air between them felt lighter than it had in almost four decades.

From the food, and the hum of the back tires, Bridger couldn’t stop the pull of sleep. He’d tried to fight it for as long as he could but lost, blackness dragging him inside the body of a memory—the one that might have been the moment everything changed.

The sharp piece of rock in his hand clipped against the stone wall.

Another day down.

422 days locked away, and no one had said a single word to him.