Page 79 of Vengeance of the Gods

Fear iced her senses, immediately washing away anything else she could have felt… The sight of death under her skin made Vega jump off Marlena, who had somehow ended up on the ground underneath her. How did she get there?

Vega’s chest heaved, her vision spotty. Through the black spots, she could see Marlena gaping up at her like she was seeing through a new pair of eyes.

“How does it feel to be taken from? To have a piece of you ripped out?” Vega grinned, claws shooting from her hands like they once had Marlena’s. “I’m going to take them all from you, Mar.” She used her nickname for the first time in decades. “And then I’m going to come for whatever’s left of the scared little girl hiding inside you.” Lightning flashed behind Vega for emphasis.

The people around were frozen in place. Vega didn’t know when it’d happened, only knew everyone watched the sisters now.

The fear in Marlena’s eyes did something to Vega—morphed her into a person she didn’t know.

It felt good.

Wicked.

And Vega liked it.

Vega leaned down to Marlena on the ground and asked only loud enough for her to hear, “If you became a god by inviting the gods inside your head, what would letting death inside make me?”

She didn’t miss the tremble in Marlena’s spine before she disappeared, smoke wafting into Vega’s face as the only proof she’d ever been there in the first place.

This wasn’t over. It had only just begun. The last fifty-five years had been child's play compared to what was coming.

Now, Vega had a direction, an idea of where they went from here. Of how this ends…

Everyone stared as the claws retracted, and Vega buried them deep, letting whatever was inside her now drag Diana, the goddess of Demuto, into the shiny new abyss of the circular room in Vega’s mind.

When the darkness descended and Vega’s mind was clear, she repelled the surge of pleasure grappling to stay alive.

A sinking feeling crashed into her like a tidal wave: this is what it feels like when the hero decides to sacrifice themselves for the people they love.

Vega would suck Marlena dry and send them both straight to the underworld if it meant her friends got to live.

A group of rebel soldiers surrounded Bridger, weapons drawn. Leo, the fire-wielder from Ardor who had been assigned to babysit Vega at Castra, pressed the tip of his axe against Bridger’s jugular… but he didn’t back up. He stayed planted in place, slowly raising his arms in a lazy surrender. He could kill Leo without breaking a sweat, but he wasn’t resisting. Bridger’s stunned gaze never left Vega.

The doorway to her mind was still closed, but she could feel him banging against it, the urgency of his knocking begging her to open it. She almost did until Khort reached out and stopped her from getting too close to Bridger. Vega hadn’t even realized she’d been moving, Khort’s light grip on her forearm waking her from a daze. “Do I need to see if I can use this on you too or are you going easily?” she asked Bridger as Khort’s hand fell away.

Bridger shook his head, ignoring the axe at his throat as he marveled at her. “Let me in, please.”

“How long have you known?” she questioned, holding herself together.

“Vega—”

“How long have you known?” Vega yelled this time, the strain from her tightened throat hard to miss as she fought against the surge of betrayal.

Bridger bowed his head, looking at the axe still at his throat, and sighed before returning his eyes to Vega. “I had suspicions before Marlena’s capture. We just never got the chance to test it out with my shields acting as a barrier between us.” The shields their bond had taken down. “I knew for sure we could when I begged you to come back after your last death.”

One nod. That was all it took. “I heard you.”

Khort’s touch returned, his hand cupping her elbow.

Bridger’s eyes locked in on where they connected, a muscle in his jaw quivering, and a rush of irritation she shouldn’t have been able to feel flooded Vega’s senses.

No. Too much of us is connected.

“We should get out of the open,” Khort mumbled, looking around.

“No one’s going to attack you.” Bridger's voice sounded far away, like he was focused on something else completely.

Leo let out a chuckle, his axe yet to leave Bridger’s throat. “We’re not ignorant enough to trust anything you say.”