Page 86 of Cheating Fate

“But why didn’t you reach out then?” I asked, baffled.

“I did, but the snakes were ever slithering around. They intercepted my messages. So I had to bide my time,” he explained. “The attack on Dantor gave me that opportunity. Coron mentioned in passing that he would reach out to the Sentinels. I created a distraction so that I could use his device unbeknownst to him to send you the summons. An additional message sent to Veredia by the Primus wouldn’t raise any concern as it was public knowledge that he was in talks with General Praghan.”

Gotia fisted her hands. I presumed this meant she hadn’t known until now how he had managed to reach out to me. No wonder she’d looked so angry at me. My existence further underlined the extent of her treachery.

“A reckoning is looming on the horizon. All will receive their righteous punishment,” he said with something akin to malicious glee.

This time, the attendees openly glanced at each other, a few whispering with almost palpable unease. The high priestess also looked unnerved.

“Has the Divine received an enlightenment that should be recorded,” Gotia asked, trying to sound formal as if her consort hadn’t spent the past ten minutes dragging her through the mud.

“Should it be recorded? Yes,” he said in a sickly sweet voice. “Will it be? I’m not so sure.”

More shocked gasps resonated around us. Gotia recoiled.

“That is your duty!” she exclaimed, outraged.

“To Gharah with you and your duty, you foul creature!” Taseus shouted at her.

She once more fisted her hands, jaw clenched as even more murmurs buzzed around us.

The Divine cocked his head as he stared at her, an evil smile on his lips.

“It sucks being on the receiving end of abuse, doesn’t it?” he asked her before turning his attention back to me while waving a disdainful hand at the High Priestess. “You see, Gotia here was my ‘consolation’ prize, along with the others. After her mother killed my Alana—yes, she murdered her—Zolina threw her daughter and countless warm bodies at me. She thought that keeping my eighteen-year-old cock wet would make me forget Alana. It just made me hate them even more.”

He turned his body to face the high priestess, his right forearm resting on his knee while he leaned forward.

“Yes, Gotia, I hate you. I have always hated you. And that’s specifically why I made sure to hurt and humiliate you every single time I was forced to fuck you,” he said in a voice full of venom that sent a chill down my spine. “Contrary to what I led you to believe, I have zero violence kinks. I just despise you and revel in your pain. I hate that I have to breathe the same air you do. I know you had a hand in killing my soulmate. And you’re about to get your ultimate comeuppance.”

Without giving her a chance to respond—not that I could imagine what she could possibly say to that—Taseus turned back to us.

“I am sorry if my crude words and behavior offend you, Zharina,” he said in an apologetic tone. “I wish I could have met my grandson’s soulmate under different circumstances.”

“I am not offended, but I am shocked,” Zhara said in an oddly calm voice. “She’s indubitably guilty of every accusation you laid at her feet. Her aura states as much. My question to you is why is she still alive?”

“Zhara?!” I exclaimed, flabbergasted.

She glanced up at me with a completely unfazed but also hard expression.

“If someone killed you to keep us apart, I would rip their soul out and burn their entire world to the ground,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Your mother suffered horribly because of that female. What would you do if you learned someone did this to our child?”

I pursed my lips and slowly nodded.

“Fair,” I conceded.

As much as I hated the thought of harming a female, I would have no qualms stomping this one into the ground. The part of me who worshipped my mother wanted to do just that. But the other part of me that my father had spent my entire life teaching to always treat females with care struggled with that idea. Had the events just occurred now, I didn’t doubt that my bloodlust would have wiped out any reluctance I might currently feel. But then, without her foul actions, my mother never would have met my dad, and I wouldn’t be standing here today.

“I like you, Zharina Praghan,” Taseus said in a paternal fashion. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say this about anyone within these walls.”

Zhara frowned. “There are others here who like you a lot. Do they not find grace in your eyes?”

He snorted with an incredulous expression.

“Do they?” he challenged, his voice dripping with disbelief.

“Yes,” Zhara said with a bone deep conviction that baffled him. “This female adores you.”

She pointed at one of the initiates to the right side of the room. She’d already been sitting on the dais when we walked in. The Divine glanced in the direction my mate indicated and visibly recoiled, before looking back at Zhara with a confused expression.