Page 49 of The Goddess’s Thief

“What are you planning, princess?”

“Where should I start? So many plans, Omega, and not enough time for talking about them.” I kissed him, then swatted his ass, half-wishing the pelt didn’t cover it. I could use some cheering up, and his muscular backside was always worth a smile. He sighed, pulled his pelt over his shoulders, and in the next breath was across the beach, diving into the surf in his sealskin.

I let out a shaky breath as I contemplated the task ahead. Was I strong enough to do this? I guess I’d find out.

“Mirrim, we need a clean fire. Adiah? I need to make sure none of the guards see what I’m doing. But if a Beta about my height with long dark hair comes to the fence and whistles like I just did? Let him in.”

“The priest?” Adiah asked.

“And my best friend,” I said, wishing it was still true.

Alexios’s voice was in my ear not twenty minutes later. “What can I do, mistress?”

I wasn’t shocked, but I could tell the others were. Gasps, and a sudden scent of terror filled the room.

“Goddess save us,” Alexios whispered. I had a feeling he meant the smell, but it could have been the whole situation.

“I’m not counting on it,” I whispered back as he forced his gaze away from the others. There was no way to block out the stench, though, or the horrors that had seeped into the very walls of the longhouse.

“What are you doing?” His hand wrapped gently around the arm I held over the shell. It was half full of my blood already, but I needed more. “Are you sacrificing yourself, Mina?”

“I need blood. Lots of blood.” Trying to ignore the way his touch affected me, I explained what I was doing. He handed me more of the bloodstrand to chew, then a few sardines. “Lachlan’s bringing Lusca’s blood, too. I hope he’s able to get the starflower antidote, but⁠—”

“What about a lot of sodathorn? In quantity, it negates most of the more effective poisons like verlana sap.”

“You have that?”

“You know I like to keep busy,” he said mildly. “I’ve been working on a few things.”

Curiosity poked at me like an invisible knife. “With Frol?”

He nodded. “He’s a pure soul. I weep for what he’s seen in this place.”

“What did you use on the other Alphas?” He described three plants that I hadn’t known were poisonous. “Nonlethal?”

“I’ve tried not to break all my vows.”

“You’ve broken some?”

“Yes.”

I waited for more, but the only sound in the room was the breathing of the Omegas hiding behind curtains, and my blood dripping into the bowl. Minutes passed. They felt like years.

“I fell in love,” he said at last, his voice almost too quiet to make out. “I fell in love with the one my Goddess commanded me to protect at the cost of my life.” He made a soft huffing sound. “I told myself over and over I was never meant to be more than your friend. More than your servant. But it didn’t help. With every day I spent in your presence, I fell more deeply. Every hour you devoted to saving Her daughters, every night I held you as you cried when you were too late to save one of them… Every coin or gem you stole so that the next daughters would have enough to survive… Every safehouse and bolthole you secured, every princeling you threatened to castrate, or bought off with his own stolen treasure.”

My lips twitched.

So did his. “Goddess, how I’ve laughed since I met you. Laughed, even though every miracle you accomplished carried me closer to my own damnation.”

“Damnation? I don’t understand.”

“Why would you? I hid it from you. But Goran and the selkies both saw it. Even Dustin knew.”

“Knew?” I wasn’t sure why all I could do was echo him. The world buzzed and hummed around me. Had I drained too much blood?

No, this felt like something else. Like some long-buried part of me was waking up.

“I stopped serving the Goddess long ago. I stopped loving Her above all else, and placed you in that part of my heart that had been pure.” He scoffed at his own words. “Pure. The thoughts I have had of you were so filthy…” I choked, and he laughed again. “I fell, Mina. I fell without meaning to, knowing I had no hope of being yours. No right to even imagine it. You’re Her greatest tool, but you were my greatest temptation.”