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My love for Bullet had saved him once before. It would save him again.
“Fine, I’ll let you know,” Thanatos clipped, snapping his fingers before he disappeared. There was a thud behind me, and I whirled around to find Wild’s arms empty, his fists pounding furiously on the stone where Bullet had laid.
I slumped down on the stairs, out of energy to cry or rage at the unfairness of it all anymore. I had to believe that this wasn’t the end, that Bullet hadn’t just vanished into thin air before I’d even had a chance to say goodbye. I had to believe that, or I would never get up again. I crawled forward, toward the line of fire, but Wild’s beating against the ground didn’t cease. Before I could reach for him, Riot snatched me around the waist, dragging me back down the stairs.
While I didn’tneedthe bond to understand that Wild was as distraught as I was, the loss of insight into his state of mind was distressing. For Wild, the bond was more than just a tangible confirmation of our relationship. It was a means of communication.
“Wild,” I rasped, trying to reach for him while Riot held me in place. Wild’s already crimson eyes looked darker and less focused than usual, though maybe it was just the sudden influx of starlight throwing off my vision.
“Gracie, you need to get out of here. He’s not safe right now,” Riot warned, voice tight.
“Wild,” I tried again in a coaxing voice, my alarm growing as his knuckles split, spilling blood onto the stone. The look on Wild’s face… I’d never seen it on him before.
“Wild, come back to me,” I whispered.
Chapter 25
Myragetorethroughme like an inferno I couldn’t control. Rage at Gaia, at Nyx, at the unfairness of it all. Rage at goddesses who treated us as though we were disposable and at our inability to stop them.
Bullet was gone. Taken by the very same god who’d humiliated me and stolen my voice. How was I supposed to trustThanatoswith Bullet’s care? He hovered on the verge of life and death, the scales poised to tip in either direction, and there was nothing I could do.
I pounded my fists against the unforgiving stone that had sat here for centuries, hating this place, the task Grace had been given, the gaping wound in my chest where the bond had been, myself. Hatingeverything.
“Dare,” Riot clipped, standing taller than I’d ever seen him as he held Grace back. “You need to—”
Milos skidded to a stop in the courtyard, barking furiously, running back and forth between the base of the steps and the entrance to the courtyard.
Whatever. The dog wanted something, but I didn’t have it in me to care what. Not when Bullet…
Bullet.
“Time to go,” Dare said quietly as I hit the ground again. Grace protested as he gently dragged her out of Riot’s embrace. “If there are others here, we’re not exactly in a position to defend ourselves right now. I vote we follow Milos, to be safe.”
This was the last place Bullet had been. I didn’t want to leave. It felt too much like goodbye, even though he wasn’t here anymore. I’d fight, I’d bleed to bring him back.
I shouldn’t have let Thanatos take him. Maybe I could find the so-called Isles of the Blessed myself. There was nowhere Bullet would be safer than with us.
“Wild,” Grace whispered. “Come back to me. I can’t leave here without you.”
It took everything in me not to bare my teeth at her. At the beautiful soul bond I’d loved and lost. But I couldn’t go with her. My control was in tatters. It wasn’t the time. Itwasn’tthe time.
I needed blood. More than just my own, which was dripping in red rivulets onto the stone ground after I’d attacked it.
I needed an opponent. I needed to feel the crunch of bone beneath my fists, the thud of flesh against flesh.Needed it.
Maybe those agathos who’d been hanging around, unworthy to cross the threshold to the courtyard, could provide the outlet I needed. What had they done for anyone? Why did they deserve to walk around unharmed?
Would the world have gone dark if the agathos had just openly supported Grace from the beginning? If they’d backed her words and put human minds at ease? They shouldered some of this blame too. There were deaths on their conscience.
“Alright, let’s go,” Riot said harshly, standing over me and shoving my shoulder.
How fucking dare he.
I climbed to my feet slowly, seeing Riot through a dark-red cloud of anger. Did he have a death wish?
“You need to beat the shit out of someone, Wild? You can beat the shit out of me. It’s not going to help. It’s not going to bring him back.”
“Riot, no,” Grace gasped, struggling against Dare as he encouraged her down the stairs. “Please don’t fight, not now—”
