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“Right,” my father says, taking Octavia’s hand in his own. “We must go to the generals—”
“First, we need to discuss him,” Mateo says pointedly, nodding to Kallen. “We heard Titus’ story, but we haven’t heard anything from Kallen yet. He could very well go back to Romulus and give him all the information he’s gathered.”
“I’ll stay for you, brother, but know I’m not entirely convinced any of you are on the right side of this,” Kallen says, placing a hand on Titus’ shoulder.
“How can you say that?” Titus steps out of his touch, turning an incredulous glare on his brother.
“You might not remember how it was before the infernal realm, but I do,” Kallen sneers towards my father. “Osias disobeyed the rules of Ethereal. He tried to rule us all—”
“Romulus has filled your head with lies, brother,” Titus huffs out in exasperation, scrubbing a hand over his face. “He twisted things to fit his narrative. He overstepped in his role as a god, overtook worlds he was never meant to.”
Kallen takes a deep breath, his brows furrowed as though he’s about to launch into another argument, but instead, he presses his lips into a thin line. “We’ll see. I’m willing to see this new future you promise, and I’ll be here to save you if they stab you in the back.”
“You know a thing or two about that, don’t you,” Maximus growls, his fingers gripping mine tighter as he keeps his composure.
Kallen smirks, eyeing the gesture pointedly. “Where was that bravado you had a few minutes ago?”
“I don’t need to endanger the school and its students just to teach you a lesson,” Maximus grumbles. “But if you betray us, if you hurt my family, I’ll keep my promise and bury you in the center of the earth.”
“Aww, the big, bad god of destruction is growing soft,”I project to my mates, hiding the smile that begs to pull at my lips as my chest warms with pride.
“I’m doing this for you, princess, but trust me, I’m anything but soft around you,”Maximus projects back, and I nearly choke.
I struggle to keep a straight face. My cheeks heat, and a chorus of laughter echoes in my mind from my other three mates. I swear they’re going to be the death of me.
“Are you okay?” my father asks, his brows furrowing as he turns to face me.
Bury. Me. Now. I’m deceased.
I am going to kill these guys ... right after I take them upstairs and show them how grateful I am that they’re all here, unharmed and safe with me. Yup, sex, then murder. Sounds like a great plan to me.
“I’m fine,” I say and clear my throat, tamping down on the urge to chastise my guys, which would only draw more attention to us.
“The decision should be up to Octavia,” my father announces. “She had to live a lie for so many years, had to live without knowing her daughter as she grew into adulthood. I refuse to do that to her again if Kallen is willing to work with us. But be warned, if you seek to deceive us, I will not give you any leniency.”
Octavia caresses my father’s cheek, her dark blue eyes brimming with unshed tears as she looks up at him, adoration shining in their depths.
“Thank you,” she breathes, her words shaky as his palm comes to cover hers, the two of them soaking in this moment they so rarely got to have over the years.
Pain slices through me, and my mates grip me a little tighter in response. We only had a taste of what they endured for thousands of years, and I even had Mateo with me.
Octavia lets her hand fall back to her side, and they hesitantly release their hold on each other, as though that moment of love and tenderness was far too brief for either of them. But there is too much to still be done.
“Kallen,” she says, turning to her son. Tension radiates around the small circle as they stare at one another. “I want you to stay. I want to believe that you’re willing to see the other side, free from your father’s manipulations. But I can’t risk hurting the rest of our family because of that.”
Kallen tenses, anger brimming in his eyes for a moment as he stares back at Octavia. Does he hate her? Blame her for tearing his family apart? He takes a deep breath and nods in understanding, his face smoothing as he looks between Octavia and my father.
“I want to stay, I want to see this other life you promise, but I’ll remain neutral,” Kallen declares. “I won’t reveal his secrets, but I also won’t reveal yours.”
“Swear it,” Kyros says over my shoulder. “Make a binding pledge to Osias.”
“Fine.” Kallen reaches out his palm and takes a step closer to my father, annoyance written across his features. “I vow to keep what I learn to myself.”
My father steps forward to clasp Kallen’s hand, and golden ropes flash around their arms, entwining the promise into life, a magical contract binding him to his word. It shines brighter as the sun sets in the distance, leaving the image seared into my vision even as the ropes dissipate into thin air.
Kallen snatches his hand back, hissing in discomfort as though the touch had burned. He hastily puts distance between himself and the leader of the Light Gods like his mere presence disgusts him.
This should be fun.
