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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Stomach roiling, I stopped at the bottom of the staircase as I heard footsteps coming down the main hall. I focused on my breathing until the churning settled.
The last thing I needed to do was vomit all over Ash’s desk after clutching the rim of the sink as I dry-heaved for what seemed like a small eternity. He would never agree to me leaving for Lasania today if I did that.
It had to be the bacon.
Why? I had no idea. I loved the stuff and was in a long-term relationship with it, but the moment I’d smelled the fried meat, I’d thought I might vomit all over the table.
It was probably also the fact that Ash had woken me from another nightmare this morning. When he asked me about it, I’d pretended to have no idea what he was talking about.
He had let it go.
But he’d known.
“Sera?”
I looked up, seeing Bele and Aios coming down the main hall.
No two people could look more different than they did.
Bele was dressed in black from head to toe, her dark hair swept back from her face. Aios wore a bright yellow tunic and white pants, and her cherry-red hair flowed to the middle of her back.
“Why are you just…staring at the floor?” Bele asked, striding into the library.
“I wasn’t—” I stopped myself. I had been staring at the floor. “Never mind.”
“Exactly.” Bele smiled brightly. “By the way, you don’t look so good.”
I frowned. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
I stepped away from the stairs and placed my hand against my cheek. I looked over at Aios. “Do I look bad?”
The goddess shook her head.
“She’s lying,” Bele said. “Only because she’s nice.”
“Wow.” I raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t look ill,” Aios assured. “You just look a little pale.”
“A little?” Bele mumbled under her breath.
“Bele,” Aios snapped.
“What?” Bele threw up her hands. “You just said she looked pale.”
“I was trying to be supportive,” Aios hissed.
“So was I.” Bele crossed her arms.
“Wait,” I interrupted. “I really look ill?”
“No,” Aios quickly answered.
“Yes,” Bele said a second later.
“Fates,” Aios exclaimed. “I love you. You know I do.”
My heart gave a happy little squeeze at the proclamation.
A radiant smile appeared on Bele’s face. “I know.”
“But you,” Aios continued, pointing at her, “seriously need to work on your people skills.”
Bele’s smile faded.
I smirked even though I felt a wee bit of sympathy for the baby Primal. I, too, needed to work on those skills.
Still, my shoulders slumped thinking about what we’d been talking about. I had looked a little pale, and there had been faint shadows under my eyes when I left the bathing chamber, but I didn’t think it was that bad.
The hem of Aios’s su
“I think I ate something that didn’t agree with me,” I said, and Aios’s brows knitted. “I was feeling a little nauseous—”
“No sh—” Bele caught herself as Aios’s head nearly spun on her shoulders. “—ush. No, shush it.” Bele clasped her hands together, giving me a big, closed-lipped smile. “You look so, so energetic.”
“That’s what you were going to say?” I crossed my arms. “Really?”
“Yes.” Bele nodded, the curve of her lips growing. Her voice then reached a pitch I’d never heard from her. “Yes. You look well-rested and lively.”
“Please stop smiling at me like that.”
Bele’s smile slowly faded.
“What do you mean you ate something that didn’t agree with you?” Aios asked.
I shrugged. “I just felt nauseous after breakfast.”
“I’ve never known a Primal to get sick from food.” Her forehead creased. “But then again, you just Ascended.” She glanced at Bele. “You felt sick to your stomach a few times afterward, right?”
Bele nodded. “But I never looked like I was half-dead.”
“Sweet Fates.” Aios’s head fell back.
Resisting the urge to will the chandelier to come down on Bele’s head, I focused on Aios. “You truly are the most gracious goddess there is.”
Her chin lowered, and a small, confused grin appeared. “Well, thank you.”
Bele’s eyes narrowed on me. “Are you flirting with Aios? Right in front of me?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m doing while married to a Primal of Death.” I pi
Aios laughed softly.
Bele pressed a hand to her chest. “You wound me, mey—”
“Shut up,” I cut her off.
“Yes.” Bele paused dramatically. “Your Majesty.”
I sighed.
Aios pulled Bele’s hand from her chest. Their fingers immediately twined. “She’s not always so antagonizing.”
Bele snorted. “You don’t have to lie for me, so’vit,” she said, causing me to jerk toward her. She dipped her head and dropped a kiss on Aios’s temple. “I excel at being antagonizing. It’s like a special ability.”
A chill crawled its way down my spine. What Bele had called Aios was so close to so’lis, which meant my soul. But it wasn’t the same. It was actually sweet. So, I ignored the feeling of spiders crawling over my skin. “My life,” I murmured, clearing my throat. “You’re adorable, Bele.”
She extended the middle finger of her free hand, the nail painted black. “Is this adorable?”
“It makes me want to flirt with you now,” I replied.
Bele laughed as I glanced at Aios. She was watching me, her lips mashed together as if she were physically restraining herself from saying something.
I quickly looked away and ran my fingers down my braid. “I need to get going.”
“Heading to talk to Attes?” The humor vanished from Bele’s striking features. “I was in the office when Ash told him about Veses showing up. He was pissed. I hope he fucking destroys her. Does that make me a bad person?”
“Yes,” Aios and I said at the same time, even though I was kind of hoping the same thing.
The Primal pouted. “I expected that response from her.” She nodded at Aios. “But you used to be more fun.”
I arched a brow. “How would you know if I was more fun? You don’t really know me, Bele.”
“Oh, I know you.” She wrapped her arms around Aios’s waist and moved to stand behind her. “My absurdity recognizes your absurdity.”
Fingers halting on my braid, I stared at her.
“Or it used to.” Bele rested her chin on Aios’s shoulder. She squinted her eyes at me. “Wait a second. Your absurdity is still in there. It’s just leashed.”
“I don’t know if I should feel complimented or insulted,” I drawled.
“Well,” Bele began.
“Or just really confused,” I added.
Aios lightly smacked the arm around her waist. “What Bele is trying to say is that she senses your…temperament.”
“It comes with the Court lineage. The whole Hunt and Divine Justice thing,” Bele explained. “Sensing one’s temperament—”
“Allows you to be a better hunter,” I finished for her, either my foresight or my knowledge kicking in.
“And to deliver divine justice,” Bele said as Aios smoothed a hand across her arm. “Sensing someone’s natural temperament helps to know if someone’s act was a one-off or something in their nature.”
“Makes sense.” Twisting the end of my braid, I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “So, my absurdity? What exactly does that mean? And what does it tell you?”
“It means you’re someone who would shadowstep to a whole-ass different Court without ever shadowstepping anywhere by yourself before.”
“I knew I would be fine,” I denied.
Both of Bele’s brows rose. “Sure,” she said, and I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, you’re impulsive.”
Knee-jerk reactions. Ash would agree with her.
“You’re easily distracted.” Bele’s words snapped my attention back to her. She smirked. “Hot-tempered. Violent if provoked. And, sometimes, even when you’re not all that provoked.”
“I feel attacked,” I muttered.
Streaks of eather flared in Bele’s eyes. “You’re wild and reckless in a way that borders on having a death wish,” she continued, her voice carrying a hum of power. “You have a vengeful nature.”
My nose scrunched. “You can stop now.”
“Good luck with that,” Aios murmured, leaning into Bele. “She’s in the zone.”
She was definitely somewhere…creepy. Her stare was unblinking, and a faint luminous glow filled the veins of her cheeks as she fixated on me—or looked into me. “You don’t think enough, yet you’re an overthinker. You can switch from joy to rage in a snap. The only thing predictable about you is that you’re unpredictable.”
Our gazes met. The silky threads of power in her voice and the swirling wisps of eather were eerily mesmerizing.
“But you’re also loyal and dedicated. Caring. You have a strong sense of what is wrong and what is right, even if you operate in the middle.” Bele blinked, and the eather dimmed. When she spoke again, the tendrils of power were gone. “Your nature is in juxtaposition with itself. A certain brand of absurdity just like mine—poor people skills included.” She winked before nipping at Aios’s neck, causing the goddess to squeak. “But as I said before, you’ve got a lot of that leashed right now.”
I honestly had no idea what to say to any of that. What she said felt really spot-on, but for some reason, I was uncomfortable with what she’d sensed. She’d missed an adjective in her long list. Monstrous. But maybe that was the part I had leashed. And if so, shouldn’t that make me happy? I should be less impulsive, or in Bele’s words, less my own personal brand of absurd—
I stopped myself. “Why am I even standing here talking about this with you?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Bele said.
“Gods, you’re a
The goddess gri
“You’re welcome, by the way,” Bele shouted. “You don’t look half-dead anymore.”
I flipped her off and walked past the empty pedestal—I really needed to put something on that thing.
Ignoring the new Primal’s laughter, I made my way down the hall. My stomach had stopped turning over. Maybe Bele’s caustic attitude had an oddly calming effect on me.