Page 53 of Invoking Ruin

All that’s left is a countdown to misery, and I’ll treasure every second.

Chapter thirteen

Sandro (Dionysus)

The sky is clear of Nemesis and all of her helpers as we ascend above Athens.

I take it as a good sign, that she took my orders to heart. I hadn’t been sure when I’d left her and Lethe in the alley, but she’s truly backed off. What happens next is my decision.

Eris is undoubtedly furious with me. Hopefully Apollo will calm her down.

Chaos, of all the revelations today, the union of my brother and the Goddess of Strife might still be the strangest.

I shake my head. Atê is watching me out of the corner of her eye as she tries to pull herself together.

Eris had her by the throat when I’d found them. Atê should, by all rights, be halfway to Tartarus right now.

I could have let it happen. It would have been easier, and, after all, it’s what she deserves. Nemesis could have taken her, and I could have gone on my way.

But the thought brings me no peace. The tightness under my skin doesn’t want easy.

Tartarus isn’t where she should end up, not for a long time. Not until I’m finished with her.

She’ll beg me for Tartarus, then.

For now, she needs to be at ease. She needs to think she got away with it. That I’m still her sweet Sandro, and Nemesis and Eris are nothing more than bad dreams behind her. I'll reveal who I am to her when I'm ready. When it will hurt her the most.

I owe her that.

“Where are we going, Vita?”

The decision to keep calling her by her false name was made in the moment. A way to keep her from guessing who I’ve become. How much I know. But it has an added perk; even now, it soothes her.

She’d never believe I could care for her as Dionysus, and I need her to.

Every moment she thinks I’m still Sandro is another moment I have control over her. Another moment she has hope.

Hope is the worst sort of poison, and I plan on force-feeding her.

She shakes her head. “We can’t do that again. They’re watching every site.”

I agree. “No, you came too close to getting caught. Twice in one day.”

This goddess has truly angered everyone under the Aether.

She mutters something dark under her breath, too low to make out the words.

“What was that?”

“Fucking Moirai,” she says, louder this time.

The Fates. I try to remember if she mentioned them before but fail. “Who are they?”

Fuck, I already hate pretending. How long am I going to keep this up?

“They see the fates of everyone to ever exist. I asked them to help me get the other gods off my trail, but I suspect they led me right into my hunters’ waiting arms, instead.”

None of this makes any particular sense. I have my memories back, but they're less helpful than they should be. There are huge gaps in events, and all the alliances have shifted.

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