Page 30 of Invoking Ruin

When I look up at her face again, her eyes are sharp, on me once more.

She’s still breathless as she touches my face, and my own breathing hitches in time with hers.

“That was…”

“I know.”

But I don’t. I don’t know anything that matters. Not who she is, not who I am. It’s all floating around in a sea of unanswered questions. She could, if she wanted, give all the answers to me, but she’s stubborn. I could torture her for hours, and she wouldn’t give them up.

But I know I want her.

It’s enough for the night.

Slowly, we peel ourselves off the floor and clean ourselves off. It’s silent, easy until we dry off and find ourselves in bed with only moonlight peeking through the slats in the windows to see by.

After everything in the shower, being in the dark together, sleeping beside each other shouldn’t feel like crossing a line, but it does. Sharing this closeness is an intimacy I’ve wanted for months, one she’s denied us out of some thin thread of conscience.

I could cut that thread, but I don’t. Instead, I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She lies on her back, eyes on the ceiling. Even though I know it’s impossible, I like to think I know this goddess better than I did when she was simply Vita, a consultant. She’s fed me nothing but lies, but there’s a vulnerability in her now.

If I could convince her to trust me.

It’s a dangerous game. I don’t know what powers she has, but I know she is in full control of them and herself. Her advantages over me are many.

And yet, I hold the most important leverage of all.

Her own desire.

“The gods who erased my memories, why did they never come for you?” I ask into the darkness.

Vita doesn’t answer me, doesn’t breathe. Her gaze stays fixed on the ceiling, as though tracing the lines there is more interesting than anything I could say.

I want to drag her in, to force her to look at me. My fists clench at my sides. But I wait her out.

“I asked the Titaness responsible for all of that earlier,” she says at last. “My family has strong opinions on my loyalty.”

Her family. “Your family did this to us?”

“We’re all family, Sandro. All of the gods are related in some way.”

A thought occurs to me, terrifying and shameful. I jump to a sitting position. “We’re not siblings, are we?”

Finally, I have her attention. She rolls onto her side, her lips turned up in amusement. “Would it matter? We don’t answer to mortal taboos, or their morality.”

“Vita,” I growl.

She laughs. “Relax. We’re…” she wiggles her fingers, counting to herself. “Second cousins once removed? I think that’s it. Not completely sure. Our family tree is quite convoluted, as you’d imagine. “

My shoulders sag with relief. It’s a silly thing, perhaps, but I’m glad to not have unknowingly finger-banged my sister.

She’s still laughing, her earlier vulnerability forgotten. “Is that distant enough for you then?”

I have to start steering the conversation towards what I need. This isn’t what I want to talk about, and she was only too happy to push me down this particular tangent, which tells me I was on the right path.

“What are your family’s opinions on your loyalty?” I ask.

The smile slips off her face. I’m sorry for it, but I don’t back down. I need what information I can get, and some sort of rift between this goddess and her family might benefit me in the future.

“My aunts called me a traitor.” Her mouth twists in a grimace. “But I didn’t even have anything to do with it. My grandmother, the architect of all… this,” she waves her arm between us, “thinks I was not worth the effort of recruiting.”

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