Page 17 of Conquered Obstacles

“I love it,” Cora agreed. “You can still have kiddie events now and again on Sundays, but it seems to be like Sunday playdates or something, and the bakery is just too busy for that.”

I sighed again and kept rubbing my forehead. “Talk with the twins on this idea of matching wedding cakes that can be picked up to save money and if there’s a market for it. I want to meet Holly before I consider this, but I’m not against it. She wouldn’t be in full swing her first season, but I’m not familiar with NYC, and I cannot be focused there.”

“Good deal. Thanks, Arabella, really. She’s been miserable and dying inside there without any options.”

And Cora and I knew how that felt. We’d suffered that crippling devastation and torment. We knew how it seemed like nothing would ever get better and there was no way out.

But there was. There was always a way out and some form of escape if people just kept fighting.

There had to be.

5

The nightmare started the way it always did, with me standing in my temple and Aesop saying what he did, Hera’s cruel words, hands touching me that shouldn’t… But then she was gone, and I was staring into Colton’s beautiful eyes.

And he killed Aesop.

He’d made his staff appear and plunged it into the man holding me while I was human weak.

Isiah broke the magic on the temple, and I was strong again.

Demarcus was tearing open the throats of the other priests while a wolf killed the others.

By the time I turned around, they were all dead, Colton’s staff still in Aesop’s chest.

“I hate that I even have a drop of that monster’s blood in me. You can’t think I’d ever be on his side, right?” Colton whispered as I kept starting.

The wolf that I knew was Jamie somehow plopped down next to me as if wanting to be praised for doing a good job. I scratched him behind the ears as if it was the most normal thing in the world and muttered a thanks to Isiah and Demarcus for saving me.

I woke with a start, Jamie’s face buried in my hair, and his hand on my stomach. I felt too trapped even if I wasn’t and used my power to move out of bed so I didn’t wake him.

And dressed myself.

I didn’t realize where I was going until I was standing in front of the entrance to the underworld. I walked right in and past Cerberus, muttering that I owed him treats and apologizing for his neglect.

The air was as suffocating as I remembered, and I didn’t want to walk all through it and search for her. I didn’t want to risk calming down or returning to my sanity.

I wanted to be this upset.

I appeared in front of Hera and found her chained up by my brother’s power. She stared at me with hate and her crazy, blame filling her eyes.

The whip was in my hand before I even realized what I was doing.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she taunted me. “You were always too weak, Kismet.”

“You killed Kismet. She’s gone,” I whispered, my voice sounding unlike mine and haunted. My arm moved and the whip hit her, her cry of pain not even registering.

Or maybe healing me? I wasn’t sure, but I did it over and over again.

I watched blood drip from Hera and hit the ground. It was like I saw it, but it wasn’t me.

I whipped her until I didn’t have the strength to lift my arm anymore. My chest heaved from exertion as I stared at the bloody sobbing mess that was my sister-in-law and my biggest threat.

And all I wanted was the strength to kill her.

I screamed as someone touched me and turned to defend myself.

The whip stopped before it reached them, their power not allowing it to touch them. It took me another few moments to register who and what happened.

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