Page 136 of Heir of the Beast

My eyes widen, the voice hitting my memory. It’s not gruff anymore, but smooth and elegant. He takes off his eye patch and my breathing escalates as I try to register anything coherent.

“Tarren, at your service.”

I pale. “What?” I barely say.

He looks very apologetic as he nods to Siron. “Looks like our prince has come back to reality,” he quietly murmurs. “Take off the mask.”

I can barely hear over the rushing in my ears. Siron looks at me and something flashes in his gaze as he takes off his mask.

I scream.

Because I’m staring at a dark ~Apollo~.

~What in the ever-loving shit?~

I pass out, I think, because everything goes blissfully dark.

Chapter 30

A miracle, or the worst deception?

“How?” I whisper.

Laura’s eyes are wide, almost protruding, as she hugs her knees. “Blindsided.”

I lay on a plush bed with Mort, Leenie, and Laura staring at me. I take a slow breath, trying to slow my heart rate down.

When I saw him, it was like a shock to my system. My soul left my body for a split second then came back.

“Did Pierce know all along?” I ask Mort.

Mort glances at Leenie. “I believe he did.”

“Why in the hell didn’t he say anything, Mort?” I sit up, feeling almost betrayed, hurt, ~stupid~.

Mort looks innocent as she visibly swallows. “I do not know, but if I were to guess, I’m guessing that it would have to do with Fairy Godmother rules.

“Until you find out for yourself, Pierce can only nudge you. He cannot under any circumstances interfere with Fate. Pierce cannot give you information such as this unless you find out for yourself.”

“Awesome,” I say, and grit my teeth. “This whole time it was freaking Apollo. How embarrassing.”

Laura shakes her head and clicks her tongue. “But he looked so different with that dark hair and bad-boy getup. I guess the mask just gave the illusion of someone else.

“I mean, in hindsight, I can see it now. Same body type and arrogance, I suppose. And I guess he still had those weird black eyes, but I just thought it was because he was evil or something.

“And, usually, people with dark coloring have dark eyes.” She glances at me with a shrug. “I didn’t know, Viola. Do not feel bad. Your eyes saw what you wanted them to see, and you saw a cutthroat killer.”

She sighs and pats my leg.

“I should have known,” I admit. I should have known it was Apollo’s lips, hands, body, and soul, but I didn’t. That makes me feel horrible and confused.

Taking a calming breath, I glance at my hands. I was so obsessed with getting back to Apollo that I missed the most obvious thing right in front of me. My guilt clouded what was so apparent.

Laura snorts. “You were not the only one who was duped.”

“Tarren,” I say.

Mort snorts too. “Now that was a great disguise. I had no idea. He was really hairy.” Mort’s eyes are wide as she glances at Leenie. “Did you?”

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