Page 168 of Barbi and the Villain

“Do not worry, Barbs. I will be there to guide you.”

My lips tip up.

As he tends to the meat, I take a seat next to him.

“What happened at the Sanctuary after I passed out? Did the High Priestess make it?”

He shakes his head.

“There were a few villagers who made it, but the High Priestess died while fighting the two mages. I suppose she expected that to happen,” he muses.

“I wish I had more time with her. There are so many questions running through my mind. She just dropped a bomb on me and…left.”

“I am sorry,” he murmurs, placing his hand atop mine. “After I kill Baine, we will go to Aperion to find out more about your mother.”

“Do you think they will allow us in?”

“Oh, they will. For the mere fact that they will be curious about you. Even now, the Supremes must have found out about the barrage of souls coming into P’asala, and that an unknown Aperite divinity set them free. There are very few with the power to defeat a demon of Damien’s level. That alone will make you intriguing to them.”

I digest his words. I don’t know how I feel about Aperion and being seen as a deity. Me, a goddess? I almost scoff aloud at the thought.

Yet I can’t deny there is one part of me that is curious about it—about my elusive birth parents.

“What else do you know about Lispera?”

He thinks about it for a second.

“Not too much. She was a revered Supreme since my time in the army. She was considered a prodigy and she was both feared and respected, even among my kind’s ranks. But she never left Aperion, so no one had ever seen her in the flesh. When she sealed off Tartareia, it came as a surprise to everyone since she had never involved herself in the war between the two realms—at least not directly.”

“I wonder why the High Priestess told me I would see her again. Do you think she did not die back then?”

He shakes his head.

“With the amount of energy required to seal off Tartareia, it is very unlikely she survived, even for someone as strong as her. Perhaps she meant you might see her in your dreams? Like it happened last time?”

“That’s a good point.” I nod. “She seemed to see me, too, in the dream. Maybe that’s the key to communicating with her.”

He smiles at me.

“Once you get better at controlling your powers, you will be able to control what you dream.”

The meat is soon ready and I prepare some for the dogs before I resume my seat next to him and we eat in silence.

Tomorrow at this time we might already be in Tartareia, and the concept frightens me. Not because it is considered the literal hell of the universe, but because it holds all of Nykander’s memories of his precious Mo.

I wrinkle my nose as I glance at him from the corner of my eye.

He might have told me Mo is in the past, but I can’t help but be worried.

He hasn’t been there in seven thousand years. I fear that as soon as we get there, he’s going to be reminded of his time with her. It’s already enough that his revenge is foremost in his mind, and that is inherently linked to her.

Stop it, Barbi!

I shake myself. I promised him to help, and I will. But despite his assurances, I find myself growing more jealous by the day.

I’m jealous he loved before.

I’m jealous he was with someone before.

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