Page 117 of Revenge of the Forgotten

A piece of Vega’s heart broke at her confession. “Marlena knew. She always knew what would happen if someone lived after successfully summoning a god. It’s why she summoned them all. It was worth the risk to her, but she didn’t expect Remus to answer us once she’d taken all the others.” Vega wondered where Romulus was or if his brother’s curse had sent him straight to the underworld. “And my curse, it’s not going to run out. The only thing at the end of its rope is Marlena’s patience because she can’t break the curse she put on me. Our summoning messed up her perfectly planned ploy.”

Khort rolled his eyes. “We can’t trust Marlena. We know that.”

And you can’t trust me, Vega thought before metaphorically pulling her knife out and jabbing both of her best friends in the back. “She told me in my first life,” she murmured, forcing her eyes up from the spot she’d been boring a hole through with her stare. “When she leaned in before killing me.”

Vega knew she didn’t have to ask if they remembered that detail—she knew they did. “She told me what we are, what happened to us, and I kept it from everyone because I didn’t know how to test if what she’d told me was true.” She wasn’t ready to strike the final blow, but it had to be done—she’d put it off for too long. “It’s true. I tested it with Bridger to get away, to stun him. When we survived the summoning and Remus bonded us, he strengthened us with whatever power he had left. He was a demi, and we were demis.”

“What’s true?” Arlet mused.

“Were?” Khort asked, and Vega watched as the wheels began to turn, the answer clicking in both of their heads before she said it.

“We’re gods now. We have been all this time.”

Arlet didn’t move, looking at Vega like she had three heads. Khort began to laugh, light at first and then hard, like what Vega said was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. He slapped his knee and pushed himself away from the table.

“Oh gods, that’s a good one.” Khort straightened himself, his laugh tapering off.

Arlet’s head swiveled between the two of them. She let out a forced laugh, but Vega didn’t join in, and the laugh immediately caught in her throat. “You’re not kidding.”

As Vega shook her head, Khort went pale as a winter’s night in Amora. “No, I’m not.”

Khort grabbed the side of the desk to keep himself upright. “Wh-why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t know if it was true or not. If she was trying to get in my head,” Vega admitted.

“But now you say you know it’s true because you tested it on Bridger?” Arlet was spearheading the questions while Khort broke out in a nervous sweat.

“I stabbed him in the heart.”

Khort caught himself before his knees hit the ground. “You killed him?”

Vega shook her head. “He can’t die. He’s a god. He’s alive. I can feel him. Can’t you?”

Arlet froze completely, staring Vega down with eyes as wide as they could go.

“There’s no way.” Khort shook his head, pacing the room like he did when he needed to think. “Why would you keep this from us? We deserved to know this even if you didn’t know if it were true.”

Vega crossed her arms and held on to her shoulders, trying to comfort herself through the sadness she felt in her betrayal. “I know. I’m sorry. In some lives, I didn’t think about it. Marlena never brought it up again after the first time. I think she was going to try to use it against me to make me look like the bad guy. And ya know, I’m not saying I’m not the bad guy here?—”

“You’re not,” Arlet interrupted, turning to give Khort a look. “You’re not the villain in this story, whether you kept this from us or not.” She turned her attention back to Vega. “I’m upset that you didn’t tell us sooner, but you’ve been put through so much, and I can’t imagine what it’s like inside your head.”

Khort crossed his arms, clamming up. He was mad, and Vega didn’t blame him. Not everyone was Arlet—forgiveness came easier to her.

“I always thought it was a possibility.” Arlet tapped her nails on the table, lost in her head.

“You knew?” Khort choked out.

“No, I just had a feeling that we could be. I mean, come on. We don’t get tired anymore, we can fight for hours without burnout, and I have powers that no one has ever heard of. Vega and I can find each other anywhere, we can all feel each other’s pull, and you have powers only warriors should have. And let’s be real, Vega and Bridger are bonded in ways you and I will never understand.” Arlet pointed between herself and Khort.

Vega physically hurt when Arlet spoke about her and Bridger. How could he have left her, knowing they were forever linked in such a unique way? No, you’re not going to feel anything for that bastard. A feather fluttered inside her mind, like a tickle of a touch, but Vega forced the feeling away.

Khort’s eyes clouded with the glaze he got before he shifted or when his anger rose, but it was gone before Vega could say anything about it.

“You said you stabbed Bridger, which obviously had to come after he let you go.” Arlet leaned back in her chair. She needed the facts—it was how she had always been.

Vega nodded, deciding to keep the kiss to herself. If only to keep Khort from shifting into a fire-breathing death machine in a space not meant for his dragon size… and probably because she didn’t want to think about how much she’d liked it.

“I thought about what you’d said, about his reaction to seeing me wearing the ring.” The one Vega was wearing now—the one she wore the entire time she was locked away under her sister’s estate. “How we need Bridger to win in any capacity.”

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