Page 28 of The Brothers Bane

I step closer to her again, relieved that she doesn’t retreat this time, though Alcides gives me a warning glare, moving to step in front of her again. She places a hand on his arm to hold him back and lets me get close enough to reach up and brush my fingertips lightly down the contour of her jaw. Close enough that her earthy female scent inundates me, mixed though it is with the demigod’s more potent musk.

“Because you’re still essentially human. You can be manipulated. Chaos wants to balance the score with Fate, and he’s decidedyouare the way to do that. You’d just be part of his collection. The Titans… they’re a wildcard right now. I still don’t know what their endgame is, but I have suspicions. You’re a weapon, and the moment they learn what we have pointed at them, they’ll try to acquire you to use against us, or to use against the gods themselves.”

A harsh swallow ripples down her throat, and I sense the slightest tilt of her head against my hand before she steps back out of my reach and Alcides curls his arm protectively around her waist. “I thought Chaos was your boss. Doesn’t that mean he’s powerful enough to beat the Titans? Why can’t he capture them?”

“He doesn’t see it as his problem beyond making sure I do my job. None of the gods are altruistic, nor the primordials. There’s no such thing as good and evil. There are only shades of selflessness, of honor, or lack thereof. And if you live as long as the gods, the rest of existence stops mattering more than your own next diversion. Even the nice ones have to be in the mood to help.”

“What makes you think you’re any different?”

“I’m not. But I was never influenced by Fate before. Their magic makes you want things that otherwise would never have mattered.”

“SoFate made you do it, is that what you’re saying? Way to pass the blame.”

She crosses her arms again, her lips pressed into a bitter line.

“Fate magic linked me to a mate, Nemea,” I correct her. “Fate magic offered me something I never believed I could have, and now that I know you exist, I will doeverythingin my power to keep you.”

14

Nemea

Vesh’s hands crackle with purple lightning when he tells me how he’d do anything to keep me. My skin prickles with awareness of his power, every inch of my body’s surface alive, as if calling to him.

He puts distance between us, clenching his fists as if to keep himself from reaching for me too.

“I don’t trust you enough to give you more right now,” I say. Whether it’s an explanation or an apology, I don’t know, but I’m grateful for Alcides’ presence beside me.

Vesh returns my look with a rueful half-smile. “That’s okay. I don’t trust myself enough not to take too much. I will take comfort knowing that when you give yourself to them, you are also giving yourself to me. I can live with that, for now.”

“Even Alcides? Is he really part of you like the others are?”

“He is.” Vesh glances at the man by my side, lips tilting in a half-smile. “I don’t have quite the same power over him as I do the others, as you may have noticed. But he and I do share a bond. He’s served me for centuries. He’s almost as close to me as my brothers are, which is why his betrayal cuts so deep. He’s yours now, more than he was ever mine.”

I reach for Alcides’ hand where it rests at my hip and pull it across my belly, threading my fingers through his. I’m gratified by the gentle squeeze he gives me.

“He’s more than just a guard now. He’s also inside me the way the others are—Typhon, Erebus, Pan, Asterius, and Chrysaor.”

I deliberately speak each name so they know I’m aware they’ve been there all along, even if I haven’t acknowledged them. Some of the strange energy vibrating inside my mind calms and then slowly fades away as if they’re satisfied that I’m okay. Only a shadow of Pan remains lingering at the back of my mind, guarding.

Vesh’s irises flicker the way I’ve seen a dragon’s do when they shift their sight. Some of the tightness wound around his body dissipates, and I know he’s relieved they’ve returned to him.

“One of them will be with you always. If Alcides isn’t by your side, Campe will be. If she isn’t, one of the others will be with you on the inside. I don’t care how skilled these women are, or what divine magic they have at their command; they don’t know what we’re up against. They’ve never faced the powers we’ll have to fight soon. If the Titans come for you here, I want someone I trust to be with you.”

“You’re actually letting her out?”

He spreads his hands in front of him. “It’s a compromise. I can’t be with you here, even if the Amazons did allow it. It’s uncertain whether they’ll allow Alcides to stay long enough to see you through training, no matter how little time is left for that. Campe will be welcome, and she can offer training the other women can’t. She can also balance your magic better than most. Dragons are adept at absorbing excess power. She’s been steeped in chaos magic for eons so it won’t be difficult for her.”

“When is she coming?”

“Now, if you wish. I need to leave you, and as much as I’m sure Alcides thinks he’s enough for you, he isn’t.”

He trails off, and I can sense his hesitance to leave. Alcides squeezes my hand again, but it doesn’t feel like an objection to the suggestion that he isn’t enough for me.

“I’ll be okay,” I say, even though I’m overwhelmed by uncertainty and a strange sense of helplessness at the idea of him disappearing.

Then he nods and raises his hands in front of him. He weaves his fingers across each other, then pulls them apart with a snap. I gasp as the very air between us rips open in a whorl of crackling violet magic, smoke rising into the air around it.

When the smoke clears, the rift is gone, and Vesh is nowhere to be seen. In his place stands a tall, gorgeous woman in snug leather armor, a dark braid draped over her shoulder all the way to her waist, and sleek, shimmering horns on her head.

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