Page 58 of Villainous Greed

I was almost afraid he didn’t hear me over the gurgling waterfall beside us.

August frowned. “Get what?”

“They acted as if I didn’t try to kill them earlier.”

“I think you’re forgetting you also saved them. Despite the hardships you’ve faced, you still made the conscious choice to be good, even before knowing Harvest’s trick. You’re more than you think, Nova, and I can’t wait to see you flourish.”

My heart pounded as August walked ahead, as if his words didn’t cause a frenzy in my chest.

“To be honest, they’ll probably wait until they need a favor or want to be an ass and randomly say, remember that time you almost killed me?” August whistled. “This place is beautiful.” A lot of places in the human world were beautiful. But in some places, the air was scorching, suffocating, and made my clothes cling to my skin. Or it was so cold my teeth chattered. I wasn’t sure which feeling was worse.

I had been a fan of that hideout while with Harvest, since I enjoyed using the water to bathe. A strange sense of lightness loosened my shoulders when I realized I never had to wash myself that way again. The thought strangely brought tears to my eyes. Being near August felt like I had woken up from a terribly long, bad dream and didn’t know how to embrace being awake.

“Yes, it’s beautiful out here,” I agreed. “Behind the waterfall is the nightmare.”

August walked down the small rock path beside the water. “No one’s guarding the entrance.”

“Good, then they won’t mind if we pop in and say hello.” Sebastian’s voice caught me by surprise and the rush of adrenaline had my pulse throbbing in my ear. Somehow, I remained calm as he and Isabella sauntered past me.

“I’m not surprised to see you,” August muttered.

“You didn’t think we’d let you two hunt Harvest alone, did you?” Sebastian asked, reaching for Isabella’s hand.

“You’re not the only one Harvest has hurt,” Isabella murmured, staring directly at me. “I also deserve my revenge.”

“He won’t be at any of the hideouts,” I said. “But taking out his army will affect him. It could draw him out.”

“Then let’s do that,” Sebastian said.

The ground trembled beneath my feet, and rocks bounced around my boots as an enormous dragon flew through the waterfall. I blinked as water splashed against me.

“They know we’re here.” Sebastian materialized a blade.

Contemplating the creature’s lifeless organs, I raised my hand, aware of the concoction that Harvest had used to revive them. I pictured those organs exploding as I stretched my fingers apart, then balled my hand into a fist and exclaimed, “Boom!”

The dragon shrieked as he descended from the sky. More water splashed on us as the creature sank into the water.

“The water is deeper than I thought,” August said. “You can’t see the dragon at all.”

Sebastian’s jaw dropped. “Okay, so we’ve been struggling with these dragons and your girl is taking them out by closing her fist.”

August smirked. “To be fair, Isabella and her deadly touch could have destroyed them, too.”

“Your brother’s right,” Isabella agreed. “Although I’m not sure how my touch would affect something that’s already dead.”

“I’d rather you not get close enough to find out,” Sebastian said.

“Come here.” August reached out his hand. “I’ll help you around these rocks.”

“I’ve stepped over them plenty of times.” I walked toward him, taking his hand anyway.

______

“This is boring,” Sebastian complained as I stepped over the corpse of a bird demon. “Nova is taking them out before we can do anything. I haven’t used my sword once.”

“No one told you to come,” August retorted. “But Nova, maybe you can let us help?”

That was the fourth hideout I destroyed. I thought it would make me happy to kill those demons helping Harvest, but it left me filled with questions. How many of his followers, like me, had no choice but to join? How many of them were the victims of trickery? Maybe it was better not to wonder.

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