Page 80 of A Simple Truth

“Why does anything need to happen? Can one not enjoy a cup of wine occasionally in peace?” I retorted.

“No,they” —Orest motioned to the nine men scattered in the dark around the tent— “are enjoyinga cup.You are at a barrel's worth, at this point.”

“I hold my liquor quite well. It’s rather a gift,” I replied.

“Come on, Gideon, last time you were this drunk was the day your uncle died. What happened?” Daibog chimed in.

“The question is not what…but rather,who?” Ivan motioned with his wrist, exposing his wedding band with the ring attached to it. “I’ve been married long enough to say that only a Destroyer woman can cause this much damage.”

“Our boy is in love!” Bear loudly laughed, my body wincing at the brash noise. “Welcome to the club, Lord of Death.” He grinned, toasting the air with his empty cup.

Love.

I fucking despised the word. I had no interest in being in love.

You are brutal, insufferable, incredibly, unbelievably arrogant, lacking basic humility…and whatever else she spat at me.Finn’s words echoed in my mind, haunting me. Words that I’d been trying to drown but they somehow drowned me instead.

I do not wish to entertain any foolish ideas. Not now—not ever.

I should’ve saidfuck you tooand yet, here I was, hoping to get so fucking drunk that I wouldn’t be able to walk down to her tent and beg on my knees for her to give me another chance. To beg her to love me, because I needed her so desperately that I felt like my lungs collapsed onto themselves at the thought of living without her presence.

“What is all of this?” Zora’s voice sounded in the dark as her and Cass appeared. “What are you all doing here?” she charged, glancing around and narrowing her eyes at Orest.

“League meeting. What are you doing here?” he replied confidently, straightening up.

“Girl business,” Cass answered instead, glancing over at me with what I could only guess was pity, but she couldn’t feel worse for me than I already did.

“What kind of girl business do you all have inTroy’s provision tent?” Daibog smirked, sending a wink to his wife. Cass just shook her head, smiling.

“This kind.” She easily pushed one of the barrels down, rolling it out of the tent.

“Troy will poison us all tomorrow for messing with his stuff.” Oleyg chuckled, finishing up the last few drops of wine in his cup.

Zora turned to face me with her sharp judging eyes.

“I am not going to say I told you so, but I told you so. You should’ve never messed with a Creator to begin with.” Her harsh words felt like knives slicing my skin.

“She was fucking engaged, Zora. She was going tomarryhim,” I threw back at her.

“She didn’t know. But you knew all along. The blame is on you.”

“This isn’t helpful, Zora,” Orest softly noted, giving her a look.

“You are lucky Finn has a heart of gold and didn’t kill Petunia on the spot,” Cass added, peeking back in from outside. “Heavens know, I probably would have.” She glared at Daibog, who returned a loving stare. “What were you thinking, gallivanting across the camp with her?”

“She came up for the council meeting, and I wasn’tgallivantingher anywhere,” I returned, the wine making my thoughts heavier.Finally.

“It sure looked like gallivanting to me…” Cass shook her head with condemnation before leaving the tent.

“Great, now ten other women are angry at me too?” I filled my cup to the brim again, ignoring Zora's disappointment-filled face.

“You are pathetic when you’re drunk, Gideon. Finn is one of us; of course, we have her back. There are only two sides to the story here. One is right, and one is yours. So, you do the math.”

“Thanks for that, cousin.” I saluted her, scowling. She returned the sour smile but paused on the threshold before adding,

“People that don’t care, don’t get jealous, Gideon. When you sober up, you should think on that,” she said, her voice a bit less harsh. Zora departed, but her words anchored deep within my sinking thoughts.

“She loved him… Whoever her fiancé was. She truly, actually loved him. Perhaps she still does,” I uttered to no one in particular. At first, I tried to let it go, but that bothered me now more than ever. “And you know the worst part?” I proclaimed to the quieted company of my fellow commanders. “I can’t even say with certainty that it wasn’t me who killed him. Probably was.”

---