Page 41 of Ties of Deception

He scrunched his eyebrows together. “Well, at least you seem to be gaining some trust in me.” His words lacked their normal humorous edge. “We can…try it. But, Purity, there will be tremendous pressure on you. You have to be in control of your emotions. You have to be powerful. And you have to outwit them in every one of their games to shame or scare you.”

I pulled in a deep breath. “I know. But now I have an aim and a purpose to keep me going…” I met his eyes again. “Whatever is going on, I want to know. And if it’s as evil as it sounds, we must stop it.” I set my jaw in determination. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened to Serene.”

His eyes didn’t leave mine—deep and harsh, yet somehow warm. “You’ll have to deceive them, Purity. You’ll have to gain their trust and then use it against them. Are you sure you can do that and not lose yourself in the process? You need to be clear from the start what you are willing to do and what crosses the line.”

I looked down. I would do it. I had to. If playing this game of deceit was the only way to win, I would remember how desperate our cause was—and our need to discover how they had gained souls to force them into new bodies.

I looked up with a shaky smile, eager to move on. I could think this through more thoroughly later—without him staring at me. “And you? Other than helping me, do you have a plan?”

He gave me a long, lingering look, as if telling me the discussion wasn’t over, before replying. “My men and I have been exploring the palace and grounds and also much of Fierro as well as Yienna. We are good at avoiding being seen, but there is still much we haven’t found. The priests are extremely secretive. We have noticed however, that they barely ever use the streets, not on foot nor in litters nor by horseback. It makes us suspect there are tunnels under both cities. Tunnels linking the temples to who knows elsewhere. However, we haven’t found any entrances. They must use them to transport something—or someone—without anyone knowing. Maybe the materials they use to resurrect Graces.”

I frowned. “You think the tunnels are where they perform whatever rituals they use to create the goddesses?”

He shrugged. “However they capture the souls, resurrect them, give them powers, wipe their memories,andchange their appearance must be a complicated process. Maybe it involves a lot of different people and stages. One theory is that they secretly move a dead body to the temple so it can receive a soul. There must be some signs. Bodies of young women disappearing. But so far we have…nothing. We can’t even tell who is involved when a goddess is born—beyond a priest.”

I frowned, tapping my chin. The more he explained what was happening, the stranger it felt.

He pinned me with an intense gaze. “But it sounds like most of my time will be spent protecting you. I’ll see what I can find out from the Graces and maybe scare a few into giving something away. We’ve been watching the ones that frequent the palace, and I have information that may help you if you really do intend to compete with them.”

I scoffed. “You act so severe and serious in the palace,allof them will be scared of you.”

He huffed a laugh. “Well, I am a god of death after all. The fearsome Aidis. They should be at least a bit scared of me.” His smile widened as he looked at me, a glint of pride in his eyes I was certain I didn’t deserve. “But I have the feeling they should be absolutely terrified by you.”

Chapter

Sixteen

Iextracted myself from a dinner with the family to celebrate a successful week of petitions, saying I wished to rest. Drusella was so happy with how well the week had gone after all her worrying, that she didn’t stop talking and personally spooned some of every available dish onto my plate. Her goddess was finally working. I imagined the family would be getting much more money now, as well as more sway with the other families in Yienna.

But if I was to help Ethen, I would need to go back to Fierro and live close to the palace for some time. I wasn’t sure what excuse to use or how to break it to the family—especially since every time I had gone in the past, I had come back upset and in disgrace. It would also be Drusella’s worst nightmare—me abandoning the family that had gone to such great lengths to lavishly accommodate me.

Not to mention I would be abandoning the people of Yienna. Just because I was helping Ethen find out what was going on with the goddesses, didn’t mean I wanted to stop Blessing people. If we stopped the souls from being stolen from the Unseen Lands, there would be no more Graces. But then, wouldn’t the ordinary people be the ones who suffered most?

Not to mention that Ethen wanted to marry me and take me away from this island altogether. Was it even possible to Bless people with powers of life in the realm of the dead? Or would the only purpose of my powers be to bear him a child?

Either Ethen or Atos would have to lose me. Where exactly did my loyalties lie? To my new life? Or to my old life that I couldn’t even remember?

Flavia passed me a cup of herbal tea. “You seem distracted tonight, my lady.”

I smiled at her in apology. “I have a lot on my mind. I feel like I’m being pulled in different directions.”

She nodded, accepting it without seeming curious. “I will burn some incense to help you sleep. I noticed some new ones have been delivered today. And maybe a bath would help?”

I agreed and bathed in milky waters bedecked with rose petals before getting into my cotton nightgown and bathrobe. I dismissed the maids but kept the robe on in case Ethen visited. I hadn’t seen him for five days, and every night, I’d gone to sleep disappointed. I had eaten a pomegranate from the basket under my bed every night he hadn’t come, helping me remember that he was real and not some strange fantasy I had been driven to by confinement. When he’d left last time, he’d said he had business to attend to in Fierro—and five days really shouldn’t feel so long to not see somebody. I couldn’t deny that the fruit was delicious, even served by a god of death.

I lay down on top of my bedcovers and closed my eyes, the smooth fruit of the last pomegranate in my hand. I traced my thumb back and forth across the cool, hard skin and smelled the incense wafting on the gentle sea breeze. I couldn’t name the flavor; it was so different from the ones we’d had in the villa before.

A memory flickered at the edge of my consciousness. At first it was just a sense of familiarity as if I’d done these exact actions before. I grasped at the feeling, trying to drag it into focus. The feel of the pomegranate. The smell of incense. The softness of the bedcovers.

I remembered another silk bed—much smaller. A rock skittering across the floor. A burst of excitement and a rush to a window high above the ground. A window I had purposefully left open. A man dressed in black climbing up with a wide smile on his face. The Aidis, who only I was allowed to call Ethen. My chest felt as if it would burst. The memory was so full of joy and warmth and anticipation…and love. I stepped back to let him in and so we didn’t accidentally touch, though I longed to throw myself into his arms. I would have done anything, absolutely anything to be embraced by him. I wanted it more than anything else in the world. But I knew we couldn’t.

I snapped my eyes open, panting as the memory faded. The emotions had been so intense—I had never felt anything like them before. But it had been so, so familiar. Had I truly been remembering what had happened between Snow and Ethen?

“May I come in?”

I leapt off the bed as if I had been caught in the middle of something I shouldn’t have been. The memory of longing for Ethen’s touch was too thick in my mind, distorting my reaction to hearing his voice. My heart thudded alarmingly fast, and the urge to throw myself into his arms still lingered.

“You startled me. You could have at least thrown your normal rocks to give me some warning.” I took a moment to make sure my bathrobe was in place and the ruffled waves of my hair were mostly falling down and not up. “Come in.”

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