Page 50 of Ties of Deception

Tamel smiled. “I’m glad you’re back, Purity, even if it means he’s talking about you all over again.”

I didn’t know how to reply, so I merely smiled in return as they both walked to the balcony.

I shook myself mentally to clear away my negative thoughts. Though disconcerting, it was nice to have people talking to me as a friend instead of a political rival or a goddess they couldn’t risk upsetting. Even if I struggled to see myself in the person they described, I felt less lonely now.

I stood up. “They don’t call you by name,” I murmured to Ethen as they disappeared.

He rested his hand in the small of my back, dipping his head close to mine. “No. Only you and my parents do. They know my name, however. It’s fine for you to use it in front of them, though I’d appreciate it if you kept it hidden from anyone else in Atos.”

I looked away, sure my cheeks were heating with the intimacy of that knowledge.

Without warning, Ava strode over and caught my arm. I’d forgotten she was here. “A word, Purity. Alone.”

She gave Ethen a meaningful look. He didn’t look too happy about her request, but he held up his hands and backed off anyway.

Ava spoke in a low, hard voice. “Purity, listen to me. You need to hear this from somebody who cares about you and only you—not those boys who worship the Aidis as if he’s Ienar himself. You have a choice. You have always had a choice. Just because you’re Fated to this man doesn’t mean you have to go to the Unseen Lands with him, marry him, or even listen to him. I don’t care what he’s told you. Just…think for yourself, won’t you?”

I frowned and lowered my voice to match hers. “What is it you’re worried about? Why don’t you like him?”

She narrowed her eyes at Ethen who was studiously trying to ignore us from the other side of the room. “He’s selfish, and he doesn’t deserve you.”

I touched her arm to regain her full attention. “Why? Tell me.”

She folded her arms. Pain and anger twisted her expression. “All I know is he pursued your relationship when it was literally killing you. He deliberately put you in danger for his own selfish needs. He told me it would be different now, but what do I find? Here he is, using you for his own means in a situation that puts you in danger. You could literally be killed in this competition, Purity. Do you understand that? Onlytheycall it beingretired. Only this time, there will be no silver lining, you’ll just be dead. And he will have killed you a second time.” She sneered. “Last time, you were so infatuated with him you couldn’t see what was good for you. If I were you, I would stay away from the Aidis. Stay away from them all. Leave this place and live your own life for once.” She pushed her roughly chopped fringe angrily from her face.

I blinked, surprised at the torrent of her words. “The people of Atos stealing souls affects me too,” I managed. “They stole my own soul. And I wouldn’t call Ethen selfish to want to stop the corruption here. Especially when it is killing Graces like me.”

“People are always dying, Purity. Thousands of them all over the world for hundreds of different reasons. You need to know your own limits.” She made a disgusted face. “You’re always defending him. Can’t you see that you don’t always have to be the one whose life is in danger for others?” She looked away with a scowl. “That’s all I have to say.”

Before I could reply, she spun and stalked to the edge of the balcony, clumsily pushing herself over the side. She didn’t meet my eyes again.

Ethen crept back to my side. “Are you…all right? I know she’s…strongly opinionated.”

I took a deep breath. “No, it’s fine. I want to hear what she has to say, especially if we were close.”

He nodded, his eyes fixed on the spot where she disappeared. “You two lived together for years. You’ve known each other since childhood. When you left your parents’ house, you and Ava shared a house as friends in Erebus for three years. Then you lived with her again toward the end of your life, when you were too frequently ill to live by yourself. Though that house was in the countryside, where it was more peaceful. She hasn’t forgiven me for your early death.”

Once again, I felt unbalanced. How could these people know so much about me, when I knew nothing about them? “So we…got along well?”

Ethen’s voice was soft. “You did, somehow. The two of you are very different. But I was always grateful that you had her, somebody who was there for you when I couldn’t be.” His last words cracked slightly with underlying pain.

I turned to Ethen. “I’d better get some sleep.” If that was even possible with everything going through my mind right now.

He smiled. “Good idea. I won’t be far. Remember you’re never alone.”

He brushed his lips against the back of my hand, smiled a little too tightly, and leapt over the side of the balcony after his friends.

Chapter

Nineteen

The hazy shadows started to gain clarity around me. Voices echoed as if from miles away, yet I could still catch the words.

“You’re killing her! Just because you’re the Aidis, doesn’t make this acceptable!” The voice was Ava’s.

My lungs wouldn’t work as I lay crumpled and broken on the hard wooden floor. Each breath was agony. My hair was matted and unbound. I stretched out my hand toward the door with the last of my strength. There was only one word in my mind.Ethen.

I sat up in bed, panting. Everything was quiet. I rubbed the grit from my eyes. It was the same dream as before. Did that make it a memory? How could I tell?

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