Page 42 of Love, Nemesis
“I’ve got it,” she said firmly and Jasper left her. She directed her attention back to Lethe. “Why do you want Evira dead?”
“An old grudge.” he answered without pause.
“If you want me to let you go, I need you to be specific.”
“All right. You want the details? She used to serve the Strike. She gathered sacrifices for them, executed rituals, performed dissections, offered herself up to become a Strike herself, but the virus didn’t like her blood. You want any more reasons she should be dead?”
Ana wanted to object immediately, but it was hard to resist the horror in the truth. The dormant, En Sanctan part of her, wanted to let him finish the job right now. As a slave to the Strike, Ana had seen every manner of depravity that their priests and priestesses committed. Then again, she’d seen almost as bad from the ROSE, ROSE that had killed anyone associated with the Strike. If anything, she and Lethe were natural enemies. She was surprised he seemed so casual with her.
“You used oil. You would have gotten us all killed,” Ana accused and tightened her grip on the rope, pulling him harder.
“If you’d seen her do what I’ve seen her do, then you’d understand,” Lethe replied as if he didn’t notice the pain.
“So, you’d throw your life away that fast just for that?”
“I didn’t go in thinking that.”
“You didn’t realize oil burns?” She raised an eyebrow. “One wrong move and I set this off and have you hand-delivered to the State. Control yourself or I will,” she barked, frustrated now. “You might want her dead, but we need her help.”
“All right. You win,” he said, as if they’d just played a low-stakes game. “But you’re in a bad place if you want help from someone like that. I’m curious though, you were a slave to the Strike, right? I was wondering—”
She cut him off. “No questions, and just so we’re clear, I don’t want advice or perspective from a man who almost set himself on fire.” She eased back, allowing him to free himself from the rope. She followed him out onto the stage where everyone waited. The crowd had vacated the tent.
Evira clapped, beckoning one of her servants from the darkness. She offered her hands toward them. The servant pulled off a set of mutated gloves from her hands that seemed to almost deflate as they were removed.
Cal’s eyes grew wide as he watched the space where Evira’s hands should be.
“I have to use special gloves, tailored from a rare mutated thread found in the Mystics. Now I have to send these back to have them repaired,” she mumbled bitterly.
“Both of your hands are gone?” Cal half announced, half asked, making Ana want to wince.
Lethe smirked.
“From the war, courtesy of the Riders of Saint East,” Evira said, glancing over at Lethe.
“Sorry we didn’t finish the job,” he replied.
Helena walked between them, handing Evira a second set of gloves. As she placed them on Evira’s wrists, they took the form of hands.
She gestured back out to her servants, and they started pushing chairs onto the stage.
Cal jolted as a chair nudged past him to help form a circle.
Evira walked into the circle and sat down. “Join me.”
Ana scanned the room and was the first to oblige. Jasper followed and then Cal. Lethe stood behind one. Helena and several servants watched from the dark.
“Let’s address the obvious for Lethe’s sake. I did horrible things in the war,” Evira said, crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap. She said “horrible” as if the word didn’t belong to her. “But before any of you jump to conclusions, people worshiped us for it, hence why your cult”—she gestured to Lethe—“existed in hiding. If you want to make accusations about me being a villain, remember that first. Ana and…”
“Jasper,” Jasper answered her.
“I see you’re both in a hurry, so I’ll be frank, I know where to find Ares,” she said. “And I am willing to be your guide, but you will not want to go on your own. Cal. You seem like an ambitious boy,looking to make a name for himself. If recognition is what you want, this is the mission you want.”
“We don’t take amateurs,” Jasper replied, “And hold on. This is our mission. Not yours.”
“Are you sure it’s still your mission?” Evira asked, scanning the room. “If you don’t want my help, you don’t have to have it, but you won’t find Ares otherwise. If you do want to find him, you’ll need my help and also the help of an expert navigator.” She gestured to Lethe. “The Riders of Saint East were renowned not only for their horsemanship but also for possessing a deep understanding of the knowledge that no one in En Sanctus will share. Lethe was well known among even the Strike for understanding the workings of this new world we live in. He was, after all, one of the cogs in the machine that orchestrated our downfall.”
“Your nature was your ultimate downfall,” Lethe said. “And what makes you think I’ll help them?”
