Page 198 of The Delta's Rogue
“Why didn’t you say anything to me about this?” Selene asks Haven. “We’ve spoken several times these last weeks.”
“I figured there wasn’t any point. You never intervened before we found out about all of this, because you’re not allowed to. It’s not likemesaying something to you would change that.”
Wesley slips his hand into Haven’s as she stares at Selene. My skin prickles with the awkwardness filling the room as we wait for Selene to respond to Haven’s subtle jab, all of us avoiding eye contact with each other.
“You’re right,” Selene says slowly. “I’m not supposed to intervene. But if I had known, I would have found some way around that to help you.”
“Ifyou had known?” Wesley raises one eyebrow. “You’re a goddess. You know everything.”
“Tell me, Cassandra”—Selene switches her attention away from Haven and Wesley—“do oracles see all and know all? Do you have an infinite insight into the way the future will unfold?”
Reid laughs. “Cassandra’s not an oracle. Not technically.”
His remark is met with humorless silence.
“Not the time, Reid,” Nolan mutters.
“As anacolyte”—Cassandra snaps her head pointedly towards the phone even though Reid can’t see her—“I only see snippets. Usually—or at least, since I moved here—those snippets are when Haven or Nolan’s safety is threatened. But even a full oracle has limits of what they see and know.”
Selene scans all our faces, ensuring we all witness the truth in her words. “Like the oracles, I am not all knowing. I am not omniscient. None of the gods are. I did not know there was someone out there targeting my warriors in so heinous a manner to exact revenge on me.” She holds Wesley’s gaze once more. “I’m not supposed to intervene, but I will help in whatever way I can.”
Wesley nods his acceptance of Selene’s offer. He scrubs his hand down his face, his exhaustion and apprehension breaking through his joy at the birth of his son. They paint themselves onto his face as dark circles under his eyes and frown lines in his skin.
“What else did you see?” Wesley asks Cassandra.
“Not much,” she admits apologetically. “They’ll be here atsunset.”
“How many?” I ask.
“A lot?” She shakes her head and squeezes her eyes shut. “I don’t know. It was fast, and there wasn’t enough time to count them all.”
“Why are they attackingus?” Reid asks through the phone.
“Brenna didn’t say. I’m not sure she knows why, only that they are,” Dominic replies.
“Do you think…” Haven swallows and tries again. “Do you think Lyall—or whoever he’s working for—knows about me? That I’m your daughter and I’m here?” she asks Selene. “Do you think he wants me?”
“No.” Selene’s response is instant and certain. “None of the other gods know your identity. I’ve made sure of that. They know you exist, but they don’t know who you are.”
“And you’re certain Lyall’s working for another god?” Wesley asks.
“He has to be. Only a god can make someone a demigod.”
“Who’d you pissed off then?” Wesley asks Selene.
She laughs drily. “It could be anyone. The gods are petty and have infinite time to hold grudges.”
Reid’s voice overlaps Selene’s. “That still doesn’t explain why they are attacking us.”
“They must have figured out that everything Sebastian did and said was a lie,” Sarina says.
“But how?” Reid insists.
“Does it matter?” Sarina retorts. “They figured it out. We’ve lost our advantage, and now they’re on their way here. They’re on their way here, and it’s—”
She bites her lip and lowers her chin to prevent herself from finishing her sentence. But I know what she was about to say: it’s all her fault.She said those same words to me the other day when I chased her through the forest, and I’ve sensed her placing blame on herself more times than I can count over the last week.
“I’ll make sure those unable to fight evacuate to the neighboring packs,” I say to Wesley, taking the lead so he doesn’t have to bear this mental load. “Everyone who is able and willing to fight will be ready by sunset.”
