Page 79 of V for Vilified
Chapter 31
The Truth About Hera
Isqueezed my eyes shut when we passed through what had once been a solid wall. It was a natural reflex. I wasn’t used to walking into random walls that were apparently not walls. Grams’s training never covered imaginary architecture. When I glanced back, everything had returned to its solid appearance.
Lights came to life all around the room. The ceiling was impenetrable darkness and the floor glittered like diamonds had been imbedded into the marble-like stone. In the middle of the room was a similar magical map like Serine had when I was kidnapped.
I blinked and stared at it. “Is that a map or something? Serine had one, too.”
His lips thinned as he cut a sharp look at me. “Serine? That bloody death hag and you crossed paths?”
“Crossed is the wrong word. More like she hunted me down and kidnapped me. It’s how I met Big,” I explained. His rage invaded my head along with a twinge of respect for Big, so I quickly added, “Cash killed her after following me to this realm.”
Aram’s eyes flashed. “You were in our realm? When?”
I thought back on how long it’d been. “I guess it’s been a couple of months, but not sure how that translates to how time moves here. I didn’t really stay long enough to figure all that out.”
His surprise and contemplation fed my own. I barely caught the thought before he was speaking it, “That explains my sudden agitation. I’d been on edge for weeks and couldn’t explain the growing irritation. I must’ve sensed our bond.”
Smirking, I couldn’t help but say, “Like, you sensed me in the Force or something? Guess you’re as powerful as a Master Jedi.”
“Yoda has nothing on me, little mate. And before you try to compare me to Darth Vader, I’ll remind you that I’d never turn on the woman I love.Never.No vengeance will ever be worth it,” he went on to my shock and befuddlement.
“I have so many questions,” I mumbled, and failed not to smile when he chuckled and gestured to the table.
“But to answer your original question, it is something of a map. It locates those I’ve come in contact with and can now identify by magical signature, save that blasted Dark King of yours. I’ve been attempting to use it to track Hera, but unsurprisingly, she eludes a powerful map like this. Instead, I’ve been tracking the movements of anyone who I think might’ve come in contact with her, Lyra as you might’ve guessed.”
That explained how they found Lyra.
“This map doesn’t span just our realm. It includes all seven of the ones I’ve traveled to,” he added.
“Wait, seven?!”
“Yes, there may be more, but they are unknown to me. I can only track the ones I’ve personally gained access to. But most have led me to your realm where Hera’s concerned,” he went on, the map moving and changing shape. Suddenly, it was inside a building that still frequented my nightmares.
“That’s the lab!” I shouted, getting closer despite seeing everything clearly with my vampiric sight. It’d been fixed since I’d buried it in fire and destruction, but it was almost definitely the one Lux kept me in.
My stomach twisted at the thought of Nigel and the betrayal that put me in that hellhole. Grief had my stomach in knots. I’d been so wrapped up in everything here, I’d nearly forgotten that it wasn’t very long ago that I lost Nigel. It was a reminder I could’ve done without. It still hurt to think about him.
“You know this place? This was her last known location in your realm before I was…occupied with other things,” Aram murmured, his giant body behind mine as I peered into the magic-made replica of where I’d been held hostage.
I swallowed my grief and nodded. “Yeah, it’s one of the labs run by the Organization. Didn’t think they’d rebuild instead of relocate, but maybe they assumed we’d think they’d do the latter and stuck with the former. So, Hera’s working with them?”
That’d explain a lot. We’d already determined it had to be someone powerful they’d been aligned with, and the portal the boys used apparently owned by the recently deceased bastard, Lux, bypassed Lyra’s block. It’d make the most sense it was Hera’s doing.
Aram scoffed, his hair tickling my shoulder as he bent forward, peering closer at the magical hologram of the lab. “No, little mate. Hera created the Organization. She was the one who sent Lyra and her kind to the humans in that realm for experimentation. At least, that is what my findings suggest. She wanted to build a weapon to defeat me and my brothers because she wasn’t strong enough after what my mothers did to her.”
What his mothers did to her? But after his explanation, everything clicked into place.
“A weapon…” I breathed. “She created me...”
He brushed the hair from my neck and pressed a kiss on my shoulder. Heat exploded on contact. My body already craved his despite our recent tumble in the sheets.
“Yes, V. Hera is the reason you exist. I doubt she used her own blood. It’s likely Lyra’s or another Chaos Fae. She’d want you powerful, but not as powerful as her.” I could hear the smile on his lips. “A tragic miscalculation on her part because you most certainly are. Your time ability is coveted, as I’m sure you know. It can’t be predetermined. It’s purely happenstance. Even Hera couldn’t have anticipated a hybrid with it. It’s only ever been seen in Chaos Fae…and Nether Fae.”
I jerked my head his direction. “Nether Fae? Your people?”
“Why do you think she was so determined to exterminate us, little mate? What is it the humans say. Ah, yes. We are cut from the same cloth.” His jaw ticked. “Hera is mad with power. She’s willing to do anything to rule across the realms without contest, and I imagine you’re how she intends to do it.”
