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“Like I don’t?” He was silent, too damn silent, as he ran a hand down his face. “Are you in love with him?” I asked.
“What?”
“Are you marrying him because you’re in love with him, or are you settling?”
“Oh, fuck off, Cameron.”
“Are you in love with him?” I shouted, emotion out, ruling me harder than any storm Samkiel could conjure. My heart broke when he didn’t answer. He stared at me. Please, my heart begged, it cried, it screamed. Please don’t be in love with him. Please.
“It doesn’t matter.” He dropped his gaze from mine. “It’s too late. I am happy, and I am going to marry him. You had every opportunity over the centuries we’ve known each other, and I will not break someone’s heart because you finally decided to speak up. It’s not fair.”
My shoulders slumped. I have been stabbed, damn near dismembered, and swallowed whole, but nothing hurt as much as those words. My chest felt like it had caved in on itself. Maybe he was right. I’d waited too long, my own insecurities eating away at me. What if it wasn’t real for us? What if I messed it up like I had so many other things in my life? What if we weren’t even amata, and I just kept him from the one he truly needed? Athos, like every other god and goddess, had said love made you weak and caused you to lose focus. What if they were right?
“You’re right,” I said as I lied and lied and lied.
Xavier looked at me as if I’d just shattered something in him too, but he only nodded before shooting into the sky and out of my life.
Eighty
Kaden
“Do you like music, Roccurem?”
The fate merely shrugged. The suit he had on was a copy of the ones that most of the men below were wearing.
“The vibrations are pleasing at times, and sometimes not.”
A hundred bustling mortals shuffled toward their seats as the orchestra began to play. Instruments range from woodwinds, bowed string instruments, brass, and percussion, but my favorite was held by a female no more than thirty feet from me. Her arms moved as she readied the strings of her veslir. I stood on a balcony, several suit-and-tie mortals walking around behind me. Given how much had happened in the last few months, the gala was larger than I’d expected. I adjusted the thin lace mask on my face. It was identical to the ones everyone wore or held on a stick. Masquerade was the theme this evening. I folded my arms over my chest, the suit jacket bunching at my shoulders. The lights dimmed, and a mortal stepped onto the stage to announce the first act.
“You’re late,” I said, feeling him stop behind me.
“I got here as soon as I could.”
The music began slowly at first as everyone got settled in.
“Hmm,” I said, turning to face him. “Nice suit, Vincent.”
Vincent came to my side, as tense now as he was when he first started working for me. He gave Roccurem a once over, but the fate seemed to ignore him. He leaned forward, gripping the rails as he spoke.
“You are a fool to come out of hiding when everyone is looking for you.”
I ignored him, turning back toward the orchestra. The blonde woman began her solo, plucking at the strings of her veslir.
“I never understood music until coming to Onuna. The veslir has to be one of my favorite parts of this lowly world,” I said, nodding at the woman. “It’s the smallest in its family, but oh, the pitch is the highest. I feel as though it’s overlooked at times. Sure, people know its name, but not what it can truly do.”
“Is this another mind game?”
I slapped a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped. I spun him toward me. “No more games, buddy. The final act is about to begin, and I need you all where I want you.”
He nodded. “It’s done. The dream eaters did their part by planting the seeds of freedom in their minds.”
I squeezed his shoulder roughly, his bones groaning in my grip. He flinched beneath my hand. “Good. Good. I need them separated for what I have planned.”
“What happens to them? After?”
I smiled, turning back to watch the musician as she worked the instrument, coaxing beauty from it. “You know what happens. Don’t play dumb now. It’s not your strong suit.”
“Will it hurt?”
