Page 111 of The Divine Lies We Weave

“Scorpion,” the Viperess whispered.

“Viperess.”

Rajesh’s voice was deeper with a dark and dangerous undertone.

Leela studied Rajesh as he laid there.

“Is what you said true?” the Scorpion said.

The Viperess tilted her head. “Yes.”

“You did not sleep with that Flame?”

“No.”

“It was all… a lie?” the Scorpion stammered.

The Viperess bowed her head and planted a hand on Rajesh’s—no, the Scorpion’s—chest.

“Yes,” the Viperess said. “I never slept with another Flame. He lied to you. I never wanted him. Yet, you believed his word over mine. What else could I feel but anger, Scorpion? For you not to trust me. For you to not even listen. For my rights to be taken away from me and thrown into the Netherworld without a word of reason? You cast me aside without hearing me, the one person you were meant to love. That was utter betrayal.”

“You broke the realms,” the Scorpion continued. “You put a curse on me.”

“A curse for you to feel your emotions, over and over again, and let the monsters spill from within. You refused to listen to me, refused to let me even speak, and so yes, I cursed you. Out of anger and spite. You brought this on yourself.”

The Scorpion shook his head and sat up, grabbing the Viperess’s hands.

Leela felt her body tense as the Viperess met his eyes.

The Scorpion held out a hand and trailed a finger over her cheek, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. “I… I don’t believe it. It never happened?”

“No,” the Viperess said, so simply it pierced Leela’s chest. “I never bedded another man. Why would I want to when I had you? When I put everything on the line to be your lover? I was meant to marry someone else, Scorpion. We were in this together.”

The Scorpion’s eyes widened, the golden glow quaking. “It was all a lie…?”

“A lie woven by another infamous Flame,” the Viperess added.

The Scorpion snapped his eyes to hers. “Why didn’t you just say it?”

“I had no chance. I was cast out before you would hear me!”

The Scorpion shook his head. “No. No, I would have listened. I would have!”

“You didn’t,” the Viperess hissed. “You refused. The Flames all believed the Viper, and I was pushed aside. All your tales, lies, and gossip twisted my words into words with no power.”

The Scorpion stared at nothing, eyes widening and tears springing forward. “Oh… All this… All this anger… All this… Oh… Oh….”

The Viperess grabbed Rajesh by his chin and forced him to look at her. “I have always loved you. No one else.”

“And I, you, my little Viperess,” the Scorpion said.

Something shattered within Leela then, so big it pushed her back. Her heart twisted and churned, all the feelings of vengeance draining away as the Viperess stared into the Scorpion’s faithful eyes.

Anger fell into a puddle at her feet, falling with such force that the Viperess’ emotions went numb.

“Can you forgive me….?” the Scorpion asked.

The Viperess paused. Tattered images of the Viperess and the Scorpion together in the Awakening—of them fighting and arguing, of them being intimate, of them breaking apart—revolved around Leela.