Chapter 27
A GUILD OF ASSASSINS
Marina
The High God of Trickery and Mischief.
Marina’s pulse ricocheted in her throat.
Ronin and Naia both blinked, bewildered by the information. Their reactions were enough for Marina to assume that they knew nothing of the winter god’s background. Just as she did not know the true title of her supposed friend.
“Your brother?” Ronin echoed.
He fucking lied to me.
Betrayal singed her insides.
Again and again.
How far back did his treachery go?
Frames of memories glitched in her mind: Soren playfully pulling the drawstrings of her hood before jumping off the edge of the building; his promise to help see her vow through; offering her his hand the day she failed to defeat the previous High God of Night; consoling her failure with meaningless fun.
“The Morte guild is a selected group of assassins, loyal to one end: themselves. It was founded by my parents.” Theon spoke low and refused to meet the baffled stares directed at him. “Soren is my eldest brother. He gained his title as High God nearly five centuries ago.”
Rage burned the edges of Marina’s vision as she glared at the floor. Her fingers curled into fists behind her back, straining the chains around her wrists.
I am going to murder that lying bastard.
It was another vow that soaked straight down into her pith.
He’d fooled her, pretended to be her friend for so achingly long. And worst of all, she trusted him enough to be near Ash.
Savage images of her nephew, bleeding out, the life in his eyes running cold, all by Soren’s doing, plagued her mind.
Her heart sank.
What the fuck was I thinking?
Her attention jumped to Naia, remorse hot in her cheeks.
Her sister still gaped at Theon, mouth parted.
“I am so sorry.” Marina looked between Ronin and Naia, her chin quivering.
Desperation consumed her tone, afraid they believed she was in on whatever plans Soren had.
“I didn’t know who he truly was. I only wanted to protect Ash, and Soren was an old friend.
I trusted him, and with that, I put Ash’s life at risk. Gods, I am so fucking sorry.”
The room and everyone in it blurred. A lump swelled in her throat, and before she could catch it, a forceful sob escaped her.
“Please believe that I had no ulterior motives.” She blurted out the words through a heavy breath, the walls of her chest pulling taut.
“I don’t want you to lose faith in me despite all the awful things I have done.
I am trying, Naia, so damn hard to make up for the past. Please—please—don’t think any less of me.
I swear on my title, Naia, that I had no idea Soren was a High God. ”
She dropped her head, too ashamed by the horrid sounds of her own crying to face anyone. The elixir’s effects still swam in her veins, and no amount of resisting won against the demand to share her sincere feelings.
In a way, though, it was cathartic to unearth her emotions when she so easily folded them away.
“Rina.” Acacius’s tender voice cut through the static of her sniveling. She could feel the soft nudge of his boot against her own.
But she couldn’t look at him either. Not in this state, so pathetic and disgusted with herself. He’d stood down and sat through Ronin’s briars and a truth serum, all for her.
She didn’t deserve his loyalty, or the second chance from Naia and Ronin.
Naia crouched at Marina’s knees, wiping her drenched cheeks with her thumbs. “I do not think any less of you, Sister. I know you were only trying to do what was best for Ash, and I imagine you are just as shocked and hurt by this revelation as we are, considering Soren is your friend.”
She hunched over as loud, blubbering cries shook out of her. The ache pulled like knots in her heart.
She squeezed her eyes shut—furious at Soren for his deception, at herself for trusting him. The ever long companion known as grief embraced her yet again, leaving her to mourn a friend.
“We must work together to see Father’s vow through.” Naia gently pushed Marina’s hair over her shoulder, rubbed her arm with gentle squeezes. She caught every new droplet streaming down Marina’s cheeks with a swipe of her finger. “It is no longer your burden to bear alone, Marina.”
It is my reason to live, though.
My way for atonement.
Marina inhaled a short breath, exhausted from her own weeping.
Is it, though?
As if to find a way to quench her doubt, she finally allowed herself to look over at Acacius. She could feel the swollen skin around her eyes. Streams of crusted tears ran down her chin and the arch of her neck. She probably looked a mess, but she didn’t care.
He watched her with his mouth pulled into a frown, but his gilded eyes pooled with a softness reserved only for her.
For some reason, she remembered the day of Evander’s punishment, when they first spoke, and how his eyes had mesmerized her then. Like stars that had lived up in the sky since night’s creation, those always burned the brightest. They held the most light.
Even back then, his presence captivated her. In her hopelessness, his words reminded her of the power she wielded. Through her fear, his wicked charm had excited her. That day with him had stuck with her, and she often used what he’d told her as inspiration to keep going.
And in the midst of being his enemy, she’d come to look forward to her entanglements with the High God. A secret anticipation that had bloomed into a desire for his presence in her life.
Was Father’s vow truly her only reason to carry on?
Marina broke her gaze away from Acacius’s, returning her attention onto Naia.
Marina gave her a grateful nod. “Thank you for trusting in me, Sister.”
“Of course.” Naia straightened, smiling down at her. “Besides, you are a terrible liar. That and you are usually straightforward with your ploys, not caring who stands in your way. I imagine if your motives were aligned with Soren’s, you would’ve made yourself clear on the matter long ago.”
A light chuckle came from Acacius.
Marina did not look his way, remembering the time he stated the same thing about her inability to lie—moments before they entered his hot spring for the first time.
Ronin turned to Theon, scratching at the top of his head.
“I gotta say, dude, of all the shit that I conjured up in my head for your dramatic backstory, you coming from a league of assassins wasn’t even on the list. Now we’re dealing with illusions and monsters and Chaos and everything else under the fucking sun. I’m going on sabbatical after this.”
Avi chuckled, patting him on the back. “Good thing you're immortal now. Don’t have to worry about the stress turning you gray.”
Theon crossed his arms, his eyes somewhere far away. “Why would Soren do this, though? What’s in it for him? If he wanted Ash dead, he would’ve made a play for him already.”
“Do you think the Morte Guild wants him?” Avi asked.
Theon shook his head. “We have rules. Do the job we are hired for and don’t ask questions. If he was hired to assassinate Ash, the kid would’ve been dead by now.”
Naia winced at that, plopping down in a chair in the corner of the room. “That doesn't help my anxiety, Theon.”
Marina caved and glanced over at Acacius, disturbed by his alien silence.
His legs were lounged out in a V-shape, with one of his knees resting against hers. She wasn’t sure when he’d done it, but it provided her with a familiar sense of safety, any sensation for her to cling to in her moment of crumbling.
He seemed unbothered by the briars still maiming his wrists and shin, almost as if he were enjoying the drama unfolding before him.
However, the sharp precision in his gaze persisted, carefully observing each person, every motion in the room. He was on high alert, his gaze flitting back to Marina every few seconds. It was something he’d been doing since they were caught by the Blood Heretics.
It was odd, feeling protected by another. Not that she needed it, but it was nice to have a moment to lower her guard and collect herself.
Naia huffed out a stressed breath and whirled her attention onto Acacius. “You and I must go to the Council and explain the situation.”
Acacius’s gold eyes flashed to her, and he stared at her for a beat, considering it. “We need proof. They don’t work with words alone.”
“Soren is framing you in this.” Naia pointed at him. “When word spreads to the deities that your Daemon are infesting our city, others will take it as permission to join in. Soren wants you to take the fall for the carnage he is birthing.”
Another furious pang struck through Marina. She pushed her tongue against the backs of her teeth.
Acacius shrugged his shoulders. “Obviously. But you can’t prove any of this to the Council. As of yet, nothing has happened to your child or your city.”
Naia rubbed her knuckles in thought. “Won’t Iliana believe it if it comes from you?”
Acacius hesitated, running his tongue over his bottom lip.
After everything he’d done to assist Ruelle against Cassian, Marina assumed that his credibility was extremely low with his siblings at the moment. Because not once since they began ravaging each other’s lives had she heard him mention their names or anything of the Council.
“Please?” Naia clasped her hands together, pleading.
Marina was confident of his reply. While she knew his true feelings about Naia and Ash, she was also learning that underneath his deranged persona, he was incredibly soft-hearted. So much so, that she questioned if he would’ve ever really had it in him to kill Ash.
After a long wave of silence, Acacius sighed in defeat, rolling his head back with a groan. “Fine.”
Marina smiled a little to herself.
“But”—he looked at Naia, his voice hardening, leaving no room for quarrel—“I will talk. You will sit there and keep your mouth shut.”
“Careful, Chaos,” Ronin warned.
Marina rolled her eyes.
Stupid, arrogant witch.
Naia ran an exasperated hand down her face.
A frightening smile split apart Acacius’s lips as he inclined his head.
“You think you intimidate me, witch? Make no mistake, your blood can weaken us, but I am not like the rest of them. The spines you have lodged in me as we speak are not enough to put me down. Are you prepared to suffer in Tavora?”
Marina lightly kicked Acacius’s shoe, a reminder to keep his violent urges in check and not cut the witch in half.
His gaze flitted to her, charged with a disturbing impatience that she had faced off with many times now.
Ronin pinched the bridge of his nose. “You really are a pain in the ass.”
Marina laughed softly under her breath, agreeing with Ronin.
Acacius shot her a look, which only made her grin more.
“I understand.” Naia raised from her seat and stepped up to Acacius, hands joined.
“I am young and still new in my position, but if you are willing to help me in getting some sort of protection for Ash, I will do as you ask. Trust goes both ways, and if Marina has put hers in you, then I will do the same.”
It was a careless thing to say, considering the last god she’d trusted turned out to be a lying son of a bitch.
Naia was an unsuspecting fool, but Marina couldn’t help but admire her sister’s resilient heart. She had always been different from most of their kind, even now amongst the turmoil that threatened her son.
Gods and goddesses, they all started with souls as full as hers that eventually, through the throes of immortality, drained away, leaving them hollow and yearning.
But Naia had lived nearly a millennium, and she was just as pure in her judgment as she was back in Kaimana when she believed herself to be powerless.
“We have a deal,” Acacius said with a brazen smile. “Now, if you’ll be a good Little Goddess and make your husband remove his rancid bristles from my flesh, I can call our beloved Council to session.”