12. Barrett
BARRETT
“ J issena was the one who testified on your behalf,” Lucia said, her eyes drifting from mine, as if recounting the records of my trial.
“On my behalf,” I scoffed. “The bitch lied to me, tricked me into signing away my right to speak during my trial, and then she threw me to the fucking wolves.”
Lucia’s lips parted, but she didn’t speak.
Good. Maybe that’ll shut you up. I rolled my neck before returning to cleaning my freshly sharpened blade, working the oil into the metal.
“Forgive me for not falling at your feet,” I said bitterly, hating how quickly I wanted to rebuild the wall to shut her out once again. “Jissena was the last person I trusted to tell my side, and it cost me everything.”
“I’m so sorry,” Lucia muttered, and I couldn’t stomach the pity.
It didn’t matter; there was nothing she could do, nothing any of them could do.
“If someone wants me dead, it would be Atticus and Jissena. I’m the only one alive who knows of their involvement.
Wouldn’t make sense that they would wait this long when they had the chance to have me executed during the trial. ”
Lucia’s brows furrowed. “They were involved?”
I nodded, pain slicing through my chest as Vesa’s and Calliope’s faces flashed across my thoughts. “He…”
She waited for me to speak, but I couldn’t bring myself to, couldn’t dive deeper into the memory.
Every time the thoughts of that night resurfaced, the pain was too much to bear.
I wanted to find the fucker, to burn him from the inside out.
“I don’t know how he’d get clearance to access the Archivallia to modify files, though.
Aren’t Kyrios the only ones allowed access? ”
“He would have access,” she said, eyes widening a fraction, as if everything suddenly made sense. “As Kyrios of House Stoicheion, he would have access to the entirety of the Archivallia, even the restricted sections.”
The world stilled, and metal clinked against rock as my dagger fell from my hand. “What?”
“You didn’t know?” she asked.
“How the fuck would I know?” I growled, shooting to my feet. “As soon as the trial was finished, I was locked up in the dungeons.”
“He was named Kyrios a few months after your trial. Surely you got news.”
I stormed closer to her. “Have you ever been locked up in the dungeons, Your Majesty ?”
She flinched at the words but stood her ground, lifting her chin to meet my gaze, and I hated how the act made me respect her more. “No, but?—”
“We don’t exactly get news in the dungeons,” I said, lowering my face to hers, the flame writhing within me.
“We get whispers of rumors from time to time if we’re lucky, but other than that we are closed off from the world.
We don’t exist to those enjoying their freedom in the sunshine. We are left to rot, to be forgotten.”
“ I didn’t forget you,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
The flame dousing at her words, I stilled. Calliope had been the only one who had ever cared, and I’d failed her. She didn’t forget? She wasn’t even there, hadn’t known me.
I turned from her, trying not to give into the sickening hope rising in my chest, shoving it back down to the forgotten place where it had slumbered all these decades.
“The fucker got me out of the way so he could take my father’s position.
Probably used the act he put on during my trial to worm his way into The Council’s favor to do so.
He likely wants me dead, to ensure no one discovers the truth. ”
A hand landed on my shoulder, and warmth seeped into my skin.
“Don’t think for a moment that he will get away with what he has done,” she said, her voice soft yet laced with a powerful promise.
“I failed you in my absence, and while Damien tried to seek insight as to whether you were truly responsible for their deaths during your trial, his hands were tied by our laws. Atticus had covered his tracks, hidden evidence that could have proven your innocence. Jissena never should have had access to you before the trial, but the moment she convinced you to sign that paper, Damien was bound. She represented you. There was nothing he could do.”
I swallowed back the simmering anger.
“If you can tell me anything at all, it would help me bring them to justice. I understand if it’s too difficult to speak about what happened that night.
You don’t have to talk, but anything you can give me.
.. Names, places, any guards you could identify; it could help me in building the case against him. ”
“Atticus killed Vesa Lanis,” I said, my stomach turning as I remembered her final moments, her blood as it painted her skin in crimson and seeped into her Elythian leathers, Calliope screaming her name.
“Vesa…” A wrinkle formed between Lucia’s brows. “She was mentioned. Atticus had labeled her a desert?—”
“She wasn’t a deserter,” I bit out, my hands balling into fists. “She loved Calliope, was helping her escape my father and Hestis Galanis.”
“The Kyrios of House Leukos?”
“Calliope was promised to his son Jude. It was never her choice. She had never agreed to anything, and Atticus painted her as an oath breaker, stating she fled her promise. It was all bullshit, every last word. He accused Vesa of using Aethersbane on his guards, but it was his guard who used an Aethersbane-tipped arrow to render her powerless before they slit her throat.” I couldn’t stop the words, the chaos of thoughts spinning out of control like a wildfire as I remembered the day they had brought me before The Council.
“One of my guards during the trial was on Atticus’ payroll—the fucker who shot her.
When Jissena started lying before The Council and I tried to speak out, he silenced me with his Nous abilities. He knew, and he watched as I?—”
My hands began to shake, anger surging within me, and I drew a deep breath as I felt the flames burn through my control, felt them rage and rise up like a fiery beast ready to burst from its cage, spread its wings, and lay waste to everything in its path.
“Gods, just how deep have his connections reached?” she whispered.
“Pretty fucking deep,” I muttered. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Hestis knew the truth and was in on it as much as Atticus and Jissena.”
Lucia dipped to grab my dagger before brushing dust off the black and silver blade.
“He will pay,” she said. “I swear on all I am that he will pay. They all will.”
I looked down at the blade, the inscriptions inlaid in the metal. The price of their actions was too steep for them to repay with their lives. No, I wanted them to burn for what they had done. Slowly. “What do you want from me in return?”
She blinked, as if surprised I’d even asked. Then, she smiled, and it was soft, softer than any I’d been gifted in what felt like a lifetime. “Your friendship.”
My brows furrowed, my mind warring with the desire to shut her out and the need to give in. I’d been alone for so long, left with no one I could trust, no one I could rely on.
And for a moment, as she stood there, smiling up at me, I saw Calliope, her radiance—a soul far too pure for this world. Neither this realm nor the realm of our creators deserved to bask in her light.
“I can work with what you’ve given me for now, continue gathering what evidence I can,” she said.
Surely, it couldn’t be that easy. “Who will believe you? Who will believe me?”
“You have not lied to me once,” she said, her eyes softening.
My brows furrowed, but then realization flooded my mind. She was Moira’s reincarnation. A demi-goddess. She could use each and every ability the immortals possessed at a level far stronger than any of us could. She could read my thoughts, feel my emotions.
“Did you?—”
“I have not once read your thoughts, Barrett Stratos,” she assured me. “Though it would have been far easier than dragging it out of you, I refuse to cross that boundary. I can, however, feel if you are being truthful with me.”
Part of me eased at that notion, though I didn’t want to.
It made sense, though. Why would she continue to pester me with questions if she’d read my thoughts, my memories?
She could very easily have plucked all the answers from my head without my knowledge.
“Why would you do all this for me and not want anything in return?”
“Because,” she said, as if it was the silliest question, “you were innocent, and it was terrible what happened.”
Her smile faded, and something darkened her silver eyes. “Every child should be cherished by their parents. They should never be treated as objects for their benefit. And those who do so deserve to burn for it.”
Something stirred deep within me at the look on her face. Fuck, how did she do it? How could this little goddess wear down every wall I’d built to shut everyone out? For the first time in a long time…I wanted to believe she meant well, that someone could truly do something for unselfish reasons.
And a part of me—regardless of whether she wanted it—wanted to return the favor, help her in some way.
“You need assistance in the Godsrealm?”
She seemed to blink out of whatever thoughts had pulled her under. “What? ”
“Micah told me you’re building a team to go to the Godsrealm. Something about fighting pits.”
She seemed hesitant. “We are. It’s a covert mission, though.”
“I want in,” I said. “Let me help.”
“I can’t guarantee your safety,” she said, and I huffed a laugh.
“That’s all the more reason to back you up,” I said. “If you can’t guarantee my safety, then you can’t guarantee yours either.”
She gave me a knowing smile. “Does that mean you care, Barrett?”
I shrugged. “Can’t exactly clear my name if you’re dead.”
She snickered and grabbed her dagger before turning from me. “Good attempt at hiding the truth from me, hothead.”
And as she walked away, I couldn’t stifle the smile curving my lips.