Chapter 8 When Hope Is All We Have #2
“It was,” she agreed. “But what was worse was knowing that every time we fought and raised arms against our own people, every life we took, there was always the sense that we were killing a victim. Someone who had this done to them against their will.”
I thought back to what she said, and it made sense.
In those early days, some of the things I had seen, every Myth had seemed like the enemy.
There had been very little distinction made between them from our side.
We never really considered the darkness that had consumed them, or the differences that mattered.
They were all enemies to us, invaders in our lives. And that belief hadn’t been helped by seeing other Myths protecting their own kind, even when they were attacking us. Now I understood those rare moments so much better.
Of course, now I knew why. They weren’t only trying to protect us. They were also trying to protect those they saw as victims, believing back then that they could still be saved.
“So, you’ve never saved a single one?” I asked without wanting to rub salt into the wound.
She shook her head.
“No. And it wasn’t through lack of trying, I can tell you that much.”
I could see the toll that realization had taken on her, the weight of eventually being forced to accept that they couldn’t be helped.
“The prison didn’t start as a sanctuary,” she continued. “It was meant to be somewhere we could safely house the infected. But we quickly realized it was too dangerous to keep them and there was no point because there was nothing that could be done for them.”
Without thinking, I reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, offering comfort I knew she would never ask for.
“I’m sorry,” I said in a whisper. “That must have been hard.”
“It was,” she replied.
“No harder than watching your own people suffer, I imagine.” In that, we had something in common, though I didn’t say it aloud. “You want to know about, Riley,” she said, reading me easily. “About what’s going to happen to him.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. “I do,” I said, taking my time to form the right words.
“Back in that cell, he was there. He was fighting it. Every one of them is a prisoner inside their own body, but for some reason, Riley had a voice, if only for a moment. I can’t help thinking there must be a way to save him. ”
Bronte listened quietly, her expression thoughtful. “Perhaps with mortals it’s different.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, think about it,” she said. “This darkness, this entity, whatever Demetrios is using, it’s born from The?kós.
It was likely intended only to work on our kind, like a virus engineered for a specific host. But maybe it doesn’t function the same way in mortals.
They can be infected, yes, but what if it can’t be sustained? ”
Hope stirred at her words, and I nodded.
“I had the same theory. Whoever has control of his body, I could tell he wanted out. I made him a bargain that we could get him out of Riley’s body.
” She looked tense at this, as if I was setting myself up for failure.
“I don’t think the only reason he wants to leave is because he’s locked up.
I think he knows his time is short. Riley is fighting him back.
I pushed him on it, and I could feel it.
He was afraid of what would happen when Riley grew strong enough to force him out.
Afraid of having nowhere to go. No host.”
She looked surprised and tapped her fingers against her folded arms.
“If what you’re saying is true,” Bronte said carefully, nodding, as if what I said already had merit, “then whoever took his body is on borrowed time.”
“I told him that if he let Riley speak, if he gave me the information I needed, I would help get him out,” I admitted before continuing. “It was the only way.”
She met my gaze steadily. “Ask me, Alex, and I will do what I can.”
I swallowed hard, knowing she was my last hope.
“I think you already know what I’m asking,” I tested, and she gave me a perceptive look in return.
“I want to walk into that Rift,” I told her, taking a breath before continuing. “I want to stop Atlas from making the biggest mistake of his life. I want to help him save his kingdom before everything is lost and Demetrios’s plan is set into motion… I…” My words faltered. “But I can’t do that if…”
“While you’re worrying about your friend,” she finished for me.
“Exactly.”
“I will visit the prison,” she said, and I released a heavy breath.
“I will speak to whoever is in control of his body, and I will try to honor your end of the bargain.”
I was about to open my mouth to thank her when she held up a hand, stopping me before I could.
“I can’t promise anything. Only this… that I will try everything in my power to bring your friend back.
That is my vow to you,” she said, and I swear it felt like every tensed bone in my body melted in relief.
Because I knew what she offered me was all I could ask for, and I just hoped beyond all hope that it would be enough.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Alexandra,” she replied.
“And who knows? Maybe in doing so, he becomes the key. The key to discovering how we can free the others.”
“I hope so,” I said quietly as she turned her body slightly and started to reach for something behind her back.
“But first, there is someone else's bargain that I must uphold.”
I jerked back slightly, startled.
“Whose bargain?” I asked.
“The King’s,” she replied calmly, and my eyes widened as she revealed the deadly weapon in her hand.
A dagger.
The million-dollar question now was exactly what she intended to do with it.
Or more importantly…
Which King was she referring to?