Chapter 38 - Then What Am I?
Athena couldn't look away from his eyes.
Silver.
Bright.
Inhuman.
Her breath came in shallow pulls, but she wasn't stepping back anymore.
She wasn't afraid of him.
She was afraid of what this meant for her.
Silas watched her carefully as his claws receded, his eyes slowly fading back to their deep blue. The change reversed as naturally as it had come.
Like he had simply let her see something he normally kept hidden.
Her voice felt small in the large stone chamber.
"Then what am I?"
Silas didn't hesitate.
"You are like me."
The words settled heavily between them.
Athena swallowed hard.
"No," she whispered. "I would know."
"You would," he agreed softly. "If someone hadn't made sure you couldn't."
Her chest tightened painfully.
Her mind raced through every strange thing she had felt since arriving here.
The gold in her eyes.
The heightened senses.
The calm.
The pull toward him.
Her dreams.
All of it began to rearrange itself into something terrifyingly possible.
She shook her head slowly.
"I don't feel like you," she said.
Silas stepped closer.
"You do," he said gently. "You just don't recognize it yet."
Her breathing became uneven.
She looked down at her hands.
They looked normal.
Familiar.
Human.
"Prove it," she whispered.
Silas didn't move for a long moment.
Then he said quietly,
"I don't have to."
Her eyes snapped up to his.
"Why?"
"Because you are already starting to feel it on your own."