Chapter 38

38

Sleep. It was all Vega could do. No food or water was brought to her overnight, and Bridger was the last person to have a conversation with her.

The cell was impenetrable. Vega knew that from this life and the ones before it where she'd spent countless nights locked away. There was nothing more she could do… so sleep would become her friend, the only solace to be found.

Pain seared up her arms, and Vega's eyes flung open, still blurred with sleep. Marlena wrapped her hands around Vega's wrists, glowing an unnatural emerald green from the flames licking at her palms.

Marlena had always liked to play with fire—it was no surprise it was one of her favorite abilities now.

"Oh, good morning. How did you sleep?" Marlena released her grip, shoving away from Vega to stand above her. "And how did you get those chains off?"

Vega glanced at her wrists, taking in the damage from her sister's wrath. Her right wrist still donned the original brand from Remus, but the other now bubbled with third-degree burns. Her suit was held together by threads, exposing the places of her body that were marred by her sister.

"I have an admirer," Vega responded candidly.

"You still seem so lively. I didn't think you'd have much left in you after yesterday. I guess I'll have to try harder today."

"When will you bore of this?" Vega asked, pushing herself to stand with a wince as the newly formed blister stretched over her skin.

"Never." As an extension of her reply, Marlena disappeared.

There was no time to brace herself before Marlena came back into view and slammed her fist into Vega's face. No, not a fist… She felt the blood running down her face at the same time she saw the animal-like claws protruding from the tips of Marlena's fingers.

Vega's head rolled back and through the stars in her eyes, she caught the lightning trickling from her sister's fingertips—green for the color of her envy. She's teasing me.

Blood poured into Vega's left eye, blurring her vision. With the back of her hand, she wiped away the excess, scowling at the pain.

It would scar without her powers.

Vega longed for the fizzle of her lightning, the boom of her thunder, the wind and storms that swirled inside her body. She wanted to unleash it on Marlena—on this place and everyone inside until they were buried underneath the rubble.

She watched her sister bounce the unnaturally green lightning between her hands. "I guess you're not jealous of my powers anymore," Vega said, clenching her injured eye shut.

"I was never jealous of you, Vega." Marlena moved too quickly, snatching Vega by the neck.

Liar . Vega couldn't speak, but if she could, she'd call her bluff.

"I was hurt." She tightened her grip and continued to speak. "Pissed that my sister, my best friend, would have done anything for anyone but me. I needed you more than they did." Her voice was a hiss, venom leaking from fangs .

Vega gasped, her eyes turning scarlet from blood vessels popping. "I. Loved. You. So. Much," she somehow managed to squeak out.

"Shut up," Marlena growled, releasing her throat. "I'm here for one thing and one thing only… Tell me how Remus cursed the gods to die."

Vega gasped, trying to get her breath back. Her voice was raspy. "I told you I don't know."

"I don't believe you, not when you've been keeping an important secret from your friends for a very long time." Vega's blood ran cold. Marlena's grin terrified her. "Did you think I'd forget what I told you?"

Vega had kept a secret in every life—one even now she'd been mulling over since her memories were returned. Sometimes the words her sister whispered into her ear before she'd killed her the first time felt like a dream. How could she be sure they were real? They were real. Marlena wouldn't lie about something so big, something that made her the most powerf ? —

Marlena interrupted her thoughts. "What do you think happened the night you summoned Remus?"

The words swirled around her head, polluting her thoughts as she replaced the air in her lungs. "I can't trust you."

Marlena shrugged. "You don't have to trust me to know the truth. You know I wouldn't lie to you about what I've done and why we're able to do the things we can do."

She stalked closer to Vega, a bucket of water appearing from thin air—Marlena had always been able to conceal things from sight. It was why Vega'd never been able to find her Saturnalia gifts, no matter how hard she snooped.

The night we summoned Remus I became…

Marlena sighed. "It's going to be a long night for you."

Vega began to pray to the dead gods of Tolevarre as Marlena used the bucket of water to torture her for hours—drowning her until life nearly left her, only to allow her to live and start all over again. Vega lost count of the hours, and every time her sister asked about Remus, she slowly stopped replying.

The only company Vega had was the voice in her head, the voice of a demigod long dead. Words Vega heard before she became what Marlena never planned for her to be…

"I saved you. Do not waste this opportunity."