Chapter 48

48

"Stop going so easy on me!" Vega ranted, lightning dancing from her wrist to the tip of her fingers and then back in a rapid twitch.

"I'm not!" Khort responded quickly.

Vega glared at him, shooting a bolt of lightning at his head. He dodged, blocking the blow with a roll across the mat. "You are, and you know it."

"Gods, maybe I'm going a little easy on you, but do you have to try and take my head off for it?" Khort shot up to his feet, eyes slitting with the anger in his tone.

"At least then I'll get to use my full power," Vega sneered, and sweat rolled down her brow. She wiped it with the back of her hand as the timer for their match went off.

Khort let loose a breath, obviously happy about the end of their training for the day. "Vega, you're training multiple times a day. Don't think I don't know you and Leo are meeting for early morning sparring. You're going to wear yourself out."

Vega rolled her eyes, grabbing her water and taking a long chug. "I'm fine." She couldn't help the thoughts that slinked into her mind, the voice that sounded so unlike her own. Bridger never made you feel weak, never made you become less than yourself. Vega couldn't rid herself of thoughts of him—that kiss had done her in, and she was working on clawing herself out of the depths of her heart every day because of it.

Khort leaned against the ring. "I don't mean physically. I mean mentally. You're not sleeping, you're overtraining, and any free time you have, you're buried in a book you've read a million times."

"What else do you expect me to do? Knit sweaters and tell ghost stories around a fire?" Her brows furrowed.

"I expect you to take a break every once in a while. That's all." Khort sipped his water, eyeing Vega as she exited the ring.

She slung her bag over her shoulder. "I just got back from a fifteen-year vacation. I'm still making up for it." Vega nodded in his direction as she turned. "I'll see you later."

Khort meant well, Vega knew that, but his constant need to protect her was starting to wear on her nerves. Despite what some might think, Vega wasn't some stupid kid who needed to be put in a bubble forever.

If she wanted this curse to come to an end, she had to do it herself—and Littera was the first place she needed to begin her search. It had been a long time since she'd nosed around the endless books in their private collection.

Vega opened the door to her room, and the lamp in the corner by her bed caught her attention immediately. She knew she hadn't left it on…

She scanned the room, plopping her bag on the corner chair by her bookshelf. A note sat on her pillow, facing up.

A smile spread over her face as she read the words on the ripped parchment:

Tomorrow. Sunrise at the docks. Don't be late. -U.S.

Vega sat silently at dinner, pushing her fish around the plate instead of scarfing it down to avoid the taste as she usually did.

The people around her, her friends turned family, didn't notice her stillness. No one but Arlet, who'd moved her seat and brought her tray of food over to snuggle in next to her. "What's on your mind?"

Vega dropped her fork with a clang that couldn't be heard over the noise in the mess hall. "Where should I start?"

Arlet bumped her with her shoulder, taking a sip of water. "Wherever you'd like. I'm all ears."

Secrets were hard to keep from Arlet. Vega lowered her voice enough for only her to hear. "It's just that…" She stopped, taking a breath and releasing it. "I kissed Bridger."

Arlet's jaw dropped, a gasp causing heads to turn toward their table.

Vega shot them all a look that said, Mind your business.

"You what?" Arlet whisper-shouted.

Vega's sheepish smile was the only apology she would give. "It was for a distraction so I could, ya know, stab him through the heart and see if he died."

Arlet shoveled the last bite of her food into her mouth, jumped off the bench, and nearly dragged Vega out the door. When they were out of earshot, the scolding began. "Vega Caelum, why did you keep this from me? What is it about you and kissing men you're not supposed to kiss?"

"Because I've secretly been hating myself for keeping it from you while also hating myself because I liked it!" Vega groaned, running a hand through her free hair. "It was so good. The feeling I got from it hasn't left me, and I'm crazy for that, right?" Vega panted out a laugh, choking on it. "There's something wrong with me for liking anything about him… right?" Her laughs stopped, the realization of her questions sinking in.

Arlet's face drooped, and she didn't hesitate to pull Vega into a hug. "There is nothing wrong with you, nothing. It's okay to love him still, Vega. He hurt you, but you've never had the chance to let him go properly. Not with the curse constantly sending you away, with the memories of the life you once had together so fresh in your mind. Not when he's showing you bits of who he used to be."

Vega buried her head into Arlet's shoulder, inhaling her sweet scent.

Tears forced their way through the emotional barrier Vega had built around herself. "I hate him. I hate what he's done to me, what he chose over me. But I hate that I'm why she came after him more. If it weren't for me, Marlena wouldn't have targeted him, tortured him. Gods, Arlet." It had been so long since she'd broken down because of Bridger—since she'd let herself feel what he'd done to her. "Being the object of her torment is something I'd never wish on anyone."

Vega wasn't over it, but she wanted to be.

"I want to break this curse." Vega pulled herself out of the hug, wiping the tears from her red-rimmed eyes. "I want it to be over, and I want to find a way to be over him too." She swallowed down the sob she felt. "If I have to use him to win this war between us and Marlena, I can't have these unresolved feelings for him."

Arlet nodded. "How can I help?"

Vega didn't deserve her—Arlet was the light in the darkest days of her life.

"I need to get to Littera," Vega admitted. "I need to find out how to break this curse finally. Breaking this curse means I can start to focus on how to beat Marlena to the next part… learning how Remus cursed the original gods. Now that she knows I know, she's going to try and kill me again to give herself more time."

Khort would have—had—shut her down, refusing to put Vega in harm's way. Arlet hesitated briefly before saying, "Okay."

"Tomorrow," Vega said flatly.

"Tomorrow?" Arlet echoed.

"Yes, tomorrow. We need to meet Urban at the docks of Solum at sunrise."

Arlet raised her eyebrow. "So you had this planned already?"

"Yes." There was no regret in Vega's voice. Arlet didn't need to know the details, only that Vega would have done it without her if she hadn't agreed to come with her.

"Then I guess we're hitching a ride with Khort and his band of misfits in the morning since he's meeting with Urban." They only had one motorized boat.

Fuck.

Vega threw her hands in the air. "He already shut the idea down."

Arlet's smile was slow, troublesome. "Since when have you ever listened to Khort ‘I'm the Boss' Fera?"