A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 73

Chapter Seventy–Three 

“... What the fuck are you doing back here?” Aleric asked. 

He stood in my doorway, arms crossed, staring at me like I was insane. 

But I didn‘t care. My mind was made up. There was no way I was going to have this conversation tonight. 

“No,” I answered flatly. 

“No‘?” 

“No, I‘m not doing this now,” I clarified. “I‘m too tired. We can talk later.” 

I rolled onto my side, facing away from him, and pulled the blanket up over my shoulder. Maybe if I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, he would just leave on his own accord. 

“Aria, you need to tell me what‘s going on,” he pressed. “Joseph told me you came back over the border and I thought he was joking until I caught your scent by the stairs. Did something happen? Were you caught?” 

“No,” I mumbled, repeating myself once more. 

“Stop that. Regardless of how tired you are, this is more important. I need to know if something went wrong.” 

I groaned out in frustration but reluctantly sat up, my head immediately pulsing with a migraine.* 

“Nothing went wrong, Aleric. Just let it go.” 

“Obviously something went wrong or you wouldn‘t be here.” 

He was getting angry at me and it was only making me more irritated that we were actually having this conversation. 

“Fine then,” I snapped back, turning to look at him. “You want to know what went wrong? The entire thing. The whole plan. How stupid do you think Tytus is that he wouldn‘t find out that you were planning to hide me in the Silver Lake?” 

His eyes widened a little in surprise. “You’re joking, right? Cai didn‘t organise to move you somewhere else?” 

‘More like didn‘t want to move me somewhere else,‘ I thought, recalling our earlier exchange. And that was only after finding out about Caitlyn. 

“Evidently not,” I answered, not wanting to elaborate further on the other reasons I‘d returned. 

“So... what? You‘re just going to come back here and pretend everything is normal? That you didn‘t almost get killed here? After risking everything to get you out?” 

“I don‘t know, Aleric!” I yelled back. “I don‘t know, okay? I don‘t know what to do about me, or Tytus, or Cai ... and I *especially don‘t know what to do about you.” 

He paused, frowning. “...About me?” 

Ah, fuck. I’d said too much. 

“Wait, are you angry at me because of what I told you in the car?” he asked, piecing together my silence. 

I rubbed my eyes, hoping that this was just a bad dream.“...No.” 

But I didn‘t sound very convincing. 

Chapler Seventy–Three 

“Seriously? How is that fair on me? You were the one who was angry at me for originally not telling you.” 

That did

exhaustion. Crumbling that final piece inside me that still cared about what he would think

to me throughout my lives. I would have preferred it if you had just told me

you say

“This version of you who is so goddamn unpredictable that I feel as though everything I learnt the first time around is completely useless.

s that fair?” 

what the fuck are

Because i n my eyes you were, Aleric. You were my torturer, my abuser, and you would parade that bitch Thea in front of me like a prized possession you loved more than

“Aria–.” 

give, I gave it to you. You wanted the world to kneel before you? I gave you the path to do it. You wanted my heart, my soul and complete servitude? I gave it to you. I let

nothing but an attendant who in the end threw me to

maybe you would love me... so that maybe you would

JOU 

don‘t then everyone dies. And so that‘s what I did. I worked hard to stop the same future from happening,

you? Hurt you? ...None of this is making any

humourless laugh then escaped my lips, realising

plucked out of thin air by Selene and sent back. No, no… you have to die first, Aleric. I died. And guess whose face I saw in my nightmares

could see where I was going with this, his face quickly starting to pale, and my

answered. “It was yours, Aleric. It was you who believed Thea over me, you who convicted me o f crimes I never committed, and you who held the sword as it came crashing down, slicing through my neck at the trial grounds. You killed me, Aleric. You killed me once I was no longer of any use to you anymore. And you wondered why I was so scared of you for so long? Why I‘m

Chapter Seventy Theo 

put

but no words came out. Instead, he just looked at me, his eyes full of confusion, and, slowly, my breathing turned into

my hands which were now balled into fists, tightened around the blanket

what‘s unfair this time...,” I choked out slowly. “And you don‘t get to say that you love me. It‘s

heard him step closer towards me but, even once he kneeled down to

me,” he said.

wiping at my face.

me,” he

I just shook my head once more.

“Aria, look.” 

head up to finally meet his gaze, to meet his green eyes that were

make what happened to you okay,” he said, his expression serious. “Because the reality is... it‘s not okay. And I can apologise for those things if you want, to say that I‘m sorry but, at the end of the day, even if I did, it wouldn‘t mean anything. Yes, I‘m sorry that those things happened to you, but I can‘t look you

did.” 

time to change, time to become that

of his grasp and looked back down at my hands, making

those very charges,” he continued. “And yet you want to persecute me for sins I‘ve never committed? When have I, m e personally, ever hurt you, Aria? When have I ever given you a reason to

he was

still didn‘t lessen the sting. The cold truth was... I was never going to get my sincere apology. And the things that I went through were never going to be okay. Because the person I needed to hear the apology

me time and time again that I could. And yet I still refused to let myself give in. On even the small chance that things turned bad once more, I knew that it would break

away from him. “I can‘t become a Luna again, always living in your shadow and hoping that what i do ensures my survival for one more day. I refuse to live in another

nupied scrantyce 

expected you to sit back passively i in the shadows as a Luna anyway. I just want you to help me make this

still sounded basically the same as what I did

have been? Hate me for the rest of your life if you want, but I would rather we work together than end up divided in a civil war for power, something that benefits neither us nor the pack. I‘m not so naive as to assume you haven‘t at least considered taking over once

turned her down knowing the impact it would have on Aleric. At the

it was

then this was

oftenng me mutual control, something that was the last thing I ever expected to hear from his

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