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.” 

did it.

nerve, igniting me once more despite my exhaustion. Crumbling that final piece inside me that still cared

said to me throughout my

you say ‘lives‘?”

I feel as though everything I learnt the first time around is completely useless. That it was meaningless. That I went through years of hell,

s that fair?” 

fuck are you talking

scared of you, the reason I always looked at you as if you were a monster. Because i n my eyes you were, Aleric. You were my torturer, my abuser, and you would parade that bitch Thea in

“Aria–.” 

You wanted the world to kneel before you? I gave

an attendant who in the end threw

I did it so that maybe you would love me... so that maybe you would just look

JOU 

stop the same future from happening, to stop myself from becoming

I apparently rejected you? Hurt you? ...None of this is making any sense.”

my lips, realising I‘d forgotten the

smile slowly creeping onto my face. “You see, to be reborn, you don‘t just get plucked out of thin air by

was going with this, his face quickly starting to pale, and my smile only grew despite my

I 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

Chapter Seventy Theo 

you put me

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

now balled into fists, tightened around the

don‘t get to

me but, even once he kneeled down to eye level, I still refused to

at me,” he

my head, wiping at my face.

*look at me,”

escaped me but I just shook my

“Aria, look.” 

he gently grabbed my chin and raised my head up to finally meet

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 in the eye and genuinely apologise for something I never did, and I guarantee

did.” 

“You have time to change,

of his grasp and looked back down at my

ever hurt you, Aria? When have I ever given you a reason to not trust me? It‘s true that there i s nothing I can say to make right what happened to you, but

knew he was

had been trying to convince myself of, but it 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 from was dead in

never given me a reason to not trust him. In fact, he had proven to 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

you want me to be,” || said, moving away from him. “I can‘t become a Luna again, always living in your shadow

nupied scrantyce 

surprise. “I never expected you to sit back passively i in the shadows as a

that much different. It still sounded basically the same as what 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 you‘re of age. Especially

days earlier I‘d had this exact conversation with this but had turned her down knowing the impact it would have on Aleric.

was clear now.

offering was true then

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

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