Page 68 of Courting War
A problem for another day.
Theo fell into fitful dreams, in and out of consciousness.
When she woke, Kellyn was no longer holding her. But she was utterly clean and tended to.
She shuddered.
Theo didn’t know how to handle kindness. She didn’t know how to handle being taken care of. All at once, she wanted toclutch onto the feeling while simultaneously running as far away from it as she could.
Tangled, tainted emotions bloomed inside her chest, and she tried to rub them out.
Trying to escape the thoughts and feelings, she looked around the room. Two gods were attending their champions, healing, and aiding them in any way they could. One of which was Andromache, Light. Behind her, the mirror televisions played moments from the games.
As if taunting Theo, they all played the scenes from Cecile’s challenge when the darkness showed her Devereaux’s death.
“Do you think they’re torturing you or me?” Andromache said, wincing as she watched her lover’s head drop from his shoulders again and again. “I play that moment in my head on repeat anyway.” Her beautiful moon-white features were painted in sorrow.
Theo’s throat burned; a dryness so thick not even the Ajaxian Desert could compete. What did one say to their sister after murdering her one true love? “I’m sorry, Andrie.” Theo croaked, her throat raw and in agony, the poison burning still eating away.
“You know, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you apologize for anything.”
Theo cracked her neck as emotion stirred in her stomach, and she tried to hold back tears. This human body changed everything. It let in a flood that she couldn’t endure. “I don’t know what to do to make it better.”
“You can’t.”
“Why haven’t you punished me?”
“Besides allowing you to be turned into a human?” A soft yet wicked smile climbed Andromache’s lips. “I don’t have to. All I have to do is wait. You’re destined to fall in love with a mortal, too. It’s our curse. That will be punishment enough.”
The prophecy of the three Death god triplets and their disastrous human love stories. The prediction foretold that all three goddesses would fall in love with a human, leading to death.
But the prophecies were rubbish. At least, the one for Theowas. She’d always loathed human males. It couldn’t change, could it?
Theo sighed and rubbed at her temples. Everything in her life had been uprooted and shifted. And shehadfeelings—
Theo sucked in a breath and shifted her focus. She had a plan to fulfill. Despite the sickness twisting her stomach, she hadn’t forgotten her goal. She needed to find a way to read the spell book and break her curse. But for that, she needed help, but there was no way she’d ask Havyn . . . but maybe Andromache.
“Do you know how to find the heirs of House Azraelle?” Theo asked, holding her breath. Andromache could easily force a deal for the information, but they had a strong bond and love for each other.
“Heirs of the House of Azraelle have their sigil tattooed into their skin,” Andromache said, “and if I had to guess, you will find one soon.” Andromache placed a hand on Theo’s heart before tipping her chin up. “Not even you can run away from your fate.”
Fate.
Theo fought the urge to roll her eyes. She didn’t believe in prophecies.
The priest from Andromeda groaned, his eyes still latched shut in a coma. Bella was curled into a ball at his feet, even trying to comfort the unconscious man.
“Will he be okay?” Theo asked.
“Not without my aid.” Andromache cocked her head. “Feeling guilty?” her sister asked, once again sliding the back of her hand across her priest’s forehead.
“Why would I?”
“Because you’ve forsaken your champions for the last 500 years. Precisely why you’ve received no medicine to aid with your poison.”
Forsaken? Theo didn’t ask it aloud. Her throat ached from too much vomiting and disuse.
Theo laid back down on her pillow and stared at the ceiling pondering. She hated the Sacrifice because she hated the way it toyed with human lives and emotions. She thought that stayingaway from the Sacrifice was the humane thing to do, the right thing to do. But what if she were wrong?
