Page 88 of Set Fire to the Gods
“Wait here,” one guard said, and slipped inside. The other took up a stance before the doors.
Tor idly stepped away from him, his arms folded over his beige tunic. Ash followed, the two taking a slow stroll across the wide, empty marble floor. Her hands shook, built-up energy begging for release, and she fought to keep from breaking into a run just for some way to expel the unbearable emotions reeling inside her.
“We need to excuse ourselves from this dinner at the first opportunity,” Tor whispered. “It’ll take about thirty minutes to get to Petros’s villa.”
“How will we evade the guards?” Ash eyed the one by the door. “How—”
She stopped and planted her hands over her mouth.
Tor swung on her, eyes twisted. “What? What’s wrong?”
“I forgot to tell you and Elias that Petros knows I heard him. Ohno.” She dug her hands into her loose curls. “He knows, so he’ll be expecting me to do something like this. And if it was Geoxus who was talking to him, then Geoxus likely was spying on us in the preparation chamber, even though we tried to get him to show himself. He knows we talked with Madoc—”
Tor touched her shoulder. “Calm, Ash. You were right to take risks. You were right to push for a better future. What Madoc is changes everything.” He exhaled, face slack, and bent close to her, his voice a brush of whisper. “You have shouldered so much since Char died. Most of that is my fault, for being so shortsighted. I’m telling you I see it now, the possibility for afuture, and we can’t let that possibility escape. We’ll take this opportunity—we’ll free an innocent girl and find out what Petros and Geoxus are planning against Kula. And we’ll use that to take down Ignitus.”
“What if Kula still gets hurt?” Ash breathed. She fiddled with the hem of the tunic she had changed into, a weave of treated Kulan leaves that left one arm bare. “What if in defeating Ignitus, we open Kula up to being conquered by Geoxus or some other god?”
“If we have the power to destroy one god, all gods will fear us.”
“What I meant was—” Ash licked her lips, but she couldn’t get the words to come out.
These words that had been swelling in her heart since Cassia hadbrought the records detailing Kula’s lost resources.
These words that had been choking her since she’d wondered if Ignitus had sent a message to Hydra asking for help.
Is killing Ignitus really best for Kula—or is it just best for our revenge?
Anxiety skittered through Ash’s chest. Horror. Disgust.
“How many wars has Ignitus fought in your lifetime?” Ash asked instead.
Tor watched her, his eyes narrow, curious, and cautious. “Thirty-one.”
“And how many of those did he start?”
“Does it matter? Good Kulans suffered either way.”
“But the other gods sometimes harm Kula to instigate wars. Ignitus couldn’t just let them get away with it. Could he? He had to respond.” She looked at the striated marble under her sandals. “I just want to be sure that this is right. That he is the monster we think he is.”
“Ash.” Tor took a step closer, his eyes darkening. “Where is this coming from?”
She fought against the instinct to reach for the igneia in the braziers, knowing Tor would feel her nervously pulling strength. “Have we evertalkedto him? Have we ever tried to understand what—”
Tor seized her shoulders. Ash gawked up at him.
The guard didn’t flinch. He might have even been smiling at the sight of Ignitus’s two champions scuffling before their coming battle.
“There is nothing to understand,” Tor said, the veins bulging around his eyes. “That monster killed Char and Rook, and we are close to bringing him to justice.”
Tor’s fury pulled Ash’s awareness to a fine, sharp point.
Char had been Ignitus’sbest. She’d constantly defeated his other gladiators during training fights. Her control of igneia was unprecedented, deliberate, and smooth.
If Kula’s resources were at risk, who else should Ignitus have gambled on?
Tears gathered in Ash’s eyes. She couldn’t bear the deluge of thoughts that broke free, things she had never in her life predicted she would think.
Behind Tor, the door opened.
