Page 64 of Left Hand of the Divine
“Yeah, because I look like his long-lost wife,” I hissed.
Lila folded her arms and cocked her hip. “I don’t know. I think it’s more than that.”
I glanced at the Primordial and found his eyes fixed on me.
On my ass, to be specific.
Erebus grinned and didn’t even seem bothered that he’d been caught.Cocky fucker.
Huh. Maybe Lila had a point. “Anyway, moving on. Text me if you need more energy. I mean it.”
She was the kind of person who would worry about everyone else first and herself second. “I will do. I promise.”
“Good.”
“Now get out of here and save the world,” she said, a mischievous grin on her face.
Ah, fuck. I really had to do that, didn’t I?
Chapter Twenty
Roux
Ihated the feeling that I’d left Lila behind, but I knew that she’d be in her element looking after the rest of the ghosts. She was happiest when she had a project to manage, and keeping track of the ghosts was going to keep her busy and her mind distracted.
That thought didn’t stop me from feeling like shit, though. She’d only been in the Cemetery District because I wanted to investigate the ghosts. It was my fault she was there. I should have just gotten over myself and asked the twins to join me. Then Lila wouldn’t have been in the district, and she wouldn’t have gotten trapped.
I was so stupid. I kicked the side of the building I was passing and instantly regretted it.
“Fuck!” I yelled at the night sky as tears formed in the corner of my eyes. That really hurt. “Goddamn dickwankingshit!”
“I beg your pardon?”
Bollocks. I forgot Erebus was there.
“Charming,” he drawled as he watched me with an arched eyebrow. “To be so inconsequential that one is completely forgettable.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I just…” Crap, now I was going to cry. This was all my fault. Lila. The Games, the Vault, hell, even Nyx not being here was probably my fault. I sank onto the low wall, feeling exhausted and drained, and I felt the weight of the world sink onto my shoulders and practically crush me.
I couldn’t do this.
“This isn’t your fault,Asteri,” Erebus said softly.
“But it is,” I sobbed. “How can it not be? If it wasn’t for me, the Vault would still be there, Lila wouldn’t be fading, and—”
“And nothing, Roux,” Erebus interrupted. He crouched down in front of me and took my hands in his. “We are all adults, and we all made our own decisions. You can’t take the blame for that.”
I sniffed and brushed away a tear. “But how am I supposed to fix everything? What about you? What about Nyx? And the mark in the sky?”
Erebus tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and dragged his finger down the length of the curl. “We deal with things one step at a time. You are not on your own, Roux.”
“I know,” I said with a sniff. “I just wish things were simpler.”
“I know it hurts right now, Roux. I know it’s tough and you feel like everything is against you, but I promise, you’ll look back on this moment and realise that you’re stronger because of it,” Erebus said as he traced a finger along the rise of my cheekbone. His eyesroved my face, lingering on the curve of my cheek, the line of my jaw, and the shape of my mouth. “You look so much like her.”
“I’m not her.”
He smiled sadly. “I know, but every time I look at you I expect her to speak to me. I expect to see her smile and hear her laugh, but I see you.”
