Page 49 of Between Sun and Moon

Arkyn let out a sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest.

When I finally reined in my laughter, I said, “I wasn’t aware there was a God of Truth.”

He shrugged. “They don’t write about Demi Gods very often.”

I didn’t reply, my mind stuck on one not-so-little detail . . .

Demi Gods were the ancestors of the Cursed. By Arkyn serving the king, he was killing his distant relatives.

My eyes flickered from the floor to him, my lips thinning. “How do you live with yourself?” It was a genuine question.

He shoved his hand in his pocket, his stance annoyingly casual. “I’m going to need more than that, Aurelia, if you expect me to form a proper response.”

I took a step forward, anger driving my movement. “How do you serve a king who cleanses—murders—your own kin?” I spat the wordmurderat him because that is exactly what it was. Fuck the crown and their terms they made up to sugarcoat what they were doing.

“I was born from the union of a New God and a mortal, so the Cursed are not my kin. And—” He thundered towards me, stopping an arm’s swipe away, “—even if theyweremy distant relatives, I would still end their lives if that is what our king told me to do.”

He could throw his weight all he wanted, but he didn’t scare me.

I closed the distance between us, a condescending purr on my lips. “What a goodlittledoggy you are, Arkyn, followingyourking’s orders.”

Arkyn’s nostrils flared, his honey-brown eyes turning to liquid fire. And just when I was certain he might try to rip my throat out with his teeth, he turned around and strode towards the balcony doors. He threw them open and walked outside, into the golden rays of the sun, the rubies of his livery collar glistening in response.

Satisfied, I couldn’t help but grin as I reveled in this small victory. But as soon as I remembered that I needed Arkyn to save Von, the upward twists of my lips fell flat.

Damnit. Now I’ve done it.

And it wasn’t like I could go out there and apologize and say I didn’t want to fight, because he would know it was a lie.

I gave him a few minutes to simmer before I slipped on my shoes, tucked my robe tighter, and followed him outside.

This side of the castle backed a long stretch of cliff, the ground below so sharply carved that it looked like it had been chopped off by the Creator’s mighty ax. The Selenian Sea yawned before me, extending her deep-blue claim beyond the horizon. She was full of contradictions—beautiful and dangerous, wild and calm, patient and demanding.

Contradictions. That was something we both had in common.

I turned to Arkyn, my breath painting the crisp morning air. “Perhaps we should try this again. Just because we don’t get along doesn’t mean we can’t be civil.”

He looked at me. “I would hope that we could be more than just civil with one another. As I said before, we were once good friends.”

I thought I sensed a hint of longing in his voice. I could work with that.

“It’s hard for me to grasp that we were friends because I don’t have any memories of those times.” I waited a moment, purposefully letting that little teabag of truth fully soak before I served him the whole cup. “If I couldsomehowget my memories back, it would make things a lot easier. I could use my Dream Curse to try to channel them, but—” I pointed to the collar, grinning, “—I can’t because I’ve been neutered.”

“You don’t have balls, Aurelia,” Arkyn replied, his face as straight as an arrow. My attempt to joke with the God of Truth fell flat.

Aborting my original plan to get him to think it was his idea, I decided to skip ahead to one that used blatant honesty instead—that was a language Arkyn could understand.

I smiled sweetly as I said, “No,Idon’t have balls, but you know who hasteeny tinyones?”

He sighed. “I don’t know why I’m entertaining this, but go on.”

“Soren does!” I exclaimed. “Look, I’m going to be honest with you, I’m tired of not remembering. Soren can help me with that. He already has access to my thoughts, so I just need him to show them to me. I’ve thought it through and it’s the best option I have available to me.”

Arkyn was quiet for a while. Finally, he said, “I’ll agree to it, but I have two conditions.”

I nodded, hardly able to believe it was that easy. “Alright, what are they?”

“The first is that I’m in the room with you when he does it. He betrayed you once, and I wouldn’t put it past him to do it again.”

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