“No, I won’t do it. I won’t risk anyone’s life but my own.”
“That’s very noble of you, but more will die if you don’t correctly choose your mate.”
“I already know who my mate is, the seers—”
“Are controlled by Hestia. Of course, she would have them see her choice.”
I frown. “So then Nyx is my mate?”
“If Nizal is to be believed.”
I sigh. “There are more possibilities, aren’t there?”
“Any that bear a mark are possibilities.”
I only know of markings on Ambrose, Nyx, and myself. But that doesn’t mean I’ve checked every witch, wolf shifter, or vampire.
“It has nothing to do with love. Nothing to do with who is the best match for me. Not even fate—it’s all just a game. My life is a game to all of you.”
“Yes, and my life is tied to yours. My future is tied to this game as well. I don’t know who the winner is. All I know is if you pick wrong, if you die, the game starts all over again, and I…” She doesn’t continue her thought, just stares off into the distance.
“I will not allow you to choose wrong. I’ve waited long enough. You will figure this out. A winner will be declared.”
I search her eyes. “You’ll break all the curses if I find my mate? You’ll put a stop to all the suffering?”
“Everything will change.”
It’s not a promise. Actually, it’s the opposite of a promise. It’s not a guarantee that she’ll make change for the better. I can’t trust her. I don’t even know if anything she’s telling me is the truth. Just that I don’t have a choice but to believe her.
“What happens now? I go back. Isolde tries to force me to complete the marking ceremony at the full moon tomorrow? I will probably die.”
She frowns. “You can handle Isolde. You’re more powerful than you know.”
“And if I survive, I what? I just sacrifice one of my friends so that I can challenge a god to get a tiny piece of information that may or may not be helpful?”
“Or you could sacrifice an enemy,” she winks at me like that’s somehow supposed to make this better.
“What happens when we die?”
“You’d have to ask Aethyr, the god of death.”
I frown, realizing I know nothing about the gods. I don’t know how many there are or what their roles are. If each picked a different pair, there could be hundreds of options for my mate.
“Who was my mother? Why am I part witch?”
“If that’s the question you want answered, you’d have to challenge a god with the answer to get the truth.”
“So that’s it, that’s all the information I get? Now I have to go back, take on the most powerful witch and the vampire king. Survive long enough to find a random man your father chose as my mate. Complete the marking ceremony with him to break the curses, and then spend the rest of my life miserable instead of living with someone I love.”
“Sucks, doesn’t it? But you can save the people that you love.”
“What if I can’t?”
She gives me a look, like she’s not giving me a choice. I have to succeed. For all of our sakes.
Before I can protest, plan, and think through my next steps, I’m falling, and I know exactly where I’m going to land.
Chapter 41