"Your man came to me, you know," Mnemosyne said with relish, drawing Scarlet from her sanguine thoughts. "He wanted to know why I hate you so much, but I refused to tell him." Smugness joined the relish.
Scarlet shrugged. "I honestly don't care why you did what you did to me, only that you did it at all."
Mnemosyne blinked, composure slipping before she shook her head and schooled her features. "You care. I know you do."
"Once, I might have. But you know what? You aren't important. Besides, what you did drew me to Gideon, as you said." With that, Scarlet turned, ready to go back up and be with her man. To comfort him. To give him everything he needed.
"Where are you going? Get back here, Scarlet."
One step, two, she climbed.
"Scarlet! You can't leave. Your mother couldn't kill you while we were prisoners, you know that. To even try meant she would begin to age. But to succeed meant she would become aged for all eternity, no hope for the return of her once-great beauty. Therefore, she tasked me with your torment, and I accepted because...because..."
Scarlet paused. Her aunt's cell was blocked from view by the wall, but her voice, oh, her voice...shrill, but truthful. "Go on."
"If you wish to know, you'll come back here and face me."
A moment passed. Another. Could be a waste of time, but... Curiosity got the better of her, and she backtracked until she once again stood in front of the cell.
Mnemosyne nodded, troubled expression smoothing out. "One day a seer was thrown into the cell with us. That seer took one look at you and laughed, claiming you would kill your mother and assume the heavenly throne. I removed the memory from everyone except Rhea and Cronus. They deserved to know the truth about you."
"So? What does that have to do with anything?"
"They are linked in a way you cannot possibly understand, though I will tell you that when one dies, the other will automatically follow. The fact that you would kill Rhea meant that you would also kill Cronus."
All the moisture left her mouth.
"The seer," her aunt continued, "we killed. You, we kept busy with romance and tragedy, hoping you would end your life yourself. You never even tried, though, did you?"
But how many times had she been tempted to do so? Countless.
"So now do you comprehend the real reason Cronus gave me to Gideon?"
"No."
Mnemosyne was the one to grin now. "It was so that I could prove my loyalty to the crown...and eliminate you once and for all."
Before Scarlet had time to move, Mnemosyne had withdrawn and thrown three small silver stars. Sharp, they cut through Scarlet's throat, each of them slicing veins and arteries, even her voice box. Of their own accord, the shadows and the screams shot from her head, enveloping her, crying for her.
And then, like Gideon, she knew nothing more.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"GIDEON. GIDEON!"
Torin's frantic voice tugged Gideon from his slumber and straight into a river of pain. Burning, clawing, bones breaking apart and shooting jagged shards through his bloodstream, cutting everything they encountered, pain.
"Gideon, man. Can you hear me? You have to wake up."
Why was he—oh, yeah. He'd told Scarlet the truth. Worth it, he thought next, almost grinning. Scarlet was here, his beautiful Scarlet, and she now knew he loved her. Finally.
She knew he hadn't slept with her mother. She'd called herself Scarlet. Not Scarlet Pattinson. Not Scarlet Reynolds. Just Scarlet. His Scarlet.
She had to want him, too.
When his strength returned, he was going to romance the hell out of her, as planned. He was going to prove they were meant to be together.
Even Lies purred with the rightness of that plan.
Don't want to find her.
"Gideon!"
Though his mind and body yearned to sink back into unconsciousness, Gideon forced his eyelids to open. Moonlight was waning, sunlight fighting for its place in the sky. His woman would be falling asleep soon. He could hold her. He could simply breathe her in.
"Scarlet was injured. Kane's carrying her to your room now. Should be there in less than a minute. He's tripped a few times and twisted his ankle. That bitch goddess did something to his mind and he let her out of her cell. She's working her way out of the fortress, and there's no one here to stop her."
Gideon's thoughts locked on the first sentence, every protective instinct he possessed falling into a tailspin. Scarlet was injured. Fuck no. He bolted upright, panting, sweating, gaze savagely scanning. How bad were the wounds? Where was she?
His door flew open and Kane hobbled inside, a motionless Scarlet cradled in his arms. Blood soaked her neck, shoulders and T-shirt and matted her hair. Gideon moaned. No. No!
He scrambled from the bed, knees collapsing on impact. As he hit the ground, Kane gently laid Scarlet atop the mattress. Not a sound did she make. Gideon fought his way into a crouch, vision swimming as he peered down at his woman to survey the damage.
There were three deep grooves in her neck. One rode the length of her carotid, one her trachea and one the curve of her shoulder. Two were kill shots, even for immortals, and one was simply meant to prolong her agony. Inside, he wailed. "What—"
"Don't know," Kane said, silencing him. "She—"
"The goddess screwed with his memory," Torin said, silencing Kane. "While he was busy gathering Scarlet in his arms, Mnemosyne reached between the bars and latched onto his ankle. She told him Scarlet was inside the cell and he needed to open it to get to her. So he did. She also told him there was no one else in the cell, so he paid no attention to the goddess as she darted out of the dungeon. I recorded everything. Oh, and good going, everyone." He clapped, and somehow the action itself exuded sarcasm. "You did a great job of searching the bitch for weapons."
Gideon should have killed her while he'd had the chance. He hadn't, and now Scarlet...his Scarlet... Tears ruined what remained of his vision. He flattened a shaking palm over her heart. The beat was shallow, erratic and dangerously slow.
The cuts were still seeping, and if they weren't closed soon, she would bleed out. Torin was a no-go as far as doctoring went. No way would Gideon allow his woman to be infected with the warrior's disease, even though he'd once thought keeping her to himself would be nice. Yes, Torin could wear gloves to prevent skin-to-skin contact, but that was risky. And Gideon was unwilling to take the slightest chance. Weak as Scarlet was, the disease might actually kill her. If the slices didn't.
Kane was a no-go, as well. The man could barely keep himself alive. Plaster loved to fall on him, and floors loved to collapse while he stood upon them. No way would Gideon allow the man to operate on Scarlet.
That left Gideon, weak and shaky as he was. There just wasn't time to get her to a hospital.
"I don't need a field kit," he said. He'd stitched himself and his friends up a thousand times.
"You can't—" Kane began.
"Not now!" he growled, every ounce of his impatience and worry ringing out.
Kane nodded and limped into action.
Gideon could hear Lies whimpering inside his head, chanting, Sweet dreams, sweet dreams, sweet dreams.
Gideon translated: Nightmares, Nightmares, Nightmares. He had to bite back a roar.
"You're going to be okay, Scarlet," he said. There wasn't a renewed shock of pain, nor an increase in his lethargy. His mind and his demon viewed his words as a lie. "You're going to be okay," he repeated, tears falling freely now.
His hands trembled as he smoothed the hair and blood from her face. The action caused the muscles in his shoulders to knot, but he didn't care. Pain was nothing in the face of this.