Page 308 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
Something inside me wilts and weakens at her words.
Words that I deserve.
I don’t have the energy to fight her.
Nor do I have the desire to harm her, or her loved ones.
My words are scarcely a whisper, but the desire in them is palpable.
“If only.”
Mareina stills. Her eyes flick to Mors and Persephone, and I see realization settle in her gaze. The moment she opens her mouth, Persephone raises a bleeding hand. “Mareina, please?—”
Mareina’s words, finally, are soft. “You truly wish to die?”
Mors curses, Persephone shakes her head. Tears welling.
Heart pounding with fear, regret, and hope in equal measure, my throat dips and I hesitate only briefly as my mind harkens images of Violette and Levi... followed by the mourning I will have to endure for the rest of eternity when they eventually die, many millenia from now. “Yes.”
Mors gives his daughter a pleading look. “Mareina, if ever?—”
“My mother can help you.”
Soteira.
Mors’ former chosen mate. The one he betrayed his own sister to marry.
I knew she was a goddess. A minor one, or so I thought. With no domain, her power was never acknowledged.
And yet, Mors eyes squeeze shut in defeat. Persephone curses, cradling her stomach as she looks up at me with tears in her eyes.
My breath is held as I teeter on the precipice of what I pray is salvation.
“I thought she disappeared?”
A corner of her mouth tilts upwards. “Keres found her, of course.”
Mors’ sister, goddess of violence, and Soteira’ssoulbound.
“And how, exactly, might she be able to help me?”
Mareina studies me for a moment. “She has an exceedingly rare magic... Her power can sever the cord binding your soul to your body. Send it back to Akash.In other words, she can kill gods.”
I blink in shock.
So this is why no one knew of her magic. It wasn’t unacknowledged. It was hidden.
“You would take me to her?”
Even if she doesn’t, I would find her. Even if it meant facing Keres to get to her.
Mors shakes his head, not bothering to protest any longer. He already knows it’s too late.
Mareina hesitates. “What her magic does... It cannot be undone.”
“Would I still reincarnate?”
“It is not known. Your soul wouldn’t travel to an afterrealm to atone for your transgressions only to reincarnate in a physical realm. You would return to Akash.”
