Seduction (Curse of the Gods #3)

The crowds were thinning a little, and I barely noticed the looks shooting our way. At this time, the dwellers and sols were going about their normal routines: the dwellers were serving, and the sols were … being blessed. There was an air of change about the place: a dash more attitude from those forced to serve. A few dwellers exited the kitchen, and I recognised a bushy head of hair. Evie. Our eyes locked as if she’d heard my thoughts, and I tensed, wondering how she would react. I expected a sneer, because the dwellers still thought I was a traitor; instead, she gave me a half-smile and a slight nod, before she turned to deliver her tray to a nearby table.

That was weird. Even weirder than normal, which was definitely saying something since Evie was one of the instigators of the dweller uprising. Evie and Emmy were both instigators, along with Atti. And now Evie and Emmy were both acting strange.

Emmy … my slippery, sneaky sister.

Rome kept one hand firmly planted on my shoulder, weaving me through the tables. I should have made him hold on to Emmy like this. No one was slipping out from under that firm grip.

“She’ll tell you when she’s ready.” He seemed to be reading my thoughts again. “Knowing what I do about her—meaning the little I have bothered to learn—your Emmy-dweller isn’t completely reckless. There’s a reason to her weirdness.”

A cold fear clenched inside my chest, and breathing became painful for a few beats. “She lost her … guy. Her love-partner-person.” I got choked up, swallowing hard and continuing. “Lost is a stupid way to put it. It’s not like Atti is just wandering around with an upside-down map asking for directions. He isn’t really lost … he’s gone. He’s dead and now lives in Topia as a server named Judy. Emmy isn’t acting rationally, and I can’t wait for her to be ready to tell me!”

Rome let out an exaggerated breath, which I pretended not to hear, because I already knew that I was being a pain in the ass.

“He’s not a server in Topia,” Rome explained patiently. “We already checked for you.”

I wanted to believe him, but I knew they would lie to me to protect my feelings. Especially since there was nothing they could do even if Atti-Judy had been taken to Topia as a server. We were at the table now, and some of the pain in my body lessened as four sets of eyes locked onto me.

“What’s going on?” Siret leaned forward in his chair.

The deep, midnight purple of his shirt was fitted across his broad chest, and even though I was upset, I couldn’t help but stare at him as I answered.

“Emmy is hiding something. We just found her in a clandestine meeting with three sols—and not just any sols,” I continued on in a rush. “Sols whose fathers are in the running to be the next Vice-Chancellor of Blesswood. This can’t be a coincidence.”

Not a single expression at the table changed; the politics of Minatsol registered at about a minus five on their give-a-shit-meter.

“Why would a dweller be secretly meeting with sols!” I almost shrieked, sick of no one taking me seriously.

Coen leaned back in his chair, his arms stretched behind his head as he regarded me solemnly. “If you want us to track her down, I can make sure she doesn’t move until she tells you everything.”

I was almost desperate enough to take him up on his offer, but I felt there was less of a chance that she would openly talk with the Abcurses around. Which meant that I needed to get her alone.

I’d keep that as plan B. “I might eventually take you up on that, but not yet.”

He shrugged, his lips tilting up lazily as he continued to stare at me. I found myself fighting the urge to crawl across the table and launch myself at him. Ever since Coen and Aros had unlocked my Beta side, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way they’d touched me and the way my power had exploded.

It was driving me crazy.

Between those thoughts and the Emmy stresses, I was shocked that they hadn’t carted me off to a healer for a mental evaluation.

Yael snorted from my right side. “I’m sure that your mother had something like that tested many life-cycles ago.”

No doubt I should be offended by that, but instead I was blindsided by a mental image of my mum. Her blonde curls haywire, which they always were after a big night out. Washed-out blue eyes intersected with red veins. Always bloodshot. Most of the time she was passed out, no time to care or notice enough of my behaviour to worry about whether I was crazy or not. Hell, half the time she acted even worse than me.

I think I surprised all of us when I answered quite seriously. “My mother wasn’t concerned with anything but herself and alcohol. I frustrated her, but I was also easily shoved aside. If it wasn’t for Emmy … it would have been a lonely existence.”

The silence felt a little heavy but not uncomfortable. Like we were each processing those words, and then as conclusions were reached, questions were asked.

Aros was first. He leaned forward, a lock of that golden hair falling across his forehead. “What about your father? You never speak of him.”

A derisive chuckle built in my chest as I snorted out, “Can’t speak about someone you’ve never met. Either I was a gift from the gods and just appeared on mum’s doorstep, or she got knocked up by a passing dweller she met at Cyan’s Tavern.”

And since I looked exactly like her, and we all knew how the gods felt about me, there was really only one of those options that we could consider plausible.

“You never asked her?” Rome pushed further, and a jolt of frustration had my voice clipped as I answered.

“Of course I asked her. What kid wouldn’t want to know if there was a responsible parent out there? One who wasn’t going to vomit in their only pair of shoes?” Always look before putting shoes on. It was solid advice. “She just told me that I didn’t have a father, and I should focus on the future, not the past.”

Focus on the future, Willa, the past is of no use to anyone. She used to say that to me all the time. Then she would get blind drunk and not have to focus on either.

A part of me was used to it, but I also couldn’t think too long or hard about her, because I didn’t want to be an angry bitter dweller. It wasn’t worth it. It changed nothing.

“Do we have anything happy to discuss?” I asked with a sigh, leaning forward and resting my chin on my arms.

The Abcurses somehow exchanged a single glance between the five of them, and I found myself sitting back up, unease rocketing through me. I didn’t like that look. It wasn’t a happy look. They were totally not bringing me any happy.

“What?” I finally burst out, my eyes running across their faces. “Don’t tell me you’re having another sex talk with me?”

A sol nearby gave a gasping cough and I realised how loud I was. Whoops. Maybe this wasn’t the best place for this sort of discussion, but the guys didn’t seem upset. If anything they now looked amused, which I preferred to that serious look from before—a look which unfortunately returned as all five of them leaned in. Siret spoke just loud enough for me to hear.

“Staviti has called us to Topia. We might have to face a trial.”

I swallowed roughly. “Because of the Chancellor? They found out you killed him?”

A single nod from each of them confirmed my fears.

“When do we go?” I tried to keep the worry from my voice, but as usual, I failed miserably.

“In four sun-cycles we need to cross into Topia,” Yael answered. “We’ll have an informal meeting with Staviti, and then he decides if it goes to trial.” He didn’t seem worried, his words so relaxed and calm.