through horrible things can so easily get lost in their own pain and misery that they become capable of the same or even worse things,” she said softly. “I know. I lived it. I did horrendous things, not because you or anyone told me to, but because I could. Because I wanted others to suffer the way I was suffering. But none of it brought my family back. None of it fixed the wrongs I’d endured. And spending most of my adult life plotting revenge against a sister I didn’t know only made my life even more desolate and empty.”
He was silent in her kitchen, still looking at the painting on her wall. Only now there was a perplexed expression on his face. One that was so at odds with the malicious god she’d once known, it relaxed her ever more.
No, he wasn’t here to harm her or Nick. He was here because he was confused.
“Does Talisa know?” Cynna asked, sensing if she didn’t prod him, he’d stand there all night. “About her past lives? How you’re connected?”
He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, still staring at the picture. “Yes.”
“Does she remember?”
“No. I don’t know how she knows. One of the nymphs must have told her. They’re always gossiping.”
Cynna wanted to ask about these nymphs—he’d had nymphs at his lair in the Yucatan when she’d been with him, but something told her these nymphs were different. Since he seemed agitated, though, she decided to stay on the topic of Talisa instead.
“And you’re worried about that? About what the nymphs are telling her? That she won’t want to stay with you because of what she hears?”
He turned a scowl Cynna’s way. “I wish that was the problem. I’ve tried to get her to leave numerous times only she won’t.” He glanced toward the window over the sink and muttered, “She’s the most stubborn female I’ve ever met.”
Two things hit Cynna at once. The first was that Zagreus was in love with Talisa. Really in love with her. Which was why he was so off kilter. And the second was something she understood well.
“You don’t think you deserve her,” she said quietly.
“I know I don’t deserve her. I just don’t know how to convince her of that fact.”
“Wow.”
Zagreus turned to face her. “What?”
She blinked up at him, shocked not just that this was happening, but that he was here talking to her about it. “She’s in love with you, too. That’s why you’re so freaked out.”
“I’m not freaked out.” He huffed and went back to looking through the window. “And no one said anything about love. Only mortals believe in that silliness.”
Cynna couldn’t help but smirk, knowing he was lying through his teeth. But that smirk faded when she said, “You and I are very similar. Too similar. We both wandered through life with nothing but revenge to lead us. That’s why it was so easy to let things go on between us as long as we did. We were a distraction for each other.”
He turned and looked at her, his expression unreadable, but she didn’t let that deter her.
“We were both broken, but that doesn’t mean either of us was or is a lost cause.” She leaned forward in her seat. “There’s more to life than misery and revenge. So much more than I ever knew was possible. And it’s not dark, it’s light. I didn’t believe it before I met Nick, but he changed that. He changed everything for me. All it took was doing the right thing. When I was young, my mother once told me that it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday, only what you do today. I don’t think I really understood what she meant by that until Nick came into my life. But once he did, once I made the choice to do the right thing, that was the turning point. I realized I could love someone and that it wouldn’t destroy them. But more than that, I realized I could be loved and not be destroyed.”
He stared at her so long in silence, she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her words. Then he surprised her when he said, “The young Argonaut Maximus is being held in a satyr fortress in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains.” He nodded at something on the table. “I wrote the coordinates on that note.”
Her gaze shot to the slip of paper she hadn’t even noticed in the dark.
“I had nothing to do with his imprisonment. The satyrs have not