“That isn’t love. A person doesn’t knowingly hurt the people they love. The collar is petty revenge. It’s stealing away your gifts to feed her own need for more power while taking pleasure in your pain. And you’re letting her do it. Why? Guilt for turning your back on the one you loved to protect the world from her? A desperate need to cling to something that you’ve already lost?”
“I haven’t lost her!” Lore screamed at him, each word trembling as it left his throat.
“You have. You lost her a long time ago, but you’re not willing to admit it. In fact, you’re willing to let the entire world burn down so you can hold on to the lie a bit longer.”
All the anger and fire that had flared up in Lore seemed to burn out in the blink of an eye. His shoulders slumped and he swayed a bit on his feet. “Wouldn’t you?” Lore whispered. “Would you let the world burn if it meant you could hold on to your dragon for just a few seconds longer?”
Caelan squeezed his eyes shut.
Drayce…
What wouldn’t he do to keep his lover safe and happy?
He had more power at his fingertips than even he could comprehend. In the past several months, he’d broken bodies and slaughtered scores to protect those he loved.
And each time he stumbled out of that blood-drenched trance of pain and bone-deep fear, he hated himself a little more.
What he’d done wasn’t out of love but out of fear.
Fear of losing Drayce and the rest of the family he’d cobbled together. Fear of failing them. Fear of not being everything they needed him to be.
“If you had asked me that question six months ago, I would have agreed with you. I would have happily burned all of Thia to the ground if it meant holding Drayce for one second longer.” He shook his head. “But my love isn’t more important than the lives of everyone else. It’s not bigger than the hopes and dreams of everyone on Thia. If I can’t save him without sacrificing the world, I’d rather follow him into whatever comes at this lifetime. I’ll take that risk for him out of love.”
Lore’s lips shifted, moving into something like a smile, but it was too broken and unsteady to remain perched on his face for long. “I’m happy to die for her.”
“But would she do the same for you?”
“She has a grand destiny—”
“What about yours?” Caelan snapped. He shoved to his feet and took a few steps toward the god who still towered over him by several inches. “You’re a fucking god! Don’t you have a duty? A responsibility to the people of Thia? You’re helping her to wipe out countless lives for what? So she can claim to be the most powerful being in all the world? So she can beat Tula? Who cares? Is that really more important than all the people whose history will be wiped out? The civilizations, history, and knowledge that will be wiped out?”
Lore didn’t blink or flinch in the face of his unrelenting rage. He stood there and took it as if it were exactly what he deserved. Caelan was sure he couldn’t be telling the man anything he didn’t already know. Or maybe it was a matter of him being unwilling to face it.
With a heavy sigh, Caelan backpedaled until he could lean his shoulders against the cool, stones of the wall. He folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. “She’s not who you want her to be. She never will be. For that, I am truly sorry. If you want to blame someone, then blame her for convincing you she’s someone she’s not. Blame Tula for tempting her with power. But don’t hold the people of Thia responsible for you and Zyros being trapped in a fucked-up relationship.”
“I want to die for her,” Lore mumbled.
“No, you want to die so you don’t have to face the monster you’ve unleashed on Thia. Why don’t you try living and saving the innocent?”
“I—”
Lore’s words were cut off by a thunderous roar that pierced the relative silence of Green Spring and shook the ground. Caelan’s body froze as his brain screamed that it was a dragon’s roar. Drayce—
No, not Drayce.
He knew Drayce’s roar, and the tenor of that one wasn’t as deep as Drayce’s. Was that Haru?
A couple of seconds passed and a second, deeper roar answered the first. That was Drayce.
Caelan shoved away from the wall, turning his attention fully to Lore. He wasn’t sure if he was finally getting through to the God of Wisdom, but this was his last chance. He opened his mouth, but he never got the chance.
Lore was sudden jerked backward by some unseen force, pulled completely off his feet and through the open doorway. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. Zyros had pulled her pet to her side. He had to assume she’d heard every word that he’d said to Lore. That was fine. He was done with the lies. It was time to end this game.