Out of the frying pan and into the fire…at least I think that’s how that saying goes. Seems like whatever progress Wyatt and I were about to make, might as well have been tossed in the river outside.
I glanced at him. We shared the same look today that we’d shared on our wedding day and everyday since. The “shit is hitting the fan so lets buckle down and come back to this later” look.
“Lead the way.”
We followed behind Tethys, expecting a small army of new titans. What we got wasn’t that but it felt so much worse.
“You!” I glared at the familiar redhead who toyed with me—used my own son to tear me and Wyatt apart. A sin so unforgivable that I had to remind myself—twice—I don’t take lives. Even the shittiest ones deserve their day in court.
“Wait!” Rhea put her hands up, palms open, fingers spread. “I’m not here to hurt you or toy with you.”
“No. Clearly you’re here for round two.” Wyatt said, a dark look in his eye. Dummy, how does he expect to mess with her again when he’s not a hologram anymore?! I’m starting to think Guy is rubbing off on him in the worst way.
“No, I’m not…please just hear them out.” Them?
Rhea motioned towards a ruined building where three shadows danced closer and closer. Three people stepped out from behind the rubble, each one more distinct than the last. A woman with gray skin and a black toga, curvy and fierce—was first. Her hair was done up in a french braid and she had freckles on her plump breasts.
“I am Themis. It is nice to finally meet you.” Her voice was airy but authoritative, like she was someone's kind but stern mother. Though her eyes were covered, she looked directly at me.
“Uh…thanks. I wish we’d have met under kinder circumstances but here we are.” I held out a hand and she tilted her head at me, reading me in ways I can’t see. Just as I was putting my hand away, she shook it with a soft yet firm grasp.
“I am Mnemosyne.” A slender woman with a serene voice stepped up. Her skin was dark like the night skin but her eyes were pure white. No pupils. She had shaved sides of her tightly coiled, thick white ponytail, draped down to her waist. She wore a blue scholar's robe, like she’d stepped out of a wizard school and a white scarf wrapped around her neck. She held out a hand to me though hers was less casual. Her wrist was bent like she expected me to kiss her hand instead of shake it.
I’ll be damned if I didn’t get on one knee and kiss her hand, winking at her flustered face. The way she and Wyatt collectively gasped made me chuckle.
“That—that was entirely inappropriate!” Her pitch changed, sounding more squeamish than before.
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” I gave her a bow as Wyatt raised a very clearly pissed off brow.
“Feel free to kiss mine, though I gotta warn you: my hands are pretty rough.” A man nearly as tall as Noa but thick and muscular all around made his way up. He had scars all over his pale body, particularly on his hands. His hair was dark brown, as were his eyes. A beard that draped down to his broad chest caught my eye. The man wore leather like a blacksmith—-in fact everything about him screamed blacksmith in a medieval fantasy.
“Iapetus, at your service.” He grinned, showing off his slightly yellow teeth. I shook his hand regardless, and my god he was right. I’m not a tender person but it felt like he was ripping my skin with just his touch.
“Ouch! Shit!” I ripped my hand back, noticing the small cuts in my hand. Tiny droplets of blood started forming but I ignored it. It would heal, same as always.
“Sapphyra?” Wyatt questioned, standing closer to me. He nudged my arm, examining my hand. It had only been a few seconds.
“What? It’ll heal.” I shook my head. He really needed to stop treating me like I was some breakable thing.
“Nah.” Iapetus smirks. “Not with me around. I’m the titan of mortality and you my dear? You are very mortal right now.”
An entire minute had passed.
“What?” I held up my bloodied hand, watching as tiny rivers of red raced to the ground.
“Fuck! Hold on.” Wyatt took off his shirt to cover my hand with. “Put pressure on it. It’ll stop in a moment.” He spoke softly, stepping back into his instructor mode.
I couldn’t swallow the cotton in my throat. What the hell…Iapetus turned off my regeneration?
“Well damn, that’ll make killing me a hell of a lot easier I suppose.” Tethys stood off to my right, opposite Wyatt. She gripped my arm, steadying me. Damn. I hadn’t felt woozy since my pregnancy. Had I really lost that much blood so quickly?
“Killing you isn’t the goal…least not for me.” Iapetus frowned, crossing his arms. His gaze fell to Mnemosyne and Themis.
“Though we are under the orders of Rupert, killing you is not the goal today.” Mnemosyne started. She held her arm, unable to look me in the eye.
“We are here to put you to trial. You and your lovers.” Themis nodded, holding up a hand towards Wyatt.
I stepped in front of him, driven by instinct.
“Hold the hell on! Your problem is with me, not him!” My wings covered him like a shield but he stepped around them.
“Sapphyra. We have to go through this. Just trust me.” I didn’t want to…but all our years of working together stayed firmly in my mind. When Wyatt asks me to trust him, it usually means he’s got a plan. But when would he have planned for these three and then Rhea?
“I swear to god, Wyatt, if anything happens to you.” He softly smiled, kissing my wing. I shivered, loving and hating him for that.
“We’re ready. Right?” He looked up at me and I nodded. I was just ready to get this “trial” over with.
“Yep. So…” the four of them stood across from us, “what now?”
“Now,” Themis held up a hand towards Wyatt, “we separate your lovers so that they may all stand and be judged.”
Say what now?!
She hit him with a ball of light that exploded on impact, sending myself and Tethys a dozen yards away.
“Wyatt!” I screamed his name as I watched him vanish into a haze of light.
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