Hearts That Cut by Kika Hatzopoulou

Author:Kika Hatzopoulou [Hatzopoulou, Kika]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XVI

TAMPER

DANGER HOVERED IN the room as Io’s friends and the kurbantes-born filed out. Edei’s mouth was a hard line, his gaze marble cold. Io herself was all bristling caution; it felt like one wrong move, one false word might turn the mob king against them.

Seto was watching them with his soft, rosy irises. “The Erotes,” he started, “were five gods: Eros, god of desire; Anteros, god of requited love; Hedylogos, god of flattery; Himeros, god of unrequited love; and Pothos, god of yearning. I am the latest. I can see desire and longing in the form of concentric circles rippling out of each body, intersecting when the feeling is reciprocated. It is wholly serene and perfectly balanced—imagine a pebble tossed soundlessly onto the surface of a tranquil lake.”

Seto paused and raised his pink eyes to them, nailing Io and Edei in turn.

“When I look at you two, however,” he said, “I see waters in turmoil. Your feelings are like two torrents of opposing rivers clashing into each other. Their battle distorts the love-streams of those around you. Just now, my powers couldn’t discern the ripples of anyone else in the room besides you two, nor affect them in any way.”

Io turned red all the way to the tips of her ears. She could feel her skin burning, her cheeks, her neck, her clavicle—every inch of her sizzled with barely contained mortification. If Seto kept talking for another second, it was very likely she might short-circuit, explode, and take out the whole Moor District with her.

“If I am to commit to helping you,” Seto said, “the task ahead requires my best focus, my absolute power. I will not embark on a fight against gods with my abilities hindered. You are a danger to me right now, Miss Ora, Mr. Rhuna. Please allow me to examine your rivers of love and resolve the issue, so that we may all succeed in our impossible mission.”

Gods! Examine their rivers of love. Why did everything suddenly sound so suggestive? Io wanted to dash for the door. Any other day, she’d wager she could make it past all nine of the kurbantes-born, but now, with her hands clasped in these damned manacles, she only had her fast legs and quick wits to work with, and what use were those? Perhaps if she went along, this humiliation would be over more quickly—

“Our feelings,” Edei said emphatically, “are none of your business, sir.”

Io’s eyes cut to his face. In her complete spiraling, she hadn’t noticed him move, but he was now standing firmly between her and Seto. Even bound behind his back, his hands were clenched so tightly his knuckles were showing white.

“They are when they affect my control over my powers,” Seto said with perfect confidence.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to work around that.”

“Believe me, if there was a way, I would have found it by now—”

Io spoke up to interrupt their back-and-forth; she had a feeling it would quickly escalate into a proper fight. “We share a fate-thread, Edei and I.

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