Claimed by the Demon Hunter 4 (Guardians of Humanity) by Harley James

Author:Harley James [James, Harley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Matrix Media LLC
Published: 2020-01-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Sophia froze at Alexios’s admission, her blood going cold. “What are you saying?” The baby stirred and began to cry again.

Alexios stood, his shadow from the fire’s light casting a monstrous slash against the cave wall. “Several fortnights ago, I was sharpening my blades. Mantes caught me in a foul mood. I said how fitting it would be for a slithering coward like Zenon to meet his end with a viper’s kiss.”

He laid another branch on the fire. “Everyone suspected that Zenon’s planned visit to the Delphic Oracle to offer sacrifice for a good harvest was another ruse to continue raping the priestess. However, I didn’t know Mantes had taken my speech so literally until he returned to the kleros, frantic that your father had insisted on going in Zenon’s place. By the time we got to the temple, the serpent had already struck the king.”

“No.” Sophia tucked her cheek against the baby’s head as she slumped back against the cave wall and slid to the ground, her bravado and optimism suddenly dried up.

She envisioned her father again, legs twisting in the sweat-dampened bed sheets as the snake’s toxin invaded his body. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her mind to wash itself with white. To remember her father whole and healthy.

To wish away the awful fact that her father would still be alive if not for Alexios.

How could she forgive him?

The infant’s cries echoed in the emptiness inside her.

Papa’s death had been a mistake.

So pointless.

“Damn you and your careless words.” Her gaze pinned Alexios and saw his regret. How could he be both the root of her deepest pain and the answer to her purpose?

His hand rose and fell despondently. “If I could go back and change it, I would.”

As would I.

Why had it happened this way?

Why not? some part of her mind whispered. Or was it Hermes, that trickster god, patron of thieves and the inventor of lying? Surely the Olympians would have protected her father if they’d wanted him to live.

At least, that’s what she would accept if she still trusted in the gods.

She wasn’t so sure she could anymore.

Only Artemis—with her retinue of gentle nymphs—had ever interceded for her. Had ever showed she cared.

“You came to find me today out of guilt.” Not affection. She’d been foolish to believe otherwise. Especially when he’d told her he didn’t want anything to do with her every single time she was with him.

The baby was crying so hard his face was red, his body stiff with anger. She rose to her feet, shifted him into a cradle hold, and hummed a nonsensical melody. Nothing helped. She felt as brittle as the tiny glass sculpture her father had brought home for her after his trip to Athens last summer.

“That’s not why I searched for you.”

She raised her head and stared at Alexios, but said nothing in return.

He laid another log on the fire, then approached where she paced with the baby. “Your radical ways and proposed alliance with me has made you some enemies, Sophia.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.