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Chapter 21 - The Shadows Return

Chapter 21 - The Shadows Return

Weaver

I got on my bike and rode for hours. Now that I was far from Selene, I was furious. Markus was out fooling around with another simpleton while Selene was at home, swathed in an empty nightmare.

I rode around at breakneck speed to ease the rage. It was in vain.

Why had Markus chosen to delude an innocent child? Was it his way to feel omnipotent again? Did it give him the sort of rush he had felt when he had fashioned the mortals' dreams? Had he so missed being a god that he decided to toy with a child's feelings?

Except that I didn't see a broken child when I saw Selene earlier. I saw a selfless human being yet again thrown a disappointment she didn't deserve.

I waited for the dawn to break. I didn't want to sleep and inadvertently find myself in Selene's dream. I doubted I'd be able to restrain myself. Despite what Father told me, if I saw Selene dejected again, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from approaching her-comforting her-whether in my monstrous figure or winged form.

But that look on Selene's face before I left her. I hated it that even though Markus had deeply hurt her, she was still seeking him out.

I got home an hour after sunrise. I would ask Francis to check if Selene's already awake before I drink a glass of milk and find the tunnel to Father. I needed to ask-beg if needed-another favor.

The last thing I expected was to see Markus sitting at the breakfast nook, a self-righteous look on his face.

"Well, you definitely took your time to get home," the douchebag drawled.

I saw red.

Markus was a few inches taller than I was, but I didn't care. I growled at him as I shoved him to the wall, "You primordial giant! You should be thrown into the pits of Tartarus! Don't you have enough girls to mess with at the university?"

Markus pushed me back as he drew himself up. "What is wrong with you? I never expected you to grow attached to these mortals. They are mere playthings."

My left hand shot up and wrapped around his neck. I was tempted to strangle him, to feel his bones crush beneath my fingers as I squeezed. He had not seen how distraught Selene was. He was not a god who could fiddle with anyone's fate.

Even as gods, we had no right.

Was this the lesson you wanted us to learn, Mother?

All this guilt, hatred and grief-how did the mortals contain all these sentiments? I felt like I was going to combust. Every single emotion that radiated off Selene as she formed her barbed prison was incapacitating. I only had a glimpse of the burden she carried-and hid so well-every day and it tasted bitterer than roasted coffee beans. All these feelings combined was crippling.

"Selene is a mere human to play with," Markus choked out as he tried to pry my fingers off.

Did Markus have a death wish? I'd never witnessed a god die a mortal death. Perhaps today. By my hand.

I would drag him to my tunnels.

Markus' eyes grew wide as he watched my fingers turn into claws. My talons bit into his skin and drew blood. I was just starting.

He gripped my claws with both his hands in an attempt to free himself. I closed my right hand into a fist and rammed it at the wall next to his face.

The entire structure shook.

"Release me," Markus rasped.

I wasn't listening. This insect didn't deserve any mercy.

I felt the shadows shape around us. They loomed around us. My old friends. My flesh-eating monsters had returned.