Soulceress (The Mythean Arcana 2) - Page 53

So why hadn’t she liked the fact that he’d been nice to her cat? He’d done it because the beast had grown on him when he realized how important it was to Esha’s health and happiness, but she’d been upset by an innocuous deed. As she’d been upset last night, ready to jump to the worst conclusion about him.

A conclusion he deserved. He’d been a lying bastard. But even before she knew the extent of his lies, she’d been ready to write him off. Why was trust so hard for her?

“Why is she so…” He gestured with his hands, trying to explain her.

“Awesome?”

“Nay. I mean, aye, she is. But no’ that. Why is she so—ah—difficult?”

“Difficult? You mean, wary? Tough? Prickly like a porcupine?”

“Aye. She doesn’t trust easily. At all, really.”

Andrasta’s eyes lit up. “Because you are all assholes.” She gestured wildly with her hands. “Every single one of you at that university is a giant asshole. Except that new girl, Diana. Esha said she doesn’t suck.”

“What the hell?”

The goddess, who looked more like a pissed-off college student, grabbed an arrow out of thin air and twirled it in her fingers, faster and faster as she scowled at him. She chewed on her lip, clearly thinking of what to say next.

“Esha cherishes her badassery. It’s her armor. I’m not going to give anything away that threatens that. But think about this… What if every Mythean in the world treated you like shit because of something you couldn’t control? Everywhere you went, you were met with sidelong glances or outright disgust? For her, it started as soon as she came into her power, with some stupid boyfriend who ditched her, and it only got worse. She doesn’t even actually hurt anyone.”

As he’d suspected. “But her power reaping…?”

“Oh fates, don’t call it reaping. How creepy is that? Like that guy in the black cape that some mortals believe in. Who is he? The grim reaper? You’re comparing her to the freaking death guy when you do that. Anyway, it doesn’t actually hurt people. Makes them a little weak for a while. Maybe they won’t win their next fight. But if they don’t get into one, it doesn’t ever matter anyway.”

“I never—”

“Yeah, you didn’t know, because she doesn’t get power off you. She told me. But you still hate her for something she can’t control, and it doesn’t even affect you.”

“I doona hate her.” The opposite—more every day. “But she doesn’t care that other people doona like her. She relishes it, from the way she acts.” But that wasn’t true now. He was just fighting it because it made him realize how badly he’d probably hurt her.

And how much she probably wanted Aurora as a friend. Aurora had played her so well. And him. Dangling the one thing Esha truly wanted in front of them both.

Once, he wouldn’t have cared whether Esha got what she wanted. Now, he wanted nothing more than to fill her days with friends, to show her that they’d all been wrong about her.

When the hell had he become such a sap? It was threatening his end goals, which truly were a matter of life or death. Not for him, but for her as well.

Andrasta confirmed his suspicions when she said, “Yeah, because she has to. She’s pretended that she likes it until it has almost become a reality. She comes off all I don’t care and badass to protect herself—it’s really not that hard to figure out. But deep down, it kills her. And lately, her shell has been cracking. I think it bothers her more than ever. Anyway, the moral of the story is that you’re an asshole. Try not to be.” With a smile that was more a snarl, she strode off toward Esha. Briefly, she turned around to say, “Oh, and go fuck yourself.”

Warren heaved a sigh and rocked back on his heels. What a bitch. With a grin, he realized that he liked her. And that Esha was so much more complex than he’d realized. Beneath her tough exterior, years of rejection had her ready to be disappointed, ready to mistrust, ready to run.

He’d lived down to her poor expectations. Hurt had shone through the anger in her blazing eyes last night. She hated being feared. Being despised for what she was. Decades of rejection had her looking for it at every turn, and he’d obliged. He hadn’t meant it. His panic had been about his own fucked-up self. But how was she to know that? And when she was so damaged, how was he to convince her?

Esha frowned at the sight of Ana walking away from Warren. She’d been watching the hill race and absorbing the power of the spectators when she’d caught sight of the pair of them out of the corner of her eye. What had they been talking about? Ana was headed toward her, and she picked up her pace when she got closer.

“Esha!” Ana called, a broad smile stretched across her face. She flung herself into Esha’s arms for a hug when she reached her, and Esha grinned broadly. They pulled apart. Damn, it was good to see Ana, even if it had been a short while since she’d seen her last. With her life acting so crazy all of a sudden, the familiar felt even better.

“You wipe the floor with them?” Esha nodded toward the caber field.

“Yeah. Almost didn’t, but pulled it out in the end.”

“As you do. How long are you out of Otherworld for?”

“Another hour or so.”

“Too bad it can’t be longer.”

Ana shook her head and danced nervously on nimble feet. “No. Things are happening in Otherworld.”

Tags: Linsey Hall The Mythean Arcana Paranormal
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