Her gaze became downcast, and she stared at the grass for a long while. “Would you ever hurt me?”

Of course he could just lie, but Val really wanted to trust him. A simple verbal reassurance would be enough for her. If he did decide to stick that stone knife to her throat, then maybe Arius could come save her next.

“No, not without warning,” he said. “You would have to go far off the deep end before I would take any action against you, so don’t worry about it.” Tavras patted her shoulder and asked, “Are you that worried about me holding what happened against you? Val,” he said, moving his hand to lift up her chin, “you can tell me anything. I will always be on your side.”

Her eyes held his for a long time before drifting away again. Val released the burden of her secret, her lips forming but a whisper. “Last night, Arius told me that we were soulmates.”

Frozen like his water had become out here, Tavras stared at her. “Do you really believe that for a second? He’s lying to get into your head and pants! Frankly, even if Arius is delusional enough to think that he’s telling the truth, his ability to feel soulmate connections has been messed up by his twisted idea of love.”

In all confidence, Tavras let a stronger note of anger dominate his voice. “What he says about me is case in point. I am not soulmates with Evalaite!”

Her fingers fumbled around. “I hope so.” She could barely murmur that but then burst into sobs. “I just really liked you for so long, so much that it hurt. Then when I just couldn’t take it anymore, Arius was there. He was so nice last night. For the first time, someone didn’t withhold information from me.”

Going on a tangent riddled with emotion, Val started crying about the other people in her life. “I feel so manipulated by my mom constantly, like I just started talking to her again and now I won’t even know what to say to her now that I know she’s the Demiweaver.”

A hiccup forced Val to stop talking and take a breath. “I was always frustrated by how you thought to keep information from me for my own good. I know that I’m young and not very strong yet, especially compared to you, but being constantly treated like a child hurts.”

She continued, “Arius always reiterates that I’m an adult and wants to respect me. He told me who I actually am. He gave me a fake identity that I can actually maintain. He gave me back my hair!”

Tavras put an arm around her shoulders and rocked her mechanically. When she lifted her teary eyes to him, his head tipped back to the sky above—gaze indifferent and bored.

Val threw her head back down and continued in her crying rant.

“I-I just thought the idea of having a soulmate is nice. I want a guy to actually like me back, so I figured that maybe I could like the god who was actually being nice to me until he put a knife to my neck!” Finished, Val let a last wail curl from her throat. From there, she started to quiet down in her tears.

Again, Tavras rubbed her shoulders till she had nothing but snivels left. “Val, you are young and too distracted by old gods. Even a younger god like Arius, things would never work out like that. Love is cruel in the immortal life where we persist long enough for things to always end in tragedy.” He sounded too knowing and reminiscent to not be thinking of Evalaite or somebody else.

Val gave her last sniffs. “I-I think I’m fine now. Sorry for the meltdown. Thanks for listening.”

Finally, Tavras was able to look at her face with his knitted brows. “This was healthier than some of the other ways that you’ve let out your frustrations in the past.”

Not wanting to make a comment, she stayed silent.

“So, my takeaway from this is that Arius claims to be your soulmate. This is the issue that we’re dealing with. I was right all along!”

Her chin bobbed up and down, though she did not feel quite so sure of that last point.

Tavras hefted out a sigh. “Did his sweet talking get you to do anything?” Quickly, he shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t need nor want to know that.”

She felt compelled to tell him, since it felt important that Tavras know this for whatever reason. “For the record, I did not do anything inappropriate with him, save for a few jokes like you overheard.” Her thumbs twiddled around, turning over the past twelve hours in her head, trying to rationalize her behavior with Arius.

He had been so forthcoming. Their connection as soulmates was astounding and unbelievable, yet so tantalizing and irresistible as to get her hopes up. Val had felt the need to enjoy herself and ease her nerves with raunchy jokes. Since she had first left with Arius last night, her thoughts tumbled around in overdrive.

Though she felt overwhelmed, she did not know what to do. She had already cried more than enough. Val just wanted to go home and sleep, but that would solve nothing.

Luckily, she had her genuine mentor here. All she had to do was ask for help and actually take his advice this time. With her head lifted, she stated plainly, “Tavras, I don’t know what to do.”

“Once again, I am going to suggest my usual thing. We need to get out of here. This time, I implore you: please listen to me.” The way that he leaned forward with wide eyes, Tavras looked desperate for her cooperation.

His pupils searched her eyes. Not trusting that she would agree, he went on. “Arius is not a god that you can put in any trust. Everything that he does advances his own self-interest.” Following that brief introduction, Tavras broke down the points that Val had praised about her supposed soulmate.

“He is insistent on calling you an adult because he wants to not feel bad about his twisted desires for you. He gave you a fake identity so that he can keep you around and make you the mother of his children. Everything else is intended to make you more trusting and willing to copulate. I’m telling you, Arius sees you for nothing more than some stellar genes!”

Wow. She had little more opinion on it than that.

Tavras was certainly doubling down on his position. To Val, she still did not want to think about herself that way. She wanted to stay away from Arius regardless.

As clear as the situation had become to her, she saw no need to think anymore. Running away from the issue sounded like a great idea, right about now. “Okay, Tavras. I’ll admit that you’re right. I’m still not convinced on the whole baby thing, but you’re right that Arius is no good for me. You’ve been right this entire time.”

“Of course, I have! I may not be good at coming up with fancy strategies like Arius, but I know what’s what.” Jumping up, Tavras stooped down to pull Val to her feet likewise. “We’re stopping by the apartment to get things in order, then we’re leaving immediately. I can’t wait to get out of here!”

The entire time, Tavras had hated their brief stay on the Summit. Now, they would be leaving within days in even worse straits than before. If they had never gone to the Summit at all, Val and Tavras would have never drawn such attention onto themselves.

They would have to flee from Arius who would undoubtedly not let Val get away this easily.