Page 43 of Villainous Greed

“Come on.” August grabbed my hand. I sucked in a breath as he pulled us into a darkened vortex that spiraled into a multitude of colors. When we exited that strange space, stone walls surrounded us. Were we inside Grim’s castle?

I waited quietly as the Reapers scattered about, talking and making sure everyone was safe. Payne was still outside, killing the last of Harvest’s dragons. Harvest likely retreated and wouldn’t return until his creations encountered the Reapers as mortals again.

Derrick got away, and so did Harvest. Derrick almost killed a Reaper. I placed a palm against my chest as my breathing became labored and painful. August risked his life to free me from Harvest, so why didn’t he when we were kids? That awful day in our past made no sense. Something had been strange about August that day. Being near him again clouded my judgement, muddled my thoughts, and made my body feel weird. We couldn’t change the past, so why did I stand there and let my heart ache as if I could?

A cool touch gripped my hand on my chest. “What’s wrong?” August tugged, and I noticed it was some sort of iron prosthetic. His yellow essence flowed around the metal arm.

I trailed my fingers over the cool steel. “You already made yourself a new arm.”

“Better get used to it, Boom.” August slipped his cool fingers through mine. “You’re going to be feeling it a lot.”

I jerked away from him, not knowing which heated me more. The odd touch or his words. I uttered, “What do you mean?”

He waggled his brows. “What do you think it means?”

“I’d hate to kill you right after your family worked so hard to save you.”

He leaned closer. His breath heated my cheek. “I’m talking to you right now and you haven’t blown me up.”

“Do you want me to?”

“No, but I think we’re making progress.”

Ignoring him, I stepped away. “What did you mean earlier? About the past.”

“Are you ready to learn the truth of that day?” Melinda interrupted, walking up behind August.

“How would you know what happened? You weren’t there,” I said. Although the witch likely had sight, didn’t mean she was honest about her visions.

Melinda said, “I’ve seen it, but you need to see it to believe yourself.”

My stomach knotted, and I squeezed my hands together. “I don’t want to relive that day.”

Melinda gave me a pitiful smile. “You’ll have to if you want to understand what happened between you.”

August gripped my hands and pulled them to his stomach. I froze when he leaned his giant body over me and his forehead touched mine. His breath heated my nose and cheeks, leaving goose bumps over my skin.

“Please, Nova. I don’t want to experience any of it either, but I desperately need to learn the truth. You do, too.”

Without moving, I asked Melinda, “How will this work exactly? How will we see the past?”

“With a potion I’ve already made, you’ll relive each of your memories as a third party. You’ll see the past for what it was. You can’t speak or interrupt a memory since you’re not there.” Melinda handed each of us a vial. “Whose memory do you want to relive first?”

“Nova’s,” August said.

Melinda lifted her chin. “Then, Nova, you drink up first. August, you follow right after.”

My heart rammed against my ribcage. That day still haunted me. The idea of reliving it and seeing the children die…

With the mechanical limb, August caressed my hand with his cool touch, then cupped my cheek with his other. “The past is the past. It’s already happened. All we’re doing is finding outwhywe’re at odds about that day.” It was like he tried to command me to be calm with his stare. After stealing my focus, he glanced at Melinda. “How do we pull out of the memory?”

“Your thoughts just need to align to leave. You both must want to exit together. That’s it.”

That’s it?Melinda thought it was easy because she wasn’t the one experiencing our past.

August ran his finger over mine. An iron appendage shouldn’t invoke a circuit of energy beneath my skin. I felt electric from a single touch. The sorcery of August’s touch astounded me.

I forgot when we were doing until he uttered, “For our truth.” His throat bobbed as he uncorked the vial in my hand and guided it to my lips.