Chapter 532: Another Chance
I pressed a hand to my chest, fingers curling into a loose fist. "The same way you know about her," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion.
Aurle. I didn’t even have to say her name for her face to flicker through my mind. I’d been too weak to save her back then. I would never let that happen again, even if it cost me everything. I would stop the rift from spreading to Enusia and protect those dear to me.
Luke was silent and spared a long glance toward the swirling gate. He didn’t need to ask who I was referring to; he’d already seen her in my memories.
"What about you? What will happen if I leave?" he finally asked, his gaze returning to me.
"And what would that matter? You broke the city and got what you wanted."
"I don’t know," he said, dragging a frustrated hand through his hair. The twitching of his tail increased, matching mine. "But it does."
The edges of the gate began to flicker and withdraw in on themselves. I turned my back pointedly and began to walk away. I already knew what he would choose. The vow I’d spoken of was the thing that unlocked his apostleship. It had been a desperate prayer to anyone who was listening, be it god or demon, that he would gain the strength to tear down those that had murdered his sister. And ultimately, it was an oath against the gods, to hurt them wherever possible, and failing that, to at least spit in their eye.
I hadn’t seen much more than that in the memory fragments, only that a demon emperor had managed to answer and grant him the apostolic ability, starting him on the path of war. It was that vow that formed the center of every thought, every plan he made. It was how he’d decided that my life and feelings were a justifiable cost to take this fortress with minimum losses.
I couldn’t blame him for it; I would have done the same had I felt what he felt, had I become the person he had become. I’d chosen a path of healing and forgiveness, yet it was that very thing that led me to this perceived betrayal, abandoned by Luke. It was a bitter irony that we both came from such similar roots and yet it had left me here, cold and alone, abandoned by he who had chosen vengeance.