Daughter of Zeus ✔

19.3

The ebb of the pulse returned to her and grew louder. Suddenly, Ada could feel it in her wrist. She encircled her left wrist with her palm and visualized the pulse evaporating harmlessly within her. Internally, the device fizzled and ceased to function. She opened her eyes when she felt the connection with the pulse end.

Shylar's wristlet buzzed.

"Signal lost," the interface announced.

He arched an eyebrow in Ada's direction. "Shouldn't have told you."

"I'm sure you'll find another way to rescue a damsel in distress."

"If only there was one around, then I might be of service."

Her mouth twitched upward, slowly becoming a full-fledged smile. "You never answered my last question. Why are you still here?"

Shylar checked his interface again before answering, his fingers scaling across the screen with inhuman speed. He looked up at her after as if he just solved cancer on his device and was taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to her.

"Why are you still here?" he countered.

Ada sat up straighter. She didn't want to answer questions; she wanted to ask them. Why was she still around? Kressick was dead, Moretz might as well be dead with where he was at...was it Phennell? The prince had proven to be a fucktard like his stepfather.

She thought that maybe Darcy had learned how not to act from watching her brother's example. Darcy, her little sister. Other than her mother, Ada thought she was alone in the world, but she had a sister. A sister who might need her guidance and support. Who am I to guide or support anyone?

However, her lack of a mentor had allowed her destructive side to flourish after August's death. Her sister didn't have to become a watered down version of that.

"Darcy might need me."

Shylar searched her face, then sighed. "Kressick always hoped you'd look past vengeance to focus on what's important."

"That used to be my life, when I had someone else in it. Then I—," Killed him. I killed him.

The admission lifted Ada and pulled her down simultaneously. A black curtain of denial opened in her mind while a heavy weight of guilt emptied her sense of self-worth.

"It was an accident," Shylar said.

His were a familiar set of words. Ada had heard the words shouted at her several times when her mother had been trying to get them through to her a year ago. After Ada refused to attend August's funeral, her family and friends had gotten sick of her denial, but they hadn't gotten through to her either. She even tried to scream the words at herself in front of the mirror. None of it stuck. Likewise, Shylar's endorsement failed to change her view of who was to blame.

"I need a minute," she said.

"Take all the time you need," he said.