VERONICA
I was immediately pulled into a tight hug when Lore's shadows scattered to reveal Tarrin's office.
"Oh, thank the gods, you're alright." Taylor murmured as she tightened her pull. I nervously chuckled when I felt the sudden lack of oxygen escaping my body.
Thankfully, Matt was there to pull her away. I gave him my thanks with a nod, which he returned with a smile before placing his arm around Taylor's shoulder and leading her back to the corner of the room.
"Good to have you back, Veronica." Tarrin greeted as he extended his hand to me. I took it warily and shook it once. He sighed before pulling me in and hugged me, and my eyes grew wider than ever.
"We've missed you, kid. Building's getting a little too quiet without you around." He whispered into my ear.
I smiled as I pulled back from him, "Without me, no one's here to defy and go against your orders. I'll keep in mind to do it more in the next ones, Tarrin."
"What? You're staying with us after this?" He asked with vehemently raised eyebrows.
"Why wouldn't I?" I countered.
Tarrin's eyes shifted to my right and I followed his line of sight where Lore was deep in conversation with Warren and Gideon. I scoffed and turned back to him, "He doesn't change anything."
"I know, I know." He raised his hands in defense. "But you're a goddess now, apparently, and I thought you would have much more important things to do."
"I love my job here. Why would I leave? Besides, I'm your greatest asset, Tarrin. I'm irreplaceable."
When Tarrin didn't reply, I frowned and took the seat next to Olivia. She rested her head on my shoulder and sighed, "Look at us. All finally back together." She murmured.
Taylor sat next to me and nodded, "A Ladies' Night is well overdue. We must have one when we save Veronica and shit."
I scoffed and redirected my gaze to Gideon who murmured something to Tarrin before calling the attention of everyone in the room. "Alright, well first of all, I want to welcome Veronica back. Only the gods and Tarrin know how hard we tried getting you back."
"Worth it?" I asked with raised eyebrows. Gideon smiled, something I rarely see him ever do. "Worth it." He replied.
"Now, I do believe that we should make sure that whatever happened to us in the Fifth Realm never happens again." He continued. "Demeter and Nixon," Taylor rolled her eyes next to me at the mention of his name, "are still adamant on taking Veronica back, which we all know is something we do not want happening. For both her sake and the entirety of the Twelve Realms.
"Now, based on Olivia's reports, she told me that you released the two accomplices of Demeter—Brie and Azura. Is this correct, Veronica?"
"I didn't release them." I answered flatly. "To Demeter, they are traitors. They were held as prisoners when Nixon found them trying to hide the potential casualties of the war. I set them free, told them to carry out their duties, and ordered them to protect the people with their lives. They know the consequences if they are to ever step out of line."
Gideon looked to Tarrin then who nodded once in reply. He sighed and turned back to me, "Alright. Now that that's settled, we must move on to the matter at hand."
"The one where the bastard angel gave our Ronnie an ultimatum to surrender to him tomorrow? I don't think so." Hermes materialized out of nowhere next to Warren and took a sip out of the martini glass he held.
"Well if you have anything else in mind, the floor is all yours, Hermes." Taylor taunted.
Hermes scoffed and placed his beverage on the table behind him. "I don't like your tone, demon."
"Enough," Warren cut in and settled his arm around Hermes' shoulders to pull him back. Hermes didn't seem even the least bit bothered by his boyfriend's show of placation. "It's best if we talk about this objectively. We need to outsmart Demeter and Nixon."
"But how do we do just that?" Olivia asked ruefully. "I'm sorry, but we have to accept the fact that we have no more options. We can't do anything anymore."
I wanted to chime in and tell them that there was always that other option, but they always refused to acknowledge it. I hated how they acted as if it were a hopeless cause because really, it was easy.
No. You are not giving up your life, Ver.
I rolled my eyes at his voice and fiddled with my fingers, I thought you said you'd support me if I wanted to.
I would, but it doesn't mean I want it to happen. Which is exactly why we're here. To prevent it from happening.
It's a waste of time is what it is, I ran a hand through my loose hair when I felt Lore's power fill the room. Don't do that. This stays between us, Lore.
He chuckled in my head when I felt his power pull back. I wanted to turn around even though I already knew he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and his blue eyes dead set on me.
Even though he knew he carried the highest power and authority, he always strayed away from the spotlight unless he needed to be. It was one of the few things I admired him for, not that I would ever admit it to him.
"Okay, maybe there's some sort of loophole to the prophecy. What is it, exactly?" Taylor asked in her conversation with the others.
Everyone turned to Lore then, excluding me. I kept my gaze on Tarrin's desk when I felt him loom over me from behind. He placed his hands on the couch and cleared his throat, "The child of Demeter shall bring retribution to the darkness of the divine and reign as their Queen of Nothing and Every Thing."
"So there is nothing about mass genocide! See?" Olivia exclaimed.
"She will conquer realms with the death she holds and cleanse it with the blood she spills." Lore continued with resolution in his tone.
Olivia's face dropped. "Oh."
"I'm not even going to lie. That sounds extremely specific." Warren shrugged and turned to me, "Guess this is goodbye."
I gave him a smile before resting my head all the way to the back of the couch and looked directly at Lore who already had his head bent down to face me. "Told you we should just go with the easy choice."
"If you think killing yourself is the easy choice, then I would have done it a long time ago." He said with a smile that made my own drop. Lore chuckled lightly before tearing his gaze away from me, "I'll see what else I could do. There are still texts to read and people to talk to."
"We'll need all the help we can get," Gideon started. "Nixon is now the King of the Dark Angels, which makes him indefinitely stronger than he was before. Possibly more than you, Veronica. He has no Queen to share his throne with, none to share the power meant for both of them."
I sat up straight and sighed. "You mean the both of us? That power was meant for Nixon and I. Well, mostly for me. It was probably why Demeter approved of Nixon marrying me in the first place; to make sure that even if I were Queen, I wouldn't be able to overpower her."
"Mother of the year." Matt quietly remarked from where he'd noticeably inched closer to Taylor in the past few minutes. Even when my mind was someplace else, I didn't stray away from the fact that the vampire had only his eyes on her the entire time since we got here.
Tarrin slowly shook his head and headed straight for the door. He opened it and looked back, eyes on me and a silent question resting on his lips. I stood and nodded once before walking out of the room with him and watched him shut the door behind us.
We ignored Lore's darkened eyes and walked down the hall. Tarrin silently opened the door to one of his meeting rooms and invited me to take a seat around the large wooden table. He poured me a glass of water and sat across me with an exasperated sigh.
"How long has it been since we ever had a normal conversation on a normal day?" He casually asked.
I took a quick sip from the glass of the water and focused on the glass as the water balanced on the flat surface, "About six years ago. I had just finished my training and you asked me if I was nervous before my first assignment."
"And were you? Nervous?"
"I was terrified." I frowned when Tarrin pulled the glass away from my grasp and looked at him, a puzzled look tainting his wrinkled face.
"Why were you terrified, Veronica?" He asked calmly.
I took a moment of contemplation before acquiescing, "I thought I would fail. And if I did, you'd be disappointed." He didn't show any flicker of emotion at my confession, so I continued on. "I was not only an orphan when you found me, Tarrin. I was a monster. I ruined many things, I harmed many people. You didn't even know what I was and yet, you still took me in. You turned something I hated so much into my greatest weapon."
"And gods, if I failed... If I fucked up just one bit, then all of this," I released an exaggerated chuckle and waved a hand around the room. "it would have been for nothing. I would have been nothing. So I made the Midas my entire life because if I didn't, then what am I?"
"You are Veronica Elvira. One of the greatest assassins the Midas has ever seen and a bona fide member of Gideon's unit. But beyond that? You're a force to be reckoned with. The wind that changes the tide of oceans and the catalyst. You are a friend of many, the protectress of the people, and a born leader."
"You are the daughter I never had." He whispered with a rueful smile as he laid his hand on top of mine and tapped my thumb repeatedly.
I looked away from him and shook my head, "You know what I have to do, Tarrin. Don't do that."
"I know."
"I'm going to surrender, Tarrin."
"I know."
"I'll die." I firmly cut in. "You can't change that. Lore already agreed to do it."
"I'm sure he is heavily against it, but he will follow through with it anyway because he loves you greatly, Veronica. He hurts now just thinking about it." He countered with a low voice.
"A god like Lore won't feel much pain." I whispered.
"No, but a man like him will break. None of us could even accept your disappearance, but whether by some divine miracle that Lore would admit it or not, he took it the hardest."
"I am not responsible for his actions. Whatever happened to Lore while I was gone is on him." It felt incredibly difficult to swallow down the urge to shake the question of what truly happened out of Tarrin. Lore—or anyone else, really—never went into detail about what happened. I didn't know if it was something better left unsaid.
"And whatever happens when I leave again, I really don't want anyone to ever grieve over me. Especially you, old man. The day you finally decide to cry in public is not on the day I die. You better fucking cry on a day like Demitricus dying or some shit like that if you even live to see it."
Tarrin laughed and leaned back in his seat, his hand never leaving mine. "Alright, I won't. You have my word. No tears from me, kid. I promise."
I smiled, and for a while it was enough to forget about the rest of the pitiful conversation we had. I sensed that Tarrin felt uneasy about the whole thing just as Lore did, but he did well in hiding it. They didn't like showing emotions and yet, somehow, I knew.
"I have a proposition for you. And Lore. It's for the both of you." Tarrin started when I tried standing.
I tilted my head at him and stared curiously, "What is it?"
"Do you trust me?"
"With that tone? No, not really."
He gave me a look that told me he wasn't in the mood for jokes and I scoffed, but followed anyway. "You know I do. What is it?"
Tarrin sighed and nodded his head as if he were having a silent conversation with himself. "Call Lore in and we'll discuss it. Dismiss the others, tell them they're done for the day. Whatever happens inside this room doesn't leave these walls. Understood?"
I stood and stared at him for a moment. He quickly turned from the Tarrin I would have considered as my father to the hard-earned leader of the Midas in a blink, and I appreciated it more than anything. That he didn't cease his fire even when he knew the battle was one we would lose.
"Understood." I answered before walking out of the room, ignoring the unavoidable glint in Tarrin's eyes when I left him.
《♤》
treacherous (taylor's version) hits different and the entire album is better than the original argue with the cement drying wall