“Damn it, Carus, you should have at least told us,” Azrael huffed. “We're not just anyone, we're your husbands.”
Odin held up a hand. “It's done; there's no use in making her feel worse than she already does.” He looked back at me. “I just want to know what he told you Marduk's weakness was.”
“Water,” I said. “Sin said Marduk's magic was based on electricity so could be affected by water. When I attacked him, I used my moon magic to up the water level in his body, believing that it would drain his magic faster and weaken him but all it did was literally piss him off.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Trevor asked with a small frown.
“I made him pee his pants.”
Trevor and Viper made amused snorts but the rest of the men grimaced.
“It made Marduk furious but it didn't weaken him,” I went on. “In fact, I was so focused on his water that it gave Marduk the chance to change my destiny. I might have escaped him if I hadn't been so certain that my plan would work.”
“Fuck me,” Odin whispered. “Vervain, Marduk wasn't just a god of light, he was also a storm god. That's why he could ride the lightning. Marduk was the God of Vegetation, Judgment, Magic, Light, and Water. Attacking him with water would be as successful as attacking him with fire. Perhaps even less so.”
“Shiitake mushrooms!” I snapped. “This proves it; Sin betrayed me. He set me up! Come on, we gotta find him.”
We prowled through the party, nodding at our guests with fake smiles as we searched for the traitor. Alleged traitor; I had to remind myself. I still wanted to hear what Sin had to say before I convicted him.
“There he is,” Trevor growled and took the lead.
Sin was drinking with Ninkasi and a few lions, all of them sprawled in chairs on the edge of one of the tents. Damn it. Ninkasi; I hadn't considered that she may be involved as well. I gave Trevor a meaningful look, and he nodded. We'd be including her in this discussion.
“Hey, guys,” Ninkasi said brightly. “Join us.”
Sin met my stare and lost his smile.
“Actually, we'd like to speak to you and Sin inside the palace, if we could?” I asked.
“Sure.” Ninkasi looked from me to Sin and back. “Is there something wrong?”
“That's what we're going to find out,” Odin said cryptically.
Sin's jaw hardened and his stare darted around as if he were searching for an exit. But the only way out of Aaru was through its tracing points and the nearest of those was inside Re's palace. Sin tensed, muscles bunching like a cat about to leap.
“Don't run, Sin,” I said softly. “It'll only make things worse.”
“No, please, run,” Trevor growled as his eyes started to glow.
The lions around us went still, stares darting back and forth between Sin and Trevor.
“Tima?” Aidan asked. “What's going on?”
“Stand down, Aidan,” I ordered as I kept my stare on Sin. “For now.”
“Vervain,” Sin whispered, “what the hell?”
“Tell me I'm wrong.” I continued to stare at Sin. “Please explain to me why you told me to attack Marduk with water when he was a god of water.”
Sin paled.
“What?” Ninkasi whispered in horror.
“Tell me that you didn't take my moon magic. That you didn't betray me the entire time I thought you were protecting me. Tell me, Sin!”
“I love you,” Sin whispered. “And I couldn't have you. You're all I can think about, Vervain. You consume me.” He stood up, his silver eyes going liquid as he held a beseeching hand toward me. “When Marduk offered to change your destiny so I could be with you, I just... I wanted you so badly. I couldn't refuse.”
“You love me so you betrayed me and took my magic?” I asked in shock.
The lions started to growl. More Intare prowled over to us when they heard the call of their brothers.
“I was going to give it back, and I would have convinced Ishtar to return your love magic as well,” Sin stammered. “I swear to you, I would have given it back. I just wanted you to need me for a little while so you could see how good we were together and then I could have returned your magic and everything would have been perfect.”
“Except I'd have lost all of the people who mattered to me,” I snarled. “How would that have been perfect?”
Sin lowered his hand. “With your love magic back, you could have changed what Marduk did. You wouldn't have lost anyone. I promise you; I had it all worked out so that no one you loved would be hurt. It should have gone smoothly. But then Lesya took the lion magic and everything got messed up. I had to improvise.”
“You were never tortured by Marduk, were you?” I asked him. “It was all an illusion.”
He sighed. “That was the improvising part.”
“Sin, what's she talking about?” Ninkasi asked as she stood.
“Marduk wasn't supposed to make you that offer,” Sin grumbled, ignoring Ninkasi. “He broke his promise to me. It was Marduk you heard arguing with me that day in my apartment, not Enki. He wanted to change our agreement. He was willing to give up his vengeance and return your destiny in exchange for your territory, and he thought I should be willing to make a sacrifice for the good of our pantheon. But the only reason I agreed to help him was to have you. So, I refused to release him from his vow. If I had, it would have all been for nothing.” He scowled. “But then Marduk found a loophole. Offering you a new blood oath could circumvent the one he had with me without breaking it. And you took his offer. You left me.
