Selene sat there, huddled against the tree, knees close to her chin, blood covering her hands, eyes tired from staring at the lifeless and broken body of Axel. Much like he looked, she felt broken and bloody, sad and pitiful.

Eris.

Shadowlings.

Jason.

What was going on? Had she just killed an innocent man? Her father’s words rang through her mind. She had promised her father she would watch over Eris, but did that include covering up his mess? His murders, if that was truly the case. No, even her father would have wanted him to pay for his crimes. He was Eris, her brother, she knew him, he was not a murderer. At least he hadn’t been until they were turned into killers.

Sitting alone in the dark forest, she agonized over the possibility of what might be true and false. It was killing her, slowly chipping away at her already broken heart. She had believed that his worst side was his careless attitude towards women. But even that had amused her because she had never cared for any of the girls, including Jeanette. Nevertheless, despite her hope, things had changed, and Eris had not.

She recognized the signs instantly and already knew about his affair while wondering who had replaced Nivette. Selene had always thought and believed that that was as dark as he got, as horrible as he could ever be.

Maybe she was wrong.

Sitting there, Selene felt more broken than she ever had. Selene pulled her knees close to her chest, holding them tightly, and did something she had not done in centuries. Selene cried.

***

Blake ran through the forest, searching for either Selene or Jeanette. He had lost the scent of Axel.

Stopping the edge of the nearby creek, he sniffed, catching a whiff of Selene and death combined. Worry and fear overtook him, forcing him to follow her scent. Finally seeing her, he stopped in his tracks.

Blake couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Selene cry. Even when they had been together, she had only ever cried once, and it was mainly due to her injuring herself upon falling out of a tree. Eris had been there for her, though, and had carried her back home and banned Blake from seeing her for days. That had been the first of two times. The second had been when she heard of Pietro’s death.

“Selene—” Blake didn’t finish his sentence. He saw a body lying not too far away from her. Blake circled around carefully, watching Selene cry. “Selene, is that Axel?”

“Yes.” She lifted her head, wiping away her tears with her hands. Her eyes were still puffy and red. “That is Axel, and he is dead.”

“Why are you crying?”

“Because he may have been innocent.”

“What are you saying?” Blake ran to her side and cupped her face urgently. “Selene, look at me. He was not innocent—”

“He might have been! Blake he said it was Eris and Shadowlings. He said it was Eris!” Her voice rose, but her sobs quickly bubbled over it.

“Then why kill him? We could have had Hetiro read his thoughts.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you kill him?”

“Because I don’t want to know! I mean, he isn’t capable of murder, right? He can’t be. Eris, he’s many things, but he could not have killed those people.” Blake saw the pleading look in her violet-red-rimmed eyes. He knelt there frozen, looking at her, wishing he could hold her and say Eris would never kill an innocent soul. Centuries ago, that would have held true. No matter how much he disliked his friend, he would never have believed he would kill someone, would never had any doubt about it. Now, all he had were doubts.

“I don’t know Selene.”

***

Selene stood while Gabrielle examined both her and the body. She yanked Selene’s arms and looked her in the eyes. Selene knew that she was thinking of killing her.

“It was self-defense,” lied Hetiro. He looked at her sadly as she held her thoughts open for him. “And he was guilty.”

“Please, Gabrielle,” began his sister Artesia, “let it be. Her actions were quite justified.”

“So why don’t I believe that,” she growled, taking a tight hold of Selene’s chin. Selene wanted to spit into her face and laugh at the pure hatred coming from her. On any other day, she would have, but right now was not the time, and her thoughts were preoccupied elsewhere. “Damien, look back.”

“I can’t,” muttered Damien in a low and defeated voice. “The gods forbid it. I see him running, then nothing.”

“Damn Those of the Dark.”

“It isn’t Those of the Dark!” exclaimed Jeanette. “It is the High Goddess of the Light. Do not taint Selene with your hatred.”

Gabrielle sneered at Jeanette, offering her a scolding glare. “As if I could believe that, even if I were to—”

“You should,” muttered Hetiro. “Her soul is a blinding white light, with no touch of darkness. An oddity considering what she is and what is on her right wrist.”

Gabrielle’s grip on her chin tightened, half-frightening. Selene that she would die, half hoping that her neck would snap. But no, death would not come so easily to her. Death would never be an easy escape for her.

“Gabrielle, perhaps there is truth in what Hetiro says,” said Damien. His green eyes fell on her, no longer holding the malice they had a few days ago.

“Perhaps,” said Feltor. He continued to stare at her with mistrust rather than with hatred. “In any case, we have found the murderer, which was our assignment. Let us finish up and leave.”

Selene watched Gabrielle’s fury boil over, watched as her chest heaved heavier and heavier, threatening to burst the green corset that was tightly wound over her torso. Selene looked at her, stared deep into her green eyes, and waited for her to let go. When Gabrielle finally did, she did so, shoving her into a tree and cutting Selene’s cheek with her long, plain nails.

“Very well then.” She turned her back to Selene, who wiped away the blood on her cheek as her wounds healed. “Someone pick up the body and bring it back to the cave. We have a Burning to prepare.”