Eris stood over his sister, guarding her. Guarding her against what, though? Eris wished he knew what had caused his sister’s episode. Things used to be so simple; everything was about climbing trees and eating apples and looking for a place where he felt he belonged, with his sister. Had he ever had that? For the briefest of moments, he had, when he had been with Azelia, and they had lived at the Palace. Looking down at his sister, the memory of when she was poisoned haunted him.

Except it was more than that; she looked exactly like she had when she had been lying on the bed unconscious. But that didn’t make sense. She of the Light assured them that the incident had made her immune, that the shadow-fueled rune on her wrist enforced the immunity. So what was wrong with her?

“Is she okay?” asked Jeanette, who had just reentered the room for the fifth time.

“Her condition hasn’t changed in the past fifteen minutes, Jeanette; you would have heard me if it had.” He hadn’t intended to sound as harsh as he had, but luckily she didn’t appear to notice.

“She’ll wake, right? She of the Light said she can’t be poisoned.”

“I don’t think that’s what’s wrong with her.”

“And you would be right, darling.” Eris turned his head, watching Shira make her way to him, to her bedside. Her long black hair was draped over her shoulder, and she wore a tailored black suit, something he had never seen her in before. A gentle smile played across her face, making her look warm instead of cold.

“What are you talking about?” snarled Jeanette. Shira arched her eyebrow at her, continuing to give her a friendly look, much to Eris’s surprise.

“Don’t antagonize her, Shira,” he said, trying to keep the peace.

“I don’t plan to.” Shira sat on the edge of the bed. “Have I told you I love you, Eris? I don’t suppose I have; I wasn’t supposed to, not again. But I did.” Eris stared at Shira, speechless.

Looking at him, Shira let out the smallest of laughs, flipping her hair off her shoulder. “She’s not poisoned, not internally anyway. It’s the Soul Drinkers. Selene is the daughter of the Goddess of Light. It was unintentional, but the outcome nonetheless. Gods, huh, what are you going to do with them?” Shira looked down at Selene, almost tenderly. “She’s her warrior, too full of light, and she is in love with the accidental son of my mother. My dear Goddess of Darkness weaves quite the tangled web.”

“Shira, make sense,” urged Eris, his anxiety growing.

“The Soul Drinkers, darling, their darkness is making her ill. Jason’s darkness is growing; he’s falling back into it, where Pietro began. Combine that with the Darklings, it’s too much for her to handle.”

“You’re not telling us something,” said Jeanette, her voice low, barely hiding the fear she held.

Shira rolled her eyes before looking at Jeanette, annoyed. “Sometimes your intelligence bothers me.” Standing up to lean against the wall, she let out a sigh. “Yes, there is something I am not telling you, but that’s because I am forbidden.”

“Shira,” began Eris, “if you truly love me, disobey She of the Dark.”

“It was not her, darling.” She vanished into the wall, her being breaking up like static. Together, Eris and Jeanette stood there speechless until the doors blew open, slamming against the wall, catching the pair off guard. With blood-red eyes, Jason stood.

“What did you do?” snarled Jason, making his way quickly to Selene’s side.

“He did nothing, Jason,” exclaimed Jeanette. “I was with Selene when she collapsed. We were just walking along, and then she screamed and collapsed. There’s too much darkness in the air; she has to adjust to it.”

“She’s been around darkness before.”

Eris growled. “Not like this, Jason.” Eris wanted to blame him for why his sister was in this state, but he knew better. He was partly to blame for everything. His actions in the past had set the current events into action. He turned Jason, he lied to Selene, and he was the one who put Lilith in charge. All of that was his doing. Why had he been so blind?

That was my fault, dearest, he heard Shira say through the shadow network. He pushed her away. Eris wanted to hate her, but she had done what she had been told. Besides, it’s not like she forced her blood on him; that was his choice. And if the situation had been reversed, and she had killed Selene, he would have focused all his energy on revenge too.

“E–eris…” Eris looked down at his Selene, shocked. It had been so long since she had called out his name. Was it an omen for the light or the dark? Who cares, he told himself; she was awake, and she was calling for him. He reached for her hand as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I knew it, you did do something. You want her weak so that she can crawl back to you!” exclaimed Jason.

“Jason, that’s not it,” said Jeanette. “The events happened as I said. It was right after she met Conliana.”

“So? What does she have to do with anything?”

“You know exactly what it means,” snarled Eris, ready to pounce. Jeanette placed an arm on his shoulder, keeping him calm, but the rage was already building inside him.

“Jason, what we mean is that there is too much darkness around that girl. We think it affected Selene.”

Jason stared at her coldly. “Why should I believe anything you say?”

“The knowledge came from a very reliable source.”

The wild look on his face vanished as his brow furrowed. “What source?”

Uncertainly, Jeanette looked down at Eris. He shrugged, telling her to go ahead and tell him. It took her a moment before she spoke again. “It was Shira.”

“That’s your reliable source! You have got to be kidding me. I wouldn’t believe a word she says.”

“Well, we do,” said Eris, tightening his hold on his sister’s hand, glaring up at Jason, daring him to attack.

“J–Jason?” Selene’s voice caught everyone’s attention again. Her eyes were slowly opening as she woke up. Eris let go of her hand and stepped back to a position behind Jeanette, while his sister sat up, rubbing her eyes. He doubted that she wanted him touching her, let alone in her room. The knowledge broke his heart.

“I’ll be going now.” As Eris made his way out of the room, he watched as Jason cupped her face, warranting the warmest smile from her. Once outside the room, he waved the door shut as Blake approached him.

 “You can’t leave her alone with him.”

“What would you have me do? I can’t order them to stay away from each other; I can’t order him to stay away from her. What am I supposed to say, ‘oh hey sis, your boyfriend is evil.’ Coming from me, she’s likely to laugh in my face or punch me. Probably, most likely, punch me.”

“I know, but I don’t like the idea of him alone with her.”

“Neither do I.” Eris looked back at the doors. “Jeanette is with them right now; she’ll stay until Selene kicks her out. In the meantime, we’ll just have to hope that he exposes himself sooner rather than later.”

“That’s what we’re afraid of,” muttered Eno, standing behind Blake. “We just got her back. It’s going to break her heart.”

“No,” he said, leaning against the wall, stuffing his hands into his pockets, “it’ll do much more than that.” Eris shut his eyes tightly; it was all his fault.

He remembered when she had first lost him; the memory of those nights was engraved in his mind. Blood had been caked on her chin and covered her clothes. She had been bound by magical chains and had looked dead already, defeated and broken. And then, to make matters worse, death had been denied to her.

Eris had been so angry with her for seeking out death. It was selfish of him, but her actions were just as selfish and had wounded him deeply. He hated the fact that she had loved him more than Eris to the point where she would abandon her brother. And when she had been gone, nothing had been the same, and he felt like a part of him had been torn away. But now she was back, and it was like his heart was repairing itself, but at what cost?

“Eris, stop thinking dismal thoughts, please.” He knew Eno was just trying to be playful, but overall he knew they all hated him for the things he had done, for the way they had suffered at the hands of Lilith. Truth be told, everything was his fault, and they all had the right to hate him. After all, he hated himself.

***

“I hate you,” said Eris as he stood over Nivette’s grave. “I should be in that grave, not you. I loved you, and you left me here all alone.” He stood alone, underneath cloudy skies; the sound of leaves dancing and crickets chirping filled the air.

“You had no right, Nivette, no right!” The weight of his body threatened to make his knees buckle beneath him.

“I should be dead, I should be with Azelia. But no, you couldn’t just let me die. Instead, you did everything you could to save me. Selene and I would have been fine! She would never have gotten her heart broken, and I–I wouldn’t have become the monster that I am. I hate you. God, how I hate you! Is it any wonder why I loved Azelia more?”

Eris laughed at himself, pushing back the tears that began to well up behind his eyes. “I just want to die, Nivette, but now I can’t; I never can.” He couldn’t do it anymore, couldn’t live with himself anymore, couldn’t hold back the tears. His legs finally buckled beneath him, hitting the cold, hard ground. Eris knelt there and cried until the sun came up.