ATTICUS
The scene outside my window felt like a thorn in my flesh, one I couldn’t seem to ignore.
I have been watching Hera out in the garden from the window of my study for more than twenty minutes, watching the way she shot arrows at the target, a deep scroll crossed over her forehead.
But it had changed.
Hera was now wearing that beautiful smile of hers that I hardly see, and there, right by her side, was Ben.
The way she’d rushed to him, her arms slipping around his shoulders, the ease with which he held her in return—it dug under my skin like ice.
Why the hell was he back? He should’ve been halfway across the mountains by now. The time he went was strategically planned for weeks, and nothing short of a blizzard would’ve delayed it.
I turned from the window, jaw tight, just
