Soul Unbound (Key to the Cursed Book 3) by Jean Murray Page B

and the color of his skin went from pale to white. “What did he
want?”
    “What do you think he wanted?” she growled.
    His eyes widened further. “You mustn’t.”
    “Tell me why you lied.” She leveled her stare.
There were few males she had to look up to. Haru was not one of them.
    He stepped back. “Listen, there are matters you
are not fully aware of. The Council decided—”
    “Decided it was in my best interest to make me
believe I was a product of rape? That my mother could not stand to raise the
offspring of a monster? How and in what light does that sound right to you?”
    “Your mother broke the law. She defied the council
and pursued her relationship with Menthu.”
    “What law did she break, exactly?”
    “Menthu is an abomination. He is tainted. Impure.”
    “Impure, like me. Half Creation. Half Underworld.”
    “You are very different. You were raised by us.”
    She tipped her head back and laughed. “And yet, it
still does not erase what I am and always will be in the eyes of the
Creations.” A monster.
    “You are not your father.”
    “No?” The only difference between her and her
father was that her killings were sanctioned by law. Blood still ran red no
matter who wielded the sword.
    “Menthu’s base nature is darkness. He has done
unforgiveable things,” Haru pleaded.
    “Before or after you took my mother from him?
Gods, Haru. They were mated.” Absence did not make the heart grow fonder.
Bonded souls demanded to be together. If denied, depression and insanity
ensued.
    “I know.” Haru frowned.
    “Did they kill her?” Her voice cracked. Gods, if
it was true she would make them pay. Her father’s hatred resonated in her soul.
How easy it would be to become him.
    “No, she was in so much pain. Suffering beyond
measure. She begged me,” he whispered.
    “You helped her.” Siya jerked from his reach,
hating and loving him. Haru had worshiped her mother. According to the Mother
Goddess, he had never left her side and was there for Siya’s birth. Even after
her mother’s death, Haru had always been kind to Siya when others had little
tolerance for her childhood temper tantrums. Could she condemn him for his
actions? Actions she knew all too well herself.
    Haru grabbed her hand and tightened it when she
tried to pull away. “She knew what would happen to Menthu in her absence. If
the separation was too much for her to bear, he had no chance. She loved him
and would do anything to be with him. She went to the one place she knew he
would end up.”
    Siya’s heart ached for a tragedy that should have
never happened. Bitterness consumed her soul. “He will be there soon, but not
before taking the Creation Pantheon with him.” She snapped her hand back and
retracted out of his reach.
    He pursued her. “You cannot let that happen.”
    “Let that happen?” Siya chuckled darkly. “Why do I
care what happens to a Pantheon that has no tolerance for me? An impure bastard
child. You can all choke on your hypocrisy for all I care. You stood by idly as
the reven curse spread through the human realm. While Apep’s darkness filled the
void of your incompetence. Menthu is your problem. You—created him through your
lies and deceit. Made my mother suffer. Made me suffer.”
    He ran his hand through his thick golden strands.
“I do not disagree with you, but they will not listen.”
    “Grow a set of balls, Haru.”
    “Not everyone has your strength. I have kept my
promise to your mother to keep you alive. I am the reason your stay of
execution has remained in place. Unlike you, I have something to lose if they
discover my secret.”
    She already had lost everyone and everything that
mattered. The very reason she was exiled. Maybe Menthu was right, she was like
her mother. Doomed to make the same mistakes. “We all make sacrifices. Some of
us more than others.”
    He dropped his arms at his sides. “The Creation
council has lost sight of our true course. The Mother Goddess needs