Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Torin
My eyes are drawn to Riley, and I watch the human think.
I consider dragging him back to the wall and pinning him there myself to finish what we started before Mickey showed up, but I know that we really can’t waste any time if we’re going to secure this Door.
I don’t want Riley to go through what I did, but more than that…
I don’t want to watch him die like I watched everyone around me die.
I don’t want to dig that hole for him.
I’ve already dug too many holes for people I care about.
But my heart has always been full of many. I rarely called the same person to my bed two nights in a row… so why am I so fixated on just this one human when there’s a world of people to enjoy? Maybe I just need to briefly step away from him and find someone else to enjoy?
I hesitate as I realize that the problem isn’t that I haven’t found anyone.
Hell, the succubus was practically begging for it, the druid from earlier would have followed me off anywhere, and I bet I could have flashed a look at Mickey and he’d have allowed me to carry him off to his bed…
probably for a nap. Yet I haven’t chosen to do any of that.
What… what the hell is wrong with me? Is the lack of my power the problem? But my sex drive sure isn’t down. I’d fuck Riley into oblivion if he’d let me. What is happening to me?
“What’s that look on your face? It’s creepy,” Riley says. How in the world can I be fixated on his sarcastic ass?
“This is the look of a crisis.”
“What are you having a crisis about?”
While I want to blurt out that it’s because I don’t have a harem of men and women dying to join me in bed, I find that I don’t want to say that to Riley. I feel like he wouldn’t take it well. So I grit my teeth and give him a look.
He asks, “Now what is that expression for? You trying to look sexy? Stoic? Constipated? I’m confused.”
Is my mind really fixated on this man? This man? This sarcastic, sassy, and strange man?
“I need a horse,” I demand. Yes, a horse will make me feel better so I forget all my woes.
“You don’t need a horse. Do you even know where we’re going?”
“A horse.”
Riley sighs as he folds his arms over his chest, and I find myself staring like it’s some fascinating thing. Maybe I should have stayed with the others, given my brain time to remember that I am a god of love. I draw everyone in and never…
Never what?
Never focus on one single person in my thousand years of life? Is it just because I’ve gone so long without contact that I’ve fixated on the first person I’ve interacted with? I’m sure that’s it. That’s definitely it.
Riley looks up at me and pats my face. “Do I need to smack you back to normal? What’s going on? Are you anxious about the Door? You killed the person who destroyed your world. This could just be some asshole who thinks he’s tough shit and doesn’t really amount to anything.”
But we both know that’s not true. Not with the magic that seeps through that Door every time it opens.
“Now use that brain of yours and tell me where we should go next,” Riley says. Then he smacks my ass and takes off toward the sidewalk.
And just like that, I trot right after him like he’s hypnotized me. When the hell was an ass smack all I needed to suck me back in?
“Where did the Door open up in your world?” Riley asks.
“Right in the middle of a populated city.”
“We’re surrounded by city,” he says before stopping abruptly.
“What about somewhere with a high concentration of people, which would mean a high concentration of magic? Even though we’re in a big city with a lot of people, many of them are in buildings or dispersed throughout the city, not concentrated all in one spot. ”
The door to the building opens and Imani and Vinny come out.
“Riley, I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to reason with her, but you know how hard it is to reason with that woman!” Imani growls out.
“It’s fine. Actually, I really enjoyed watching Torin boss her around, so then we made out for a bit before Mickey interrupted us,” Riley says.
Imani’s eyes narrow. “I… was fighting for you, thinking you’d be distraught, and instead you’re over there getting fucking turned on by it?”
He shrugs. “I’m a simple man, Imani. After that, we were just talking about this Door… is there a large gathering of people anywhere?”
“Today?” she asks while Vinny pulls out his phone.
“A couple of small things,” Vinny says before hesitating. “Wait, the state fair is going on about forty minutes from here, and the headliner is a pretty big musician who’s playing tonight… in twenty minutes.”
Imani shifts on her feet for a moment before glancing back at the department. “Fuck it, let’s go.”
“You sure? We’re going to be forty minutes away if we’re wrong,” Riley says.
“Do you know how many thousands of people go there? It’d be the perfect place to siphon magic to create a Door,” Imani replies. “She can fire my ass if we’re wrong.”
The four of us head toward Imani’s car where I grudgingly get in and she begins driving. Riley chokes me a bit with the bondage strap before clicking it into place.
“You really should be able to start putting your own seat belt on.” He gives me a look that I find wildly sexy.
“I like it when you choke me with it just a little,” I tell him.
“You two need to get a room,” Imani says.
“I already have a room. A magnificent one with a bed where I can pile my lovers,” I declare. “I just haven’t had time to acquire them all yet, so I’m playing favorites with Riley.”
I notice Imani giving Riley a look in the rearview mirror, but he pretends he doesn’t notice.
I’m just playing with Riley until I find more to play with.
That’s right. Then why do I feel strange?
And why do I keep wanting to look at Riley to see what expression he wears?
And why do I want to take back everything I just said?
I don’t want to trick him. I’ve had others fall in love with me before, so I’ve learned to be very transparent that monogamous love is not what I’m looking for.
I’m a god. And gods are not devoted creatures.
So then why…
Suddenly, Riley presses something against me and I turn, curious whether he’s going to be upset, but he looks perfectly fine. Maybe I’m really just something fun for him.
And if I am… why does that bother me? Did I want Riley to be upset? That sounds quite evil and concerning. Why would I want Riley upset over what I said?
“I have no idea what’s going on with your face, but read this out loud while I think.”
“In English?” I ask.
“Preferably. We’ll see if the others can understand anything that’s being said. I marked where we were.”
I start to read, but it isn’t long before Imani stops me. “This is gibberish. Is there a code to it? Are certain words swapped?”
Riley opens his eyes. “I guess there could be. It’s in some odd language, so I didn’t know if I was just struggling to comprehend how the language works, but maybe you’re right. Maybe there’s some kind of code to it.”
Riley and Kit lean over to stare at the book. “I’m not smart enough for this.”
“There are no pictures of dicks in it,” I complain.
“I could draw some if it helps you read better,” Vinny says.
Imani ignores all of that. “What is this book for?”
“It was on a Door crosser who came into Torin’s world. We want to see if it could give us any clues about the one who is crossing over here,” Riley explains.
She hums in thought before glancing in the rearview mirror. “You know who would be good at this?”
“Mickey,” Riley mutters.
“Mickey,” Imani echoes. “I’ll swing by and pick him up. We’re not too far from his place.”
Mickey is less than thrilled to get into the car while his undead pile into the trunk as the neighbor watches.
“Are there seats back there?” I ask, pointing behind us.
Riley shakes his head from the other side of Mickey, who grudgingly crawled into the middle. “No, trunks are generally used for transporting groceries—or dead bodies if you’re a serial killer.”
“How many dead bodies have you transported in a trunk?” I ask Riley.
“Just one but there’s always the option for another,” he says, quite deadpan.
“That’s kind of sexy.”
“Am I here just to sit between the two of you while you make mating calls at each other?” Mickey whines.
“No, we need you to figure out what this book means,” Riley says. “I guess we’ll read it to you in English. Can Tommy write it down in English and then you see what you can figure out?”
“Do I have to?” Mickey asks.
“Do you want to save the world?” Imani asks.
“Not really.”
“Well, if you don’t, you’ll get to have an eternal nap,” Imani growls.
Mickey sighs and slumps back in his seat. “You’re so evil. Fine. Lay the first page on me,” he says as he closes his eyes. I’m more than convinced we’ve already lost him, but Riley nods for me to do it. I read the first page before stopping, but Mickey doesn’t open his eyes.
“He’s sleeping,” I declare. “I have lulled him to sleep. It seems to take very little.”
Mickey opens his eyes, looks at me… then Riley… then back at the book, his face scrunched up. “Keep reading.”
“What’s the first page say?” Riley asks.
“It’s the ravings of a power-hungry man, but I need more to understand it.
Keep reading.” So for the entire drive, I read the book and Mickey sits there looking like he’s dead asleep.
A few times, I wonder if I’m reading a bedtime story to a man who isn’t even with us.
But whenever I stop, he cracks an eye open.
I still haven’t gotten to the section about Riley’s ailment, but Mickey seems to want to hear it in chronological order, and I wonder if that has something to do with decoding it.
“We’re here,” Imani says.
“Where did you get this book?” Mickey asks.
“Off the body of a man… a possible god slayer who came into my world,” I explain.
He looks thoughtful. “I don’t think he was a god slayer.
This book… it’s the ravings of a god who believes he can reach…
something by draining four worlds… he speaks of power, but I don’t quite understand what power he gains from it.
He talks about four riders. Each is sent out to destroy, and in return, he eats the power of the slain.
Once four worlds have been stripped… Torin… was your world stripped?”
I stare at him for a second before glancing over at Riley. The guilt I feel over the death of my people eats at me, and I find it difficult to admit to anyone other than Riley. I couldn’t save a single one of them, and I know that, but still, I don’t want to face it. “Yes.”
“The magic left behind by the person, even after Torin killed him, spread across them like a virus,” Riley explains.
Mickey groans. “This isn’t good. This is really fucking bad.”
“I wish we had more time, but we need to go. We need to check whether this is the place,” Imani says, so I push the car door open and step out where I can immediately feel the Door’s magic. There’s no question, it’s opening here.
“He’s here,” I announce, pulling my scythes free as I start running.
There’s a fence around the place with an opening where people are coming in and out. I shove them out of the way and push through while a man shouts at me. “You need to pay! Hey! Stop! You can’t bring weapons in here!”
I glance around, but I can feel the magic from the Door surrounding me from all directions as Mickey’s words permeate my mind.
Is he saying that there’s someone who sent the man to my world?
A person who commanded the death of my people and is still alive?
I need to find the invader of this world, and I need to get him to talk.
He needs to tell me where the person who orchestrated this is so I can tear him apart and—
“Riley!” Imani yells and I immediately turn around, anxiety tearing through me, only to see him waving her off.
“What happened?” I call.
“Nothing, I’m fine,” he says as I slow down so he can catch up to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, that strange magic has already hit me.” He flexes his fingers before shaking his head. “But this time, it didn’t erase the magic I already borrowed. It’s like… I have both of them for some reason. Why? Is it getting stronger?”
“Should you go back to the car?” I ask.
“No. Let’s just get this over with quickly… we need to stop him.”
Mickey waves his hand and undead rise from the ground, startling fairgoers who aren’t expecting it.
They move out in all directions as Imani rushes to inform security of what is happening and that the fair needs to be evacuated.
I begin moving deeper into the fair, feeling like wherever the Door is, it has to be close by.
I pick up speed, running toward a more populated area where a crowd of people are huddled, before I feel the ground shake and an explosion throws me and countless others back.
I hit the side of a building, slamming into it.
But my thoughts are immediately on Riley as the dust settles and I discover that I can’t see him.