Chapter 7
Zane
“I don’t give a fuck about what kind of vibes you felt from that thing, Kaz,” Zane shouted. “We’re not using it!”
The infuriating princess threw her hands in the air. “But why not?” she cried.
“It’s entirely too dangerous.”
“Why? Because it killed a god?” she scoffed.
Zane’s jaw almost dropped to the floor at her cavalier attitude. “Yes! That’s exactly why!”
The strange black orb hadn’t technically killed a god.
It had simply imprisoned the very essence of Khollo, God of Beginnings, within itself.
Khollo was also known as the Father of Gods, because Zaya, Goddess of Life, and Khonos, God of Time, were his offspring, and from their union, the rest of the pantheon was born.
There were no stories of how Zaya and Khonos came to be from only Khollo, and there was no mention of where Khollo had come from.
He simply was. He had always been there and always would be.
Except, apparently, he had been trapped within this apple-sized relic for thousands of years.
The scholars of the library were perhaps the only ones who had known that the essence of their primal god was contained within their walls.
And, seeing as how they had all died out, nobody else in the world was aware of the presence of Khollo’s Downfall.
Zane had studied the gods growing up, and he knew that, should Khollo be released, he would be angry. Nothing would stand in his way. He would raze the world with a wrath built upon millennia of confinement. There couldn’t be anyone stupid enough who would actually consider—
But then Stupid opened her mouth again, and said, “All I’m saying is that if it killed a god, it can kill a star.”
He was about to berate Kaz more, but Iyana spoke up before he could.
“Kaz, I think Zane is right. Especially because Khollo isn’t actually dead, and is trapped inside that thing.
Who knows what would happen if we used it or accidentally set him free?
I’d rather not face a primordial being on top of trying to keep the stars from killing us. ”
The shifter sighed dramatically. Then, in a flash of light, a black leopard was loping away from them. A low grumble became fainter as she walked further away.
They had been arguing back and forth for almost an hour about only the one artifact and hadn’t had a chance to research any others. Zane ran a hand down his face, suddenly exhausted.
“How about we take the rest of the day off?” Emmeric suggested. “I don’t know about everyone else, but my eyes are burning, and my brain feels like mush.”
Mush was an apt way to describe how Zane’s mind was feeling.
The rest of them mumbled their agreement, and set off to their respective rooms, discarding the books on the table to come back to in the morning.
As they separated, Iyana gave Zane’s hand a gentle squeeze, and he returned the gesture with a grateful smile.
The Aztia understood how frustrating Kaz could be, and he appreciated the silent support.
Talon and Zane continued the walk to their room in silence.
It was late afternoon, but with the raging storm outside blocking out the sun, it appeared as if it was the middle of the night.
Zane swallowed a yawn before it could surface, glancing at Tal out of the corner of his eye.
The man put on a mask whenever they were around the others, but it fell off as soon as they were alone.
While Zane loved that he could be his safe space, he hated that Talon was still struggling so terribly.
Once they had entered their room, Talon immediately crossed the space to the bathing room and closed the door without a word.
From experience, Zane knew he would be in there for at least an hour, sitting in the bath until the water ran cold.
Talon would try to stifle his sobs, and Zane would try to ignore them, along with the pang in his heart.
He wanted to be there for him; he just didn’t know what Tal needed, so he gave him space.
It wasn’t often someone went to the Everlands and then came back.
He flopped onto the bed they had been sharing, his arm behind his head as he stared sightlessly at the ceiling. They slept entwined in each other’s arms, but that was the extent of any touching. Hands stayed firmly above the waist. Lips kept to themselves.
It was agonizing.
Zane heard the bathing room door open, then bare feet plodding across the room towards the bed.
Talon climbed on, and Zane had to grit his teeth as he realized he was only wearing undershorts.
His hands stayed where they were, even as they ached to touch the man lying next to him.
How long would it be like this? While Zane logically knew it would take time, and it would be a long struggle for Talon, he couldn’t help the thought that he was hurting, too.
Not only had he almost lost the man he loved, again, he’d watched Iyana kill his father.
Yes, Uther was evil and more than deserving of his fate, but it didn’t change the fact that he was the man who had raised him.
And possibly loved him, at one point, before the astmina. Before his mother’s murder. Before Jax.
But it wouldn’t be fair to lay his own burdens upon Talon when he had so much of his own shit to sort through.
He could talk to one of the others, probably, but he wasn’t particularly close to any of them, and he didn’t know how much help they would actually be.
Iyana had just had her heart ripped out of her chest by someone she had loved and trusted.
Emmeric had seen his best friend die and come back, and he’d almost lost the woman he loved.
And Kaz was…Kaz. Zane wasn’t sure she had ever taken anything seriously.
Fuck it, he decided. His mental health was important, too.
“Tal,” he ventured.
A deep sigh sounded next to him. “Not right now, Zane.”
Zane turned towards the redhead. His normally well-kept hair was wet and tangled, plastered to the pillow. His eyes were listless, staring up at the ceiling like Zane had been himself not that long before. “Talon…my soul—”
“I said, not now,” Talon snapped.
Hurt speared through him, and Zane struggled not to show it on his face.
He was so used to Talon being his safe space, where he didn’t need to wear a mask, but he’d been slowly donning one again to keep from spooking the other man.
Zane reminded himself they hadn’t actually known each other that long.
And while he was absolutely sure he loved Talon, if he wasn’t what was best for him anymore, then Zane would step aside.
Talon deserved happiness, and if that wasn’t with him…
Well, it would rip his soul apart to let Tal go, but he would. If it helped, he would.
Zane glanced at his side again. Talon hadn’t moved, and he continued to stare at the ceiling, his normally bright blue eyes dull.
As if he felt Zane’s gaze on him, he huffed another sigh and rolled over so that he was facing away.
The emperor stared at Tal’s back for several minutes, silently pleading with him to turn towards him and have a conversation.
But soon his breathing evened out, and Zane knew he had fallen asleep.
Flopping back onto the bed, Zane tucked his hands behind his head. Tears threatened, burning his sinuses and the back of his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut to keep them from falling.
He would try again in the morning.