Chapter 44
Envy
Six archers are already there when Envy and Sorrow arrive.
Love in a black dress, with her raven wings tucked out of sight someplace beneath her skin and a naughty expression on her face.
Andrew, with his white hair, pewter eyes, and snarky grin.
Anger, his shoulder-length hair tied halfway back, those graphite irises glinting with peace.
Merry, in her pastel dress with a sweetheart neckline, her smile wider than the horizon.
Wonder, with a cascade of chestnut hair and a corsage of wildflowers.
Malice, a golden devil in leather, with a perverse but cunning tongue.
They stand beside the bank of a tranquil lake, the great stargazer of Fortune’s Crest rising in the backdrop. The water’s surface mirrors the sky. Celestials dapple the atmosphere without sequence or order, creating an erratic arrangement.
That’s how they’ve always been. Disorderly but resplendent. Messy but eternal.
The crew waits for the final pair with varying grins of amusement, some more impish than others.
Malice’s laser gaze knows a thoroughly satisfied couple when he sees one. “Now that’s what I call respectable kink. The evidence is all over you.”
On her way past Malice, Sorrow claps him upside the head, causing the demon to belt out an insulted, “Fuck. That hurt!”
Merry offers Envy and Sorrow a set of pulsing lanterns. As they accept them, the goddess’s pink ponytail matches the flush in her cheeks as she rejoins Anger, who tucks her close to his side, his injuries newly healed.
They form a ring, each holding a lantern, flames highlighting their faces.
Envy stays close to Sorrow, whose smile puts a dent in his heart.
He needs to stop this, quit fetishizing the female all the damned time, or his upright dick will be permanently affixed this way, like something that belongs on a fucking trophy shelf.
Then again, he does fancy the notion of his cock on display. He could build an altar for it. Something decked out in gold leaf and marble.
Sorrow rolls those silver eyes at him. Albeit lovingly.
All right, never mind. The only thing that belongs on a shrine is her.
Wonder’s gaze brightens. Although the blazes illuminate the scars embedded into her hands, she is more than just her wounds, and she knows it. “Are we ready for this?”
“To a new legend.” Malice glances at Wonder, love dominating his devilish features. “Hell, it’s about time.”
“A legend that won’t be hidden,” she says. “That anyone can find, because they’ll know where to look.”
“To gods and goddesses who can love,” Love declares.
She bumps hips with Andrew, who smirks. “In whatever messy way they feel it.”
“To imperfection,” Anger follows, a set of hoop earrings flashing from his ears.
“No more banishment,” Merry says. “To a life where all deities may dwell in whichever realm they call home.”
Sorrow swallows. “To the past.”
Envy nods. “To the future.”
In addition to relearning their magic, they each plan on indulging in their passions whenever they can, bettering themselves instead of reigning over humans.
No more control. No more denial.
Blessings and inspirations. Destiny and chance. Hope and trust.
Should immortals wish to control anything, that liberty shall be limited to their own souls. Although deities will endure, they’ll be Dark Gods unto themselves. No one else.
With that in mind, they make their pledges and release the lanterns. The vessels of light float into the air, then into the sky. Knotting their hands together, the crew watches until their vows blend with The Stars, until it’s impossible to tell one from the other.
The dome glitters, accepting this promise.
Eventually, this crew will each have their own destinations. Love and Andrew intend to live in her old glass house, tucked in the forest of a mortal woodland, where they met. That way, they can watch over Andrew’s stepfather, the shopkeeper named Georgie, and their friends, Holly and Griffin.
Occasionally, Love and Andrew will write notes to those beloved mortals. Nothing annotated but enough to affect the ones they care about, to let the humans know that Love—or Iris, as they’d called her—and Andrew are near.
Anger and Merry will return to her observatory in The Celestial City, with every formerly exiled deity who has chosen to remain there.
Wonder and Malice will build a life together in The Archives. They’ll spend their days surrounded by books, perhaps digging up additional legends.
As for Envy and Sorrow, he can’t wait to trap her in the cavern, keeping the goddess all to his greedy self. With a surplus of carnal positions and sex gadgets left to try out, he’ll spend his days fucking her soundly, making her come until she forgets the world outside.
It’s not the end. It’s the beginning.
They’re a new crew. They plan on seeing a lot of each other, spending time in one another’s domains. Because that’s what a family does.
First, they have another job. In the valley between the bluffs, The Archives awaits them, along with hundreds of volunteers.
Wonder shuffles in anticipation, her green gown sweeping the blossoms around her unshod feet. “We should head out, dearests. The Hollow Chamber is not going to rebuild itself.”
“We have a few hours yet,” Anger reassures her.
“In that case, who’s up for a swim?” Envy suggests. “I don’t know about you, but my splendor needs replenishment.”
“A night swim,” Merry agrees. “How romantic!”
Andrew and Love quirk their brows at one another. “On your marks,” he prompts, leaning into a racing position. “Get set—”
“Go!” the goddess shouts, sprinting ahead.
Love, Andrew, Anger, Merry, and Wonder vault toward the water while howling to the sky.
Sorrow pats Envy’s shoulder. “This will require getting your outfit wet, pretty god.”
“Think again, mate,” Malice says, stripping off his leather jacket, followed by his pants. Wearing nothing but a devilish grin, he charges down the hill, his arms widespread, a quill tattoo blazing across his whipcord back.
“Good point,” Sorrow concedes. “Though, that’s more of him than I needed to see.”
“Don’t lie,” Envy teases. “He has a remarkable ass. Only not as remarkable as mine.”
To prove it, he peels off the suit he’d donned for this occasion and then waits, knowing what Sorrow will do. She disrobes from her vest and skirt, but she leaves on her combat boots.
Envy gawks at the sight, his retinas flaring across her naked curves.
Only the reminder that they’re not alone keeps his cock from losing control.
However, he plans on doing some explicit damage to this goddess later.
So he commits the visual of Sorrow to memory, for when he’s got her alone in the enclave, where he can spread this goddess wide and fuck her beneath their choice of waterfall.
Sorrow struts backward while crooking a finger. Then she yelps, wheeling around and racing toward the lake as Envy pursues her with a predatory growl.
They reach the bank just in time. Malice pushes Anger into the water. Then Love pushes Malice. Then Wonder pushes Love. Then Sorrow pushes Wonder.
Then Andrew pushes both Envy and Sorrow. Then he jumps in after them.
Malice dunks Envy’s head under the surface, then attempts to yank down Anger’s pants, then splashes away as both gods charge after him.
Love straddles Andrew’s waist, grinning as the man seizes her ass, then claims her lips with his own.
Anger spins Merry in a circle, his mouth sketching her throat while she flings her head to The Stars.
Wonder floats on her back until Malice snatches her into a feverish kiss.
Waist-deep and dripping, Envy saunters up to Sorrow. Taking her hand, he presses her palm to his beating chest. “Go deep.”
Sorrow places his own hand against her heart. “Go deeper.”
One lingering kiss later, they join their family. Beneath a gleaming sky, the crew shouts with defiance. They dive, swim, and revel in the dark.
And they love. Because now they know what that feels like.