Chapter 40
NICK
I can’t bring myself to look at her.
Days ago, when she brought my memories back, I swore I would never take my eyes from her again. Yet, she’s made a liar out of me with one desperate request.
Regret has never tasted so bitter.
“Nick, please, look at me,” her soft voice begs.
After my father smugly left, we remained in the Council room.
I sit in my chair, elbows resting on my knees, hands collapsed between them as I bow my head.
I have not once raised my chin or my gaze, despite Rhi’s incessant pleading.
The irony is, I should drink her in as much as I can, considering this hour might be the last time I lay my eyes upon her breathing.
No. I can’t think like that. I have to believe in her. In us. L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle.
My eyes find her grief-stricken ones, the warring blue and green luminescent from the tears glistening within them.
“I’m scared,” I admit. Rhi closes the distance between us, steps between my legs, and drops to her knees. She takes my hands and intertwined her fingers within mine.
“I am too,” she says, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “Not because I’m afraid I won’t love you or that you will kill me, because my heart knows you won’t.”
“Then what are you afraid of?”
“When I shifted into Scylla, the girls brought me back, but I fought so hard. The monster didn’t want to relinquish control.
” Rhi takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
When they reopen, two tears streak down her face.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to bring you back, that I will lose you again.
That, I can’t bear, not after we just found each other again.
Losing you would destroy me—for good this time. ”
I reach towards her and haul her forward so she ends up straddling my lap. Her hands come to my shoulders while mine press her flush against my body. I tip my chin so my lips ghost across hers.
“I’m scared, because we have fought death for each other.
At every turn, it seems Fate wants us to remain star-crossed lovers.
This last wager from my father only seems to reaffirm that notion.
” I grab her hands from my shoulders and place them over my heart.
“But then I remembered: l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle. Our love has moved the sun and the stars, defied logic and circumstance. It compelled my memories to return and kept you alive during the Trials. It won’t fail us now. You won’t lose me to this, and I sure as fuck won’t lose you either.
But you must promise me this.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You need to do whatever it takes to put the beast down.” Her mouth parts, but I stop her.
“You can’t kill me, Rhi. It’s not possible.
So if all seems lost and you are in danger, promise me you will do whatever necessary to silence it. ” I narrow my eyes. “Promise.”
Her lips tremble above mine while her eyes search my face, looking for a way to break my conviction.
She won’t find it.
“I promise,” she finally whispers before sealing her lips over my own. I deepen the kiss, again pressing her into me, my hands melding into her back to draw her closer.
A knock on the door forces Rhi to pull back.
“Enter,” I say. The door opens, and Baal pokes his head through.
“It’s time,” he says solemnly.
Rhi glides off my lap and smooths out her crimson dress. I rise, placing my palm on the small of her back.
“Let’s go.”
The expanse of the Throne room feels like an entirely different space than the one Rhi and I previously spent time in.
That night, the air was charged with heady anticipation, a warm, electrical current buzzing through the air as I eagerly awaited her arrival.
Now, it feels cold, oppressive, despite how open and vast it is.
Besides myself, Rhi, and my father, Belial and Baal are present, no doubt to witness our Bargain and make sure either end of the deal is kept upon its conclusion, something I am grateful for.
It isn’t as though Rhi and I can escape our Fate should my father win, but he’s a sneaky bastard, and I have no doubt he would try to turn the wager in his favor should it appear Rhi and I were to gain the upper hand.
Rhi and I stand apart, me on one end of the room and her the other. The Throne sits between us, my father, Belial, and Baal standing upon the dais. Lucifer would not dare sit upon that Throne again. His insidious gaze shifts to me.
“Ball is in your court, son. We don’t have all day.”
The Beast within me stirs, already eager to break free from the cage that is my flesh. I make sure to catch Rhi’s attention. “Remember what I told you.”
She presses her lips together and remains silent.
“You promised,” I remind.
Rhi nods and mouths, “I love you.”
L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle, I send to her then say aloud: “I love you too.”
I expect my father to scoff or roll his eyes, but he watches our exchange with intrigue.
“I’m waiting,” he taunts.
I give her my back so I don’t have to face her while I shift, but then—
No, her voice rings out strong in my head. Don’t hide. Show me everything.
Releasing a long exhale, I turn. Rhi’s expression remains neutral as my claws elongate to scrape the floor.
My arms follow, my bones snapping as they enlarge.
The sharp pain barely registers as I keep my eyes on her face, committing every last detail to memory.
My flesh tears and my back breaks, but I don’t look away, and Rhi doesn’t flinch.
She takes in every snap of my bones and rip of my skin.
My eyes drink in her ocean ones before sweeping down the bridge of her nose, noting the light dusting of exactly eleven freckles, then fall to her lips.
Lips I tasted not long ago, a flavor so rich and sweet but quickly replaced by the tang of copper as my gums shift and my rows of fangs emerge.
Still, she watches. Still, I stare. There’s no hint of horror or pity on her face.
A woman I know that thing in my chest beats for but is now beating to an entirely different tune. One of blood and carnage.
The woman watches and watches, growing smaller as I tower above her, the thick, curved black horns protruding from my head nearly scraping the ceiling.
I reach toward her, my arms as thick as tree trunks and my hands curved with the weight of my claws.
She appears bathed in blood, though as I scent her, the only fragrance I smell is a hint of jasmine.
There isn’t a drop of fear.
She opens her mouth. Calls to me. Says a name I recognize but I know is not mine.
His name.
Ah. So this tiny creature must be the woman he yearns for. Loves. The reason he was so desperate to keep me leashed.
Perhaps I will make her mine instead.
With two steps of my massive feet, I reach her, and yet, she still does not cower. Pity. Fear makes for such a delicious seasoning upon flesh.
My jaw falls open. Let her see the mouth that can devour her whole, tear her from limb to limb. Perhaps then, she might quiver.
Still, nothing.
She stares at me with a quiet determination, the glint of a dagger drawing my attention to her left hand.
My rumble of laughter shakes the walls of the room. “No weapon can harm me.”
“I do not wish to harm you,” she answers.
Again, I laugh. “As if you could.”
She falls silent, and a dull throb pulses deep within the recesses of my mind.
“Do not try to reach him. He is lost to you.”
She squares her shoulders. “He is never lost to me.”
I reach out to touch her, to run a knuckle over her cheek, but I pull back when I realize that wasn’t what I wanted to do.
Then, the woman grasps my massive finger in both hands, wrapping her palms around it. Her eyes bore into mine, such a stunning mixture of green and blue, and I swear, I can hear crashing waves.
“Please,” she whispers. “Come back to me. L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle.”
The words jostle me, and I rear back just as the doors to the Throne room open and four more women step through.
The one farthest left has dark skin and painted limbs, her hand entwined with another dark-haired woman with an angry countenance that doesn’t differ much from the tall woman with gold spun hair who joins them.
But it’s the tiniest one, the one with eyes of green and gold and pale skin that captures my—his attention.
He’s nervous. I smile.
This one means something to him too.
Perhaps I will keep them both. I know he hears me. I know he screams within the cage I’ve imprisoned him in, the one where he kept me. The woman he loves looks back at the four who have just entered, and it is in this moment that fear encapsulates her aura.
And it is delectable.
“You cheating bastard!” She points a finger at the golden-haired man on the dais wearing an evil smirk.
He lifts a shoulder. “My realm. My rules.”
By the time her attention returns to me, I’m already fixated on the four morsels lingering by the door, their fear feeding the bloodlust that sings in my veins. They glance at each other in confusion, horror etched on their faces as my jaw stretches to sweep them into my mouth in one large bite.
That is, until another divine scent fills my nostrils. It stops me in my tracks, saliva pouring from my mouth as honey-coated copper engulfs my senses. Blood. But not just any blood. I take a deep inhale. God blood.
Titan blood.
My neck snaps toward the woman, the one with eyes like the sea, her right palm held aloft, a long stain of crimson marring the skin.
Ah. So she is much more than meets the eye, his lover.
I charge toward her, the screams of her friends fueling my rampage. Yet again, the woman doesn’t flinch, doesn’t cower, even as I prowl toward her with murderous intent in my eyes.
Something compels me to stop. A desire—no, a terror that is not my own at the thought of harming her. The man is bleeding through to the monster.