OrionImmediately returning to my study, I found myself once again lost deep within thought. Azrael’s earlier words circled my head in an endless dance, but this time they weren’t alone. Ismene’s were there as well, a warning I hadn’t bothered to take seriously until now.“She will come bearing a gift. A shard of the soul mirror, tainted with Mirari’s blood. This is the girl you have been looking for.” It wasn’t that I doubted the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. I simply stopped believing that things would ever change. That our problem had any form of solution. I plucked the jagged piece of mirror out of thin air. Over the years, the most basic forms of magic were taking more and more energy. It was an omen; one I wasn’t quite ready to face.Faint pulses of magic clung to the scrap, tied within the dried specks of blood. Disbelief formed crystals of ice in my chest, muffling the flame the mortal had stoked.I quickened my pace. Ismene’s words weren’t to be ignored. If this girl trul
Blakely The rage I felt towards that dickhead of a god lasted a whopping ten minutes. I stumbled down the wooden stairs, trying my best not to fall on my face. A retort began to build in my chest, or maybe it was a good old-fashioned scream, when Orion slammed the door and locked it behind him. “Screw you, asshole!” I screeched into the darkness. Anger and sheer desperation had my eyes watering. No, I would not cry. That jerk of an immortal didn’t deserve the satisfaction. Two sconces attached to the far wall flickered with little tendrils of flame. I held up my hand in front of my face and squinted. My empty stomach clenched with fear. I could barely see its outline. The darkness down here wasn’t normal, but what was normal in the godly realm? I craned my head and began to take in my surroundings. A smooth cement wall stood to the left of me, and another several feet ahead. To the right was a row of stacked boxes. There were a few out of place, forming an opening I could easily
Blakely “It’s awfully unfair of you to ignore me, little wolf. I told you I had no idea you were locked in the basement until this morning. The moment I found out I rushed down there to spring you.” Azrael pouted, his voice dripping with sincerity. One look at the tricky god and I could tell he was fighting a smile. Hah, like I’d buy a single word of his crap. My ass was still sore despite the cushy bar stool I now sat on, and I was almost certain I now had a bruise in the shape of Draco’s mouth. I made a face, then turned to the feast spread out before me. The mansion did a hell of a job conjuring up every fruit known to man, both mortal and immortal, along with a side of yogurts, nuts, and other various toppings. Not trusting the strange food cultivated in the godly realm, I stuck to the basics and plopped a perfectly ripened strawberry into my mouth. A moan slid past my lips, which I muffled with a cough. I wanted to devour everything in this kitchen. Including the god sitting j
Blakely I was getting very, very tired of gods throwing me over their shoulders. At least Azrael didn’t stomp like his brother. Orion’s shoulder had left a splotchy bruise on my stomach that still wasn’t fully healed. My hair had fallen into my face, obscuring the room we’d just entered from view. It wasn’t until I was slung backwards, my ass hitting the cushioned seat of a chair, that I was finally able to see. All around us were bookshelves. They lined the walls, towering high above our heads, nearly kissing the domed ceiling speckled with glittering stars. Draco padded past each one, waltzing over to the corner of the room before sitting on his hind legs. I’d yet to see the god of the Lycans in his human form. It was hard to believe he preferred living as a wolf when his kind were forced to shift every full moon. Old tomes sat on many of the shelves, but also cluttered the room in messy stacks. A large wooden table sat just a few feet away, pushed up against an open window. The
Azrael “Was that really necessary?” Orion exhaled sharply through his nose, a tell-tale sign that he wasn’t in the mood. That didn’t change the fate of the unconscious girl lying in my arms, snoring softly as though she hadn’t a care in the world. I dragged my eyes away from the gentle slope of her cheek, and from the bright tresses of hair hanging down her back. The bedroom door swung open on a gust of magic. Since Orion’s was now drained, it had to be the mansion. Draco stalked ahead, his hackles half-raised, and padded inside. Shattering Orion’s spell hadn’t just sapped his magic, it had also blasted the wards over the land to shreds. He wouldn’t be able to erect them for a while. Not until his magic replenished. Draco would likely spend the night patrolling the grounds. We’d lost nearly a dozen mortals in the past to the creatures lurking nearby. Too many for it to be a coincidence. Someone didn’t want us to break the curse. I released a long sigh. Now that the girl was uncon
Blakely Holy Moon Goddess, was I just flirting with Azrael, God of the mother-effing wolves? Bah, of course I wasn’t. He’d made a lewd comment, most likely to stroke his already over-inflated ego, and I simply knocked him down a peg. Really, I was doing the world a favor. Was there a medal for that? There should be. It was bad enough he was the most attractive man I’d ever seen, and judging from that smirk he knew it too, but he also held all the power of a god. Beautiful and deadly. A combination my lady parts seemed to love. Clearly, I needed therapy and a cold shower. I didn’t so much as glance his way until we were both in the kitchens, sitting at the island as we had been mere hours ago. The feast laid out before us spewed steam and a myriad of mouthwatering scents into the air. Once again, there was no meat. I was pleasantly surprised the magically possessed mansion cared about my dietary restrictions. There were platters of smoked vegetables, heavily seasoned with someth
Blakely The look I gave him was so brutally dry that he laughed. I tried not to be mesmerized by the musical sound of it. “Despite what you might think, Orion doesn’t enjoy killing. We were created for one purpose, to serve the moon goddess. Finding Lunette, freeing her from her shackles, it’s something we cannot fight. Removing the curses that bind us is the first step in doing just that.” I picked at the dead skin on my lip. “Okay. How can you go about doing that without killing me? If I’m the key or whatever, then don’t you need me alive?” Still facing me, he began walking backwards, leading the two of us further into the maze. The sound of rushing water, likely from the fountain at the center, continued to grow louder. “Yes, we need you alive. The memories can’t be retrieved from a corpse, and you—” he spun back around, “You just so happen to be the first of your line to survive Orion’s spell. No one’s been able to shatter it the way you have. That means something.” Despite t
Blakely I didn’t even get to enjoy my post-nightmare high thanks to a certain god. The year I’d spent at the blood mage’s camp hadn’t just scarred my body, but my mind too. Sleep was a constant battle that I rarely ever won. To hide the damage of my mother’s decision, I bought an alarm clock and kept my bedroom door locked at all times. I couldn’t risk attacking dad or Lina should one of them think to wake me up. Yes, I was a partially insane mess; no, I didn’t want to talk about it. Ignoring the problem had worked for me before, and it would have to do now. Besides, judging from Orion’s piss-poor attitude, there weren’t psychiatrists in the godly realm. Guess it was a good thing I was a pro at compartmentalizing. Azrael laughed beneath the pillow I suffocated him with, his chest rumbling beneath my forearms. Blinking the cobwebs from my eyes, I debated on whether or not I should continue my attempt at murdering him. Would killing a god earn me bragging rights? It fucking better.