I will not let you fall, the voice said, inside my head once again.
I sucked in some of the clean, crisp air of Topia. Flecks of water from the nearby waterfall lacing a coolness across the breeze as it entered my body. The sudden burst of iciness was soothing, and I claimed an inner calm that allowed me to step forward and slide on in front of Aros, who was already seated on the dip in the bony ridges of the creature’s powerful back.
Jara stood to full height again, and I resisted the urge to grip the short tufts of hair in front of me.
“I’ve got you.” Aros wrapped his arms around my waist, anchoring me back into him.
My worry vanished in an instant, only to be replaced by a new problem. Aros was at full power again, after being in Topia, and somehow my body knew this.
Eighteen
I found myself arching involuntarily back into Aros, somehow trying to get closer to him and escape him all at once. I knew that if I was in contact with the potency of him for too long, I would lose my mind and start begging for his touch. I hadn’t forgotten our last kiss. There was no way to forget that. Just the way I could never forget the electric pain of Coen, the light teasing of Siret, the strength and power of Rome, and the persuasive thrill of Yael. Each so different, but so familiar to me. I could be in pure darkness and I would know exactly who was in there with me.
“You’re going to need to stop wiggling on me like that,” Aros growled in my ear just as Jara spread her wings wide.
With two powerful flaps, we were airborne. I let out a low shriek, my body’s sensual demands forgotten for a moment as I concentrated purely on not losing the contents of my stomach. Not that there was much inside for me to lose, but I was sure that Jara and Aros would not appreciate me barfing on them.
We rose very quickly, the other four panteras flying close by. All of the Abcurses looked relaxed.
“You’re going to have to get out of the habit of calling us Abcurses.” Aros especially seemed a lot calmer now that I was distracted from his energy. “You know that’s not our name.”
I shrugged. “Hard to break the habit now. You guys should have thought of that before you lied to me and everyone else at Blesswood.”
He said something in return, but I missed it. We were now well above the treeline, flying in the airspace just below most of the floating marble platforms. As we passed over the landscape, I was starting to see how vast it was. Minatsol was large, much of it still unexplored—all of that dead land beyond the inhabited rings—but I was thinking Topia might be ever larger.
It is vast beyond your wildest imaginings. The gods inhabit only a tiny section. Much more of it belongs to the others.
I barely even jumped at Jara’s melodic and sexless voice in my mind this time. I was getting very used to this world of weird. Reaching down, I gave her side a gentle pat.
Thank you for helping us. I directed that thought to her, though I was sure I didn’t need to. She seemed to be able to read my thoughts whether I directed them to her or not.
We went into a bit of a glide then, and as we skimmed closer to the nature below, I thought I caught a glimpse of a little pool surrounded by a cloud of sparkling little … bugs. Or something. I couldn’t see that well from how far up we still were, but the entire scene was hypnotising.
“There’s Rau’s main residence.” Siret’s words from close-by had my focus off the ground and back in the air.
The platform was different to the one he’d dropped me on earlier—it was a dark grey marble, shot through with streaks of some red porous stone. There were a lot of pillars, towering up across it, and much of the inner structure was hidden by masses of thorny vines.
The panteras were almost silent now, their flapping ceasing as they drifted in under the edge of the platform. Coen, Yael, and Siret’s flying beasts were the closest, clearly already in on the plan. Those three vaulted themselves up over the side in a single graceful movement, and it wasn’t until Jara moved closer and Coen reached down to haul me up, that I realised we weren’t going to remain with the beasts.
“They have to return to their families,” Aros explained, as he followed me up on to the edge of the platform. “We don’t ask from them any more than is necessary. It’s not safe for them here in this part of Topia.”
Farewell, divine one.
Divine one? There was no way the pantera was talking to me. Clumsy one, cursed one: both of those fit. Divine … not so much. Maybe that was what Jara called everyone, or maybe she had been saying goodbye to Aros, and my brain had gotten in the way of the message. Either way, I didn’t have time to ask, because the five sleek, black bodies were disappearing in a few powerful thrusts of their wings, leaving us to our task.
Retrieve Steve.
“Okay,” I announced immediately, trying to keep my voice down. “I’m so ready. Let’s do this. I’ll take Point.” I strode forward, but someone snagged the back of my dress, halting my progress.
“Nice try,” Coen grumbled, sliding me backwards. “You’re still staying right here. I’m going in with Trickery and Persuasion.”
He stepped around me and Aros dropped his hands onto my shoulders, pulling me back into his body. He was warm, his chest hard against my back. I wanted to curl around him and … no, dammit! I quickly wrenched myself out of his arms and stalked over to Rome instead, who definitely wasn’t going to start cuddling me. I also gave Aros a narrowed-eyed glare for good measure. He smirked at me, a spark in his golden eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“I don’t like this,” I said to Rome’s chest. He was standing about a foot in front of my face. “We should all go in together.”
“Bit late,” he remarked dryly.
I spun around, and sure enough … Yael, Siret, and Coen had already disappeared.
Bastards!
“Ah.” Aros chuckled. “Good to have you back, sweetheart.”
“You’re a bastard, too,” I said, aloud this time.
“I’m sorry,” a shocked voice snapped all of our heads toward the space between the columns that Yael, Siret, and Coen had just disappeared through only half a click ago. “Did I approach at a bad time? I will leave and return at a more appropriate time. Forgive me, Sacred Ones.”
We all stared at the form right there before us. It was a female server wearing the weird one-piece cloth that the female servers all wore, with her bald head and waxy skin on display. I lunged at her without thinking, grabbing onto both of her arms.
“Got you!” I exclaimed triumphantly. “It was me! I got you! Before anyone else!”
She reared back, a mechanical sort of choking sound escaping from her. It was as though she had rehearsed the sound after hearing one of the gods use it, but still hadn’t quite perfected it, and didn’t understand what it was supposed to mean.
“Ah, Willa …” Rome sounded amused and exasperated all at once. “You might want to check it’s the right server before you smash a rock over her head and kidnap her.”
Cue rehearsed choking sound.
“What’s your name?” I asked the server quickly, just as footsteps sounded, thudding toward us against the marble.
“Steve, Sacred One,” she replied. “I was alerted that the master had visitors, so I came to attend to them. The master does not often have visitors.”
“That’s because the master is a dick,” I told her, as Coen appeared, followed closely by Siret and Yael.
“Told you I saw one,” Yael huffed out, pointing to Steve.
“I caught her.” I turned my stare from one Abcurse to another, until each of them had suffered my glare. “And in less than three clicks, too. While you three were off gallivanting—”
“Gallivanting?” Siret interrupted on a snort. “Did Cyrus teach you that word? I’ll kill him.”
“Actually … Emmy did.” I deepened my frown, brandishing Steve, who was my tool for dominance in this situation. “But that’s not the point. The point is that I caught Steve. All on my own. Without any help. You shou
ldn’t make me wait and be the look-out next time. I can clearly do a better job than all five of you put together.”
“Steve offered herself up, didn’t she?” Coen asked. He wasn’t even asking me. He was asking Rome.
“Basically walked into Willa’s arms and said ‘take me!’” Rome answered easily, reaching over me and grabbing a hold of Steve. He pulled her around to stand in front of him, ignoring the fact that I held on stubbornly to her other arm. “Steve.” He had to bend at the waist a little to see her face. “I’m going to release you from Rau’s hold, but I have to do it the old-fashioned way. As soon as you’re free, I need you to open a doorway into your master—your real master’s cave. And then before you do anything else, I want you to open another doorway to Blesswood. We can’t open any doorways ourselves, because our magic will be traced. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sacred One,” Steve quickly replied.
Rome then reached forward, and I finally noticed a small collar tucked under the edge of her skin suit. He gripped the collar in both hands and closed his eyes. I expected a burst of energy, or maybe some sort of light … except that would have required power that they weren’t allowed to use in Topia. So what was he going to do?
I got my answer when he let out a low rumble of air, and in a movement so quick I almost missed it, he jerked both of his hands in opposite directions and snapped the collar right off her neck.
Steve slumped forward, before straightening and shaking herself off.
She was all business then. “Thank you, Sacred One. I feared I would never serve my true master again. I will open a doorway for you now, but I will need my arm.”
Rome, who had released her after he broke the collar, looked confused. “I don’t have your damn—oh … Willa, you can let the server go now.”
Crap, I’d been holding on the entire time. I quickly released her, and stepped back for good measure. Giving her all the personal space she needed to make a doorway. Whatever that meant. I assumed it was how the gods all managed to just pop in and out of Blesswood Academy without ever being seen. She closed her eyes and was still. I waited for something to happen. For an actual doorway to appear, or a hole to rip through the sky. Maybe another great big flying beast. Anything, really. But nothing happened, and eventually, she simply held out her hand.
“You guys go first,” Aros murmured.
Coen nodded and stepped past Rome, touching Steve’s hand. One click he was standing there, and the next click, he wasn’t. It was that simple. And that frightening. Rome was next, followed by Siret, and Yael. Aros had to force me forward, because my feet didn’t want to lift from the marble. He also had to force my arm up, and my hand to Steve’s, but just before he touched my skin to hers, he dropped his face beside mine and whispered my name.
“Willa.”
I turned, and his lips were on mine.
I was there one click, and gone the next.
When I landed, it was on my knees, the breath rushing out of my chest. My lips were still burning from the too-brief kiss, and I was pretty sure that I was going to either jump Aros when he landed beside me, or punch him in the face for continuing to use his powers on me. Except he wasn’t … not really. He was just being himself. That made it doubly annoying.
The fact that my body was craving everything his was promising … that wasn’t his fault either. It was none of their faults that I felt an irresistible pull to them. It was my fault, for forming a soul-link to them. And for being attracted to them in the first place. And for having no self-control.
I got to my feet to find that we were back in the stone room, in the middle of the circle of white couches. The other Abcurses were there, and then Steve appeared; even though it was hard to tell on her face, I thought she looked happy.
“You like serving Cyrus?” I asked her, a part of me curious about the Neutral who presumed to introduce accountability among the gods.
She nodded her head vigorously. “Oh yes, he is a fine master. He teaches me things.”
I exchanged a glance with Siret. He wore the sort of curious expression that had adrenaline stirring through my body. That look was not good news. I knew Siret well enough to know that. Which was also how I knew that he wouldn’t be telling me what it was. Not today anyway.
When we had been standing there for a few clicks, I finally asked, “Where the hell is Cyrus? I need him to break this god’s oath thing.”
Yael, who had been pacing back and forth by the fireplace, chuckled at this. “The moment we fulfilled the promise you made, it was dispelled.”
“Oh, okay then.” That was good, right? So why the hell did it feel like there was still something between us? Something unfinished. “Why are we waiting for him to return then?” I was suddenly in a real rush to get out of there.
I drifted agitatedly around, pausing as a popping sound echoed around the stone. I spoke too soon. Cyrus prowled across the room, his striking appearance seeming to make the cave shrink in size. He stopped right before Steve. “I’m glad you’re back, you have your usual space in the back room.”
She bowed low, her hands held out in front of her. “Thank you, Sacred One. Thank you.”
She then hurried off and Cyrus turned his gaze to me. “Your promise was fulfilled, although I did tell you to bring her to our previous meeting spot. Thank you, anyway, I have been trying for a long time to free her.”
His eyes flashed and I wondered if this was the ‘favour’ he owed Rau. It was more like blackmail.
“I can open the doorway for you,” he said, acting suddenly magnanimous. “Steve will be getting reacquainted with her things.”
The six of us stepped closer, and even though I told myself I didn’t care, somehow I was still asking him, “Why didn’t you go and get her yourself? If you’ve wanted Steve back for so long, I’m sure you could have done something about it before now.”
His face held no expression. “I had to make sure Rau saw me, that he couldn’t suspect me of taking her back. I don’t want to have to kill him—Staviti wouldn’t like it.”
I’d like it.
Siret and Yael both snorted in laughter, covering it up by immediately coughing. We were back to the mind reading thing again. It was perfect.
Cyrus did something a little different than Steve in sending us back to Minatsol. He led us through another room, one which I hadn’t seen before, and then down a hallway. At the end of the hall was a door. It was weird, sitting there in the middle of a stone wall, this dark brown wooden door.
“This door can take you wherever you want to go,” Cyrus said, his hand on the ornate bronze handle. “Just whisper it as you walk through, and you will end up in your destination.”
Yael and Rome were the first to approach—Rome because he was closest, and Yael because he wanted to be the first in most situations. I saw them peer at the script which I was now noticing carved into the bronze handle. It looked a lot like the script that had been on the wall in the banishment cave.
“I didn’t realise any of these doorways still existed.” Rome might have sounded casual to anyone who didn't really know him, but to those who did … he seemed suspicious. It was there in the undercurrent of guarded strength in his voice.
Cyrus didn’t even bother to answer, he simply pulled the handle down and let the door swing open. On the other side was a blank darkness, not like a room without lights, but like a sky without stars. I could sense the endless depths of it.
“What happens if you step in and say nothing?” I asked.
Cyrus shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’m always very sure of exactly where I want to go.”
I managed to hold in a snort, but he must have heard something anyway, because he narrowed his pale eyes on me.
“I would think that the door would take you wherever it wanted,” he told me slowly. “Apparently it is linked to multiple universes, not just ours.”
And he lost me at multiple universes. I narrowed my eyes on his face, trying to decide if he was jus
t messing with me or not. He met my look, one corner of his mouth twitching, and then he glanced away.
Rome must have decided it was okay because he moved to go first and I was shuffled into third position behind Yael. Rome murmured Blesswood Academy loud enough for us all to hear, and then stepped into the darkness. Yael followed right after and then it was my turn. My feet shuffled forward so slowly, my instincts telling me that this was not a good or safe way to travel. That anything could be in those endless depths.
I had no choice though, and I refused to look weak in front of the guys. They were already trying to leave me out of their missions.
With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, and said in a rushed whisper, “Blesswood Academy.”
I stepped forward, or kind of tilted forward and fell into the doorway. My eyes were still squeezed tightly shut, so I saw nothing until strong arms seemed to pluck me out of nowhere.
“Open your eyes, Willa-toy.” I recognised Yael’s voice. “You’re okay.”
My breath rushed out on a heavy exhalation; I must have been holding it without even realising that I was. As my eyes opened, I was assaulted by a floor of sunlight. It was the middle of the sun-cycle. Somehow, it felt like it should have been the middle of the night. It also felt like it was ten life-cycles ago that I had last been in Blesswood.
“How many sun-cycles do you think have passed since we went into Topia?” I asked Yael, who was closest to me. He’d unwound his arms from me, but our bodies were still side by side.
He flicked his head around, taking in the landscape. I could tell we were on the grounds, somewhere near the sacred temple, the top of the Staviti statue peeking up over in the distance. “Probably about eighteen rotations, give or take.”
Siret emerged from the middle of a tree, gracefully landing on bended knee, before straightening and flashing me his grin. “That was fun.”
I shuddered. Our ideas of fun were worlds apart.
Coen and Aros were the last through, and as they straightened and joined us, I had to ask, “Is Cyrus going to hunt you all down now that you know about his secret cave. I mean, he is very protective of that secret.”
Persuasion (Curse of the Gods Book 2) Page 25
