I ponder it for a while, but there’s something I need to know, even though I know it’s going to upset him to tell me. “Can you tell me how you ended up on the rock?”
Cadel stills, and then he sits back, staring at me. “You really want this story?”
“Yes.”
He purses his lips and looks at the ground for a while before huffing.
“It started because I was looking for someone, and a person I trusted told me that if I wanted the power to find this person, then I needed to become the High Alpha.”
“You were the High Alpha? The god in charge of granting petitions?” I sit up, looking at him with awe. “Was it amazing?”
“It was boring. A lot of paperwork and lots of rules I had to follow. We were nearing the end of my fifty-year cycle, and I was bored and upset. I didn’t have the power to find this person. I had been deceived,” he says bitterly.
He bites his lower lip and, to my surprise, Mordecai moves beside him, taking his hand.
“So, what did you do?” I ask warily.
“I went to a party.”
“A party?” I sit back, wrinkling my nose.
“Yes, a party, and I had a glass of wine.”
The way he says that makes me think something awful happened.
“It was drugged. They offered to take me to Earth so I could stand on the God’s Rock and look around. I had to come; the person I was looking for was here, and I just needed a chance to see them, even if it was for a few seconds.” His words are stilted and tight, almost like it’s hard for him to speak. “It had been so long, and I was dying without them.”
“Wait, wait, wait, what’s a god's rock?” I interrupt, trying to ignore the pang his words elicit.
“It’s the only place a god can stand without falling. It’s like a safe spot to visit without losing our powers.”
“How big is it?” Jarek asks.
“About six feet by twelve feet.” Cadel murmurs. “So, I landed, and as soon as I turned around, the High Beta threw cursed chains at me.”
I stare at him, trying to imagine that. I saw those chains and how heavy they were on him.
“By leaving, I allowed them to overpower the rest of the gods. If I hadn’t left, they would never have been able to challenge me.” He explains it simply, not trying to hide or excuse himself. I wish he would.
“Cadel,” I murmur, aching for him.
He shakes his head. “Listen to all of it before you start pitying me.”
“The gods didn’t abandon you. They didn’t disappear. The gods died.”
I go stock still, staring at him. “What?”
“The gods fell to Earth with their throats cut, dead and or dying. Nothing short of a miracle will be able to revive them. They didn’t leave voluntarily; they were murdered by the High Beta, or as murdered as they can get. To truly destroy a god’s essence, you need an alpha and omega god to do it together. But they are encased in stone, not breathing, not dreaming, not living.”
“The end of the world didn’t start with our world but with yours?” I ask in disbelief.
He looks up at me as if he wants to say something but doesn’t. In the end, he turns away, looking into the fire.
“I was stuck on that rock while they fell, dying around me. Everyone I had known and all the gods I was responsible for.”
I reach out and take his hand, holding on. “It’s not your fault she was evil.” I open my mouth and freeze, a thought occurring to me. “Do we know why she is doing this? The possessing people is creepy, but knowing she’s killing people in two worlds…what even is that?”
“No idea,” Cadel barks out a laugh. “I didn’t even know how wrong things were going to go until I was holding those chains. It was a completesurprise. I was blind and foolish.” Cadel lowers his head, but when he tries to move away from me, I hold tighter to his hand and lean into him.
