Frustration laced Aidan’s tone. “Possible but difficult. He is no longer entirely mortal.”
She balked. “But all mortals’ magic comes from the gods, and we still live and die.”
Aidan shook his head. “Diluted magic that comes from a wellspring we created specifically to imbue mortals with a trace of our abilities. Blatz has my direct, unfiltered power in his veins.”
“He’s a demigod.But how?” Dismay colored her voice.
“The fates don’t care for their plans being upended. I allowed the deal, but Garrison sought it. From their perspective, he was spitting on their mortal design, theirgift. He wanted nothing more than magic to be completely gone, and he got his wish, but they punished him for it as they punish anyone who goes against them. Gave him a drop of the darkest magic one can hold to see if he would hold true to his dogma or spiral.”
“He didn’t last very long,” she whispered, not even noticing the glass building in front of her.
“Yes, and he is going to be a problem, but for now, tonight, let’s forget that. I dragged you out here to give you a present, not to depress you further.”
Wrapped up in their conversation, it wasn’t until Aidan prompted her that she finally noticed the gorgeous small glass building only steps away. Dark iron framed the gleaming panes, and wrought iron flowers crawled over the glass door.
Elysia lowered Crusher to the ground, pausing only the shortest of seconds with her fingers on the door handle. “Is this what I think it is?” Excitement flew through her. The door was already springing open before Aidan even had a chance to answer.
She ran inside, stopping in the middle of the glass house to spin and look around. There were sturdy worktables and shelves filled with pots, dirt, and trays for organizing seeds. Heart in her throat, she looked at him. “You made me a life-size flower house?”
Aidan leaned against the wall next to the door, watching her. “I believe they’re called greenhouses.”
“But it’s for me? And plants will actually grow?”
Walking over to a mound of rich, dark brown soil, he ran his fingers through it. “While it is winter here, and it’s not as good as it will be one day when the Deathlands are healed, it’s something—a start.”
She examined the seeds, already itching to see what could grow in this strange realm. “You knew about my flowers? Because you’re a stalker?”
Aidan nodded shamelessly, not bothering to correct her as he allowed the dirt he was holding to run through his hand back onto the pile. “I wish I could tell you that my intensity will lessen, but that would be a lie. I am obsessive, focused to a fault, and riddled with self-doubt and anxiety that you can’t imagine. But I don’t want to put that pressure on you—I know you don’t want to be here. And I understand more than you know what it’s like to be thrust into a role you didn’t ask for or want. But I can’t dictate the fates any more than you, and I, personally, am glad that it’s you here.” He cut off abruptly, once more covering his mouth as if stopping himself from saying anything more on the matter.
She looked at him with her guard a hair lower than usual. He was still the bane of her existence, but it might have been the best gift she’d ever been given. “I like the greenhouse, Aidan.”
He smiled, the anxiety in his stance easing at her words. “Thought you might.”
Elysia set the seed organizer back where she had found it. “I still plan to find a way out of the latestaddendumto our deal. A thoughtful bribe doesn’t change that.”
“Expected and understood even if I feel I must note how futile that will be.” A mischievous glint burned in Aidan’s eyes as he prowled over to her. “But what if we made a little wager?”
“I am notbettingwith you. What is it with everyone and betting around here? Even your priestesses are gambling on us. And look at where the last deal with you got me.” Elysia crossed her arms, scowling up at him.
“Locked into an exciting voyage to save not only your kingdom, but realms beyond, with the promise of immortality beside the most handsome of the gods?”
Elysia stabbed a trowel into the workbench. “You are genuinely insane.”
The light humor disappeared from Aidan’s face. “No, Isimply have had longer to know you than you have me, and as you seem to be caught on—I’ve been around averylong time. I would hope that I would know what I want when I see it after all these years.”
Elysia’s brows drew closer in suspicion. “How didn’t I ever notice a constant reaper tail?”
Aidan breezed past her question. “Because you couldn’t see them. Now, we need to finalize this wager you keep asking for. If you’re certain you’ll want to leave at the end of your voyage, then there’s nothing for you to lose. I’m prepared to set the odds entirely in your favor.” His voice had switched from the hard, but thoughtful god who gifted greenhouses to the man who clearly enjoyed cutting deals and taking bets.
Squaring her shoulders, she looked him dead in the eye. “It’s not even a question—I’ll want to leave.”
“You want to go back to the family who exploited you. To rekindle the love that never existed between you and Garrison’s spawn. Makes perfect sense.”
“What Iwantis to remain a mortal who lives in the mortal realm and to live a normal life free from insufferable gods.”
“Okay, a bit of wager, a bit of a deal. If at the end of your voyage, talisman in hand, you want to return to the mortal realm and live a perfectly boring life, then we will find a way.”
Elysia grabbed the trowel back out of the table and stuck it at him. “According to you, that isn’t possible.”
