Four
Cyrus
My limit had been reached.
“If I have to spend one more fucking click discussing colour schemes, I’m going to kill everyone on this platform,” I announced.
Emmy just rolled her eyes in my direction.
Willa didn’t even lift her head. “Stop being so dramatic Cyrus,” she told me, her eyes still glued to all the fabrics sprawled across her lap. “I’m sure you don’t have anything better to do.”
I stopped my pacing—sitting still would definitely cause my energy to spiral free and annihilate something Pica loved, which would cause a shit-show I wasn’t prepared to deal with. “Gods are not dramatic,” I informed them. “We’re powerful and commanding and we don’t waste time on colou—”
Willa cut me off. “I’m not sure that I can commit that fully to one colour. I change my favourite colour every rotation.” She held up a small swatch. “Plus, if I choose purple, Siret will gloat about it, and then Coen will throw him through a wall and then he’ll throw Coen through a wall, and then Yael will have to throw someone through a wall because he won’t be outdone, and then Rome will throw someone through a wall because everyone’s smashing things … and then we’ll have no walls. Nobody wants that.”
“So, that rules out green, gold, purple, blue, and dark grey,” Emmy reminded her, listing off the colours of Abil’s sons.
Meanwhile, I hadn’t missed the fact that both of them were ignoring me, completely unafraid of my current pissed-off state.
“No fucking respect,” I muttered, turning my back on the pair and storming off because they were driving me insane.
The Abcurses had left some time ago in an attempt to ferret out friend and foe among the gods, which meant that I was stuck babysitting the two dweller-turned-gods in front of me. I’d had enough babysitting to last a lifetime, but at least Pica wasn’t there.A small blessing. She had left Willa with all the colour schemes and a two-rotation time limit on deciding. We were nearing the end of her allotted time and Willa still hadn’t decided on anything except that the Abcurse colours were eliminated, and that orange might be a hazard, becausehow will she know if she’s accidentally started another fire if she’s surrounded by orange? I had actually agreed with her on that point. I should have told them about what Pica did when someone didn’t make their deadline, because Willa had committed herself to a strict deadline whether she realised it or not … and Pica took commitmentveryseriously.
“Willa.” Emmy used her reasonable voice: the soothing and convincing one. I had to ignore my urge to cover her mouth with my own and absorb the fire that filled her whenever she got bossy. “I think you should just go monochromatic. You can add your own splashes of personality after that—maybe something from all of the Abcurses’ colours. And if you make the main decor black or white, you can change the accessories all the time. You’ll never get sick of it.”
I really was going to walk out this time.
“You’re so smart, Emmy,” Willa exclaimed. “All of the Abcurse colours together would be perfect.” I knew they would be hugging again. “But I’m not sure I can go with black because of Death, or white because of … reasons.” They both turned and looked at me, and I just crossed my arms, shaking my head.
“You’d be lucky to have my colour,” I told Willa. “Neutral is powerful. Untouchable. Pure. Original. Even more original than the very first gods.”
“Uh huh,” she said, her lips twitching. “It’s amazing, Cyrus, truly one of a kind.”
I stilled. “Are you mocking me?”
She flashed a grin in my direction. “Come on. White is a little boring, don’t you think?”
Emmy chuckled, and that fired me up even more.
“No,” I declared. “I do not think that at all. In fact, it’s the best colour you could ever have, and if you don’t choose white as your colour, I’m going to be really upset.”
For fuck’s sake. I needed to get out of there. Those two were turning me into a dweller. I was discussing interior colour schemes.And why did I give a shit if they didn’t like my colour? The opinions of bugs shouldn’t matter to me. It never had before.
A frustrated sound crept up from my chest, but before I could release it and tell the occupants of the room how much they were affecting me, I turned and thrust the door open, stepping out onto the main platform.
I didn’t go far because it was still my responsibility to keep the pair safe, and despite the fact that I had driven the knife into Willa’s chest and tortured my little bug on a sun-cycle basis, I never wanted to see either of them hurt. My intention all along had been to keep them safe. My intention hadalwaysbeen to keep them safe. With Willa, I was sure that it had something to do with the balance of the worlds, but with Emmy … I wasn’t sure about anything.
“Times up!” Pica trilled, appearing from somewhere close by. She was alwayshovering.
Not wanting the girls alone with her, I followed her back into the main room, having regained a little of my control. I just needed to hold out until Willa’s protectors got back, and then I could return with Emmy to my cave. That was a concept that should have bothered me, because I didn’t like anyone in my space … touching my things … annoying me.
It had been somewhat of a surprise when Emmy had declared that she was safer with me. Obviously there was no safer place in either world, but I hadn’t expected her toacknowledgeit. I’d expected her to run as fast from me as she could. Especially after my declaration about wanting everything from her. That had scared her, I’d seen it in her face.
But she hadn’t run.
The dweller was stronger than I’d given her credit for. She was certainly far more intelligent than most of the gods I knew. And she had put up with Willa for many life-cycles. That took great mental and emotional fortitude.
“What colour scheme did you choose?” Pica crooned as she reached the pair, who were still on the bed surrounded by fabric. “The builders are on their way as we speak.”
