Five
Emmy
Terrance was calm. His movements slow and smooth, his voice never rose above a certain octave. I figured this was because he created and lived with dangerous creatures for fun, but it was unnerving. I didn’t like the feelings he brought about in me. I didn’t like his words. They were a warning, clear and simple. He was warning me away from Cyrus, but Cyrus had already told me he wanted everything, so he clearly didn’t want to adhere to Staviti’s rule.
Cyrus had been with other women, that much I knew. So this sudden warning from Terrance was something more. This was about more than just sex. In general, it went against every one of my instincts to not respect rules, but if they didn’t make sense—logically—my mind would rebel. What reason did Staviti have for banning partners? Was it because Pica refused to love him? Maybe he had created the ban to separate Pica from Rau, but it had backfired, causing Pica to resent him and pull even further away from him. That would explain why he didn’t explicitly try to enforce the rule. It had already backfired on him.
So why not remove the rule altogether?
I could only assume that if Staviti wasn’t allowed to be with the person he wanted, then nobody else was allowed to be either.
“Don’t move,” Terrance suddenly whispered, and I found myself freezing to the spot, barely even allowing breath to wheeze out between my pursed lips. At first, I thought it was an attack of some sort. I waited for Staviti and his army to descend, but it didn’t happen. I should have known better: Cyrus was far too calm. Willa had told me in a rushed whisper earlier how he’d reacted when I had died. Part of me couldn’t quite believe he’d been so emotional, angry and vengeful. I wasn’t sure why he had done it, but it stood to reason that if Staviti was about to attack again, Cyrus wouldn’t be so casual.
“Hello, pretty girl,” Terrance crooned—further confirming that Staviti wasn’t the one to disturb our meeting.
My eyes widened as a creature shuffled into view, standing up high on huge back legs to forage in the trees before dropping down with a heavy thump again.Pretty girl?Okay, sure. I guess if you thought five eyes, twelve spindly tentacles protruding from around her face, and a huge rotund furry body were all ‘pretty,’ then … sure.
“A boband,” Cyrus explained to me, keeping his voice just as low as Terrance’s. “They’re very rare, living both on land and in water. They hold enough venom in one tentacle to kill twenty dwellers.”
“Can they hurt a god?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me as I got over her crazy appearance.
Terrance chuckled. It sounded oddly forced. “I would never allow my creatures to harm the gods, but … if Death were to collaborate on a project with me …” He trailed off, completely lost in thought as I grew increasingly more and more uncomfortable, until he finally blinked and returned to the original topic. “They can stay under water for fifty clicks without the need for air. Their poison will incapacitate a god for a short amount of time, but nothing on this world can actually kill a god. Except another god.”
His eyes fluttered as he slowly turned to Cyrus. There was some sort of silent communication going on there, but I was too interested in the boband to pay close attention. The creature shuffled forward. It was on all four stocky legs now, its body almost as huge as the bridge beside Terrance. She lowered her face, the tentacles spreading out around her as she sniffed along the ground.
“They eat berries and swimmers, mostly,” Terrance said, continuing his explanation. “And require a lot of food, so they’re always scavenging.”
“Why did you create her?” I asked, wanting to understand what drove the Bestiary God to fashion such creatures. “Does she have a purpose?”
Flashing eyes met mine. “All of my animals have a purpose, just because you cannot see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
“So, what’s her purpose?” I pushed, because he was giving me a half answer, and I didn’t like those.
Terrance ignored me then, turning to face Cyrus. “Why are you here? What do you need from me?”
Cyrus swept out an arm and before I knew it, he had drawn me closer, into his side. I tried not to feel all of the warmth and energy that surrounded him constantly. I also tried not to lean into him.
I tried and failed, for the most part.
“I need you to tell me what sort of god Emmanuelle is.” Cyrus got straight to the point.
Terrance stilled. “You don’t know? Did Staviti not help you?”
Tension shot through Cyrus. “You already know the answer to that.”
He didn’t sound angry, but the other god was suddenly looking very wary, and he didn’t ask anymore prying questions. He just stepped forward, slowly, until he stood right before me.
“Do I have permission to touch you?” he asked, staring intently into my eyes. The only sound in the clearing at that moment was the boband just snuffling along, sucking up berries as it foraged.
I swallowed hard. “Touch me where?”
You had to always clarify things with gods, they were sneaky bastards.
Cyrus chuckled next to me, and I was pretty sure he saidthat’s my girlunder his breath.
“Nothing untoward at all,” Terrance assured me. “Just on your temples.”
Since most of my brain was occupied with the possibility that Cyrus had called me his girl—why did that excite me so much?—I kind of lost focus and just nodded, giving Terrance the permission he sought.
