His touch was gentle, but the skin on his hands was rough, scraping across my cheek bones as he settled both palms on either side of my face. “This shouldn’t hurt,” he said, as his hands began to heat.
“Those three words are in no way reassuring,” I told him dryly. “I hadn’t been expecting it to hurt, so now all you’ve done is make me worry that it will hurt.”
Terrance chuckled. “You’re an unusual female, I’ll give you that. I can see the appeal.”
“Mine,” Cyrus ground out immediately, the word sounding like it had been forced from him. I blinked, twisting my head so I could see him better, because there was a guttural nature to that word.
He was glowing, a white light shining from his eyes and around his body, like a shimmery field. Terrance noticed this as well, and from the corner of my eye, I thought he went very pale. “Noted,” he told Cyrus, voice rough. “I will say nothing more.”
He was afraid of him, and suddenly I could understand why. Cyrus was in his Neutral state. The one everyone seemed to fear. But I refused to allow him to control me with fear.
Shaking Terrance’s hands off, I spun toward Cyrus and elbowed him hard in the ribs. The impact caused my elbow to ache.
The god turned his glowing eyes on me. “Did you just … hit me?” he asked, his voice still in that unnaturally low tone.
“Yes,” I said loudly—I had no idea why I was shouting, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “Because you are so godsdamn annoying. Stop it. Right now. We are trying to figure out what sort of god I am, I don’t need you to scare off the only being who might be able to tell us.”
Cyrus looked stunned. He even shook his head a few times, as if he were trying to make sure his ears weren’t malfunctioning. A bubble of laughter started to rise in my chest, and I tried to force it down, but he looked so damn confused. A snort escaped, and I bit my lip, but my chest was heaving as my amusement began to escape.
“Are you sure she’s yours?” Terrance asked, his eyes locked on me. “Her spirit. It’s wild … like my creatures.”
In the next click, Cyrus’s hand was wrapped around Terrance’s throat. “I’m not sure I can make myself any clearer,” he snarled, his white light reaching a new level of blinding. My humour dried up then, and I wondered where I should hit him this time. “Don’t even think about it,” Cyrus rumbled over his shoulder. “Some gods will only learn through force. Terrance is clearly one of them.”
“Right … here,” Terrance gasped out. “Mess … message received.”
“Can you just not kill him until we find out what sort of god I am?” I asked. “It’s driving me crazy not knowing.”
It really was. The unknown wasn’t something I dealt well with.
In a huff, Cyrus dropped the other god and took a step closer to me. “You have five clicks,” he said shortly.
Terrance dragged himself up, looking a little more ruffled than before. He rubbed at his throat, and I could see the dark marks already marring his skin.
“I have a pretty good idea already,” he said, swallowing hard. “Especially after both of our reactions to her, but I want to confirm.”
What did he mean by that? Their reactions to me?
This time, when his hands landed on my face, I locked my gaze on him. My eyes narrowed as I prepared myself for whatever pain was coming my way. The heat was immediate, and more intense than it had been last time. Clearly he was ready to get this over with so that we were no longer in his forest, irritating him … or trying to choke him.
As his fingertips settled firmly against my skin, I heard the murmur of his voice. “Close your eyes, it will help you relax.”
I thought that was bad advice, but I did it anyway, allowing my eyelids to close, my vision sinking into darkness.
“Wildness,” Terrance muttered, louder this time. “It is in here, inherent, but also gifted. Some of it is unnatural. Her powers are raw—almost clumsy.”
“Willa,” I said, the feeling of laughter bubbling up inside me. “Of course she did a clumsy job turning me into a god.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Terrance countered, and I felt the pressure of his hands increase, the surface of his skin vibrating with a low frequency of warm power. “Your gift has been clumsily given—not adhering to the usual precise pattern of Staviti’s companions, or even those that have ascended to god-hood.”
Pretty much what I’d said, but he clearly needed the last word.
“Am I not a proper god?” I asked suddenly, my voice growing faint. I could feel my invincibility and strength dribbling away already.
“You are most certainly apropergod,” Terrance assured me. “Just as you are most certainly a differenttypeof god. I would be interested to feel the mind of the other girl—the one who challenged Staviti, who brought you back to life. The birds carry whispers to me, you know.”
“What whispers have they told you about Willa?” Cyrus asked.
“They say that she is a storm, come to wash through this land. And those of us who live here will be raised by the waters, or we will drown.”
