He must have felt it, because he pulled back, a smirk on his face. “Maybe we should give you a break …”
“We should check on Willa,” I quickly agreed, my face flushing with heat. If we didn’t leave this room, it wouldn’t matter how much pain I was in. I couldn’t resist him.
“Willa is being guarded by five of the most powerful andbelovedgods in Topia. She doesn’t need you right now, but I sure as fuck do.”
This time, the laugh did escape me. “We had sex twice and you’re already getting jealous?” I deliberately left out thebondingpart. I wasn’t ready to deal with that just yet.
“How many times do we need to have sex before that’s a reasonable emotion?” he asked. “I’ll catch up right now.”
I laughed again, and the emotion that flooded through me was so alien that it caused me to pause, the laughter dying from my lips.When had happiness become so foreign to me?
Not sure I was ready to go there, I focused on another important fact that we’d neglected in our haste to tear each other’s robes off.
“We need to warn her about the glitching servers that came after us this sun-cycle,” I insisted. “That seems like something they should be aware of.”
Cyrus grunted. “Fine. I’ll take you to see Willa again, but I will require something in return.”
My body heated at the words. Somehow, I already knew what he was asking for. My voice croaked when I finally spoke again. “What is it?”
“You sleep with me from now on.”
“Okay.” I answered without thinking, the word pulled from me faster than I would have thought possible. I frowned, trying to back-track. “For how long?”
“Until you no longer need me,” he answered, without hesitation. “I meant what I said earlier, Emmanuelle. If you want my protection, you will give me everything.”
Something about that answer made my heart ache. I didn’t like being told what to do, or being blackmailed, but the idea of this arrangement ending at some point made me feel physically ill. Was it even possible for me to separate myself from him now that we had formed some kind of soul-bond? Willa had explained what little she knew of the soul-bond that she had with the Abcurse brothers. Apparently, it was rare enough that it was thought to be gifted by the magic of Topia, not even breakable by the likes of Staviti. But Cyrus thought that we could end this arrangement? My stomach roiled again. The response was so sudden and violent that I had to take a moment to close my eyes and gather myself before I could look at him again.
“Alright,” I answered, my voice low. “You have a deal.” I pulled myself from the bed then, deciding that if I didn’t get up, we’d never leave.
Cyrus was up in an instant as well, and he caught my hand, leading me toward a huge wardrobe. As we stepped inside the room, the lights flickered on, and I gasped. I’d expected the rows of white robes and shoes. The white shirts and belts. Basically, Cyrus had an entire store of white going on. But there was a flash of colour in the back that had shocked me.
Mycolour.
“It appeared when you first awoke as a god,” Cyrus said quietly. “At first I couldn’t figure out why they appeared here, in my room. But I think I understand now.”
The soul-bond.
His eyes met mine, glowing intensely again, and I realised that he had heard my thought.
Swallowing hard, I quickly looked away from him and stepped closer, my hands brushing across the silken robes as I walked. Blue-green shone brightly in the white palette. There were countless robes, shirts and shorts, and underwear neatly folded in the drawers.
“Unbelievable,” I murmured, before shaking my head and reaching for the robes.
No time to ponder the symbolism of what I was seeing—Topia putting my clothes with Cyrus’s—it was time to deal with the mess of this world. Before it was too late.
