“What does that have to do with me?” Her voice had softened, confusion riding her tone. I inched closer. She didn’t seem to mind, so I planted my hand against the couch beside her head.
“If Willa can show people that she can do this—this thing that only Staviti should be able to do—there’s a chance that the other gods will choose her side.”
This seemed to stun her for a moment. It was noticeable, because she always kept up with our conversations, and I never had to explain things to her over and over. Like most dwellers.
“I’ve been thinking,” I continued. “You becoming a god might have been because of Willa’s power, but your own inner strength would have had a hand in the process. The process is not an easy one to survive. You are special, for a dweller, so … you should be proud, Emmanuelle. You are immensely strong. Again, for a dweller.”
Her stunned expression tipped back into annoyance at my failed attempt to compliment her. “Why thank you, Sacred Asshole.”
A trickle of amusement washed through me. I should have known Donald’s new name for me didn’t come from the server herself. “You’re welcome.”
She attempted to shove me back—and while her push was stronger than it used to be, it was still no match for my strength. I wasn’t a god who used my muscle without reason, however, so I stepped back to give her the room she desired.
“You’re so arrogant,” she bit out, jumping to her feet. “If I annoy you that much, why the hell are you always around? Every time I turn the corner, there you are.”
“I –”
I had no fucking idea how to answer that. I didn’t consciously search her out, that was for sure, and yet … she was right. I followed her around like some kind of besotted pet, insulting her at every chance and kissing her whenever she let her walls down enough for me to push through to her.
I had no idea what I was doing.
“Are you ready for me to take you to Willa?” I deflected. She lifted one eyebrow at me, but she didn’t comment on my obvious discomfort with the subject.
“Yes, I need to see my sister.”
“Give me a click to change,” I said shortly, my temper rearing its head again for some unknown reason.
Before she could say another word, I strode from the room. By the time I’d changed into another set of robes—dissolving my blood-stained ones with a flick of my wrist—I had myself under control again. For sun-cycles, I’d been walking on the edge of losing it. From the moment I’d found myself standing before Staviti on top of Champions Peak, something had snapped inside me. I had been too slow to stop him killing Emmy, and that realisation managed to spin me completely out of control. I couldn’t even remember much of what happened during the fight. A white haze had flashed over my vision, pushing my need to deal justice to the forefront of my awareness. I had been compelled to reverse the death that Staviti had caused. Normally, my power would be unconcerned with the death of a dweller, but I was no longer the emotionless man that I had once been. Emmy had become as important—in my mind—as the Creator. Something crucial to the worlds had been snuffed out, and my energy rose in response, completely overpowering my normal control.
I couldn’t figure out if my emotions were driving the shift in Emmy’s importance, or if she reallywasimportant to Topia somehow. Was it possible for Willa to shift the balance so drastically? To make the people important toheralso important to Topia?
“Let’s go,” I said, striding back into the living room and pushing the thoughts from my head.
She jumped, spinning around with wide eyes. “For Topia’s sake, Cyrus, could you wear a bell or something?”
“A bell …” I repeated. The dweller inside of her definitely made an appearance at times. “Gods do not wear bells like domesticated beasts. If we don’t want you to know we’re coming, you won’t know it. Be grateful I gave you notice at all.”
“Notice of what?” she asked, crinkling her brow.
“This,” I said, reaching out and attaching myself to her arm. In a flash of energy, we were pulled from my home to a nearby platform. The air was clear and crisp, the sky bright with light and energy. I felt it fill the centre of my power, which was drawn from this world.
When I released Emmy, she leaned forward, huffing and puffing with her hands resting on her knees. “Asshole,” she wheezed out.
“You need a new word,” I told her dryly.
She spluttered at me for a moment, before sucking in a deep breath and straightening. “Willa’s here? This is Pica’s platform?”
Her composure appeared to have returned, her tone even. I took a click to look around Pica’s platform.
“She’s in there.” I pointed toward the smaller of the marble structures. “Being cared for by Abil’s sons and a crazy goddess.”
“I heard that, Snow-flake.”
I shuddered as the sickly-sweet voice of Pica washed over me. Fear wasn’t an emotion I felt often, but Pica definitely sent unease through me. I was hit with a blast of her energy when she appeared from behind a fluffy, cloud-shaped magenta bush. Her plants didn’t come from the God of Nature, that was for sure. There was nothing natural about Pica and her obsessions. Most of her plants were made to be fluffy, in varying shades of bright, too-intense colours.
“Who do we have here?” she asked, looking beyond me. She stepped closer, her robes dragging across the ground. This sun-cycle, the hem was edged in lace. The next sun-cycle, it would probably be edged in knives.
For some reason, I stepped in front of Emmy, hiding her from the sight of the Goddess of Love. “No one you need to concern yourself with,” I snapped, drawing Pica’s attention back to me. “We need to speak with Willa.”
