“Give me everything.” His voice was hard, uncompromising. “If you give me everything, I’ll do whatever you need. It’s all or nothing, on both sides. That’s what I want. That’s what I’m offering. Take it or leave it.”
He surged up, suddenly, taking me with him before setting me firmly onto my feet. And then he walked away, just like that.
“Let me know your decision!” he called out, a micro-click before his bedroom door slammed shut.
Asshole!
But damned if I didn’t feel primed and ready to run right after him into that bedroom, which was pretty much the perfect place for Cyrus to execute his plan for ‘everything’. I couldn’t understand why my body was so disloyal when my mind pretty much hated everything about him.
His offer, though … it was intriguing.
Logic was my fallback in any and all situations. One of my favourite pastimes comprised of mulling over and analysing the details of any given situation until I understood every single facet, until I understood enough to make decisions comfortably within that situation. This particular circumstance was going to be a little harder to logic out, because I really didn’t know enough of the facts. Cyrus was too much of an unknown element.
If I were to be honest with myself—and I often tried to be—givingeverythingto Cyrus didn’t really feel like as big a hardship as I would have expected.
The other unknown was why he had made the offer in the first place. He thought I was a bug … and yet, I could tell that I fascinated him. Was it because I defied him at times? Could it be as simple as that? Cyrus was a god used to answering to no one, a god who was never denied. I’d seen his face the sun-cycle I quit my job as his ‘dweller assistant’ on the Peak, and there had been genuine shock written all over him.
Or was it simply that I was an easy and convenient bed-mate for this moon-cycle, based on pure locality?
I doubted I’d ever truly understand Cyrus’s logic, so it was better just to go with my own. Was it in mine and Willa’s best interests to keep him close and as an ally? And was I willing to use my body to do that?
“I can hear you over-thinking this.” Cyrus’s voice was loud, even though he was still on the other side of his closed door. “This is not a decision you can make with your head, Emmanuelle. Just go with your instincts.”
I snorted, my feet already moving in the direction of his room. I’d never liked arguing with people when I couldn’t see them.
“Firstly,” I snarled, slamming his door open, “logic can be used in every situation, except when it comes to Willa. Because she defies all natural order …”
I trailed off as I finally focused on him. My jaw dropped for a brief click before I got my facial muscles back under control. Cyrus’s room was destroyed, his bed in pieces, strewn across the room, robes and sheets now nothing more than scraps of material fluttering about.
“What happened?” I asked breathlessly.
Cyrus’s neutral expression—the one that I was coming to recognise as a mask he wore—slipped minutely. For a click, there was a rage so potent in his face that I sank back against the door, preparing to sprint if needed.
Just like me, though, he was very good at regaining control.
“Staviti killed you,” he said simply. “When I first got you back here, I wasn’t sure that you’d survive. The transition is … difficult.”
“And that bothered you?” I prompted.
I was desperate to understand him. To unravel this god who was more mysterious than any other I’d met.
“You were assigned to me,” he replied moodily. “On Champions Peak. My dweller. My bug. I don’t like anyone touching my possessions.”
I cleared my throat. “You truly have a way with words, Cyrus. I mean, that was poetic. Truly poetic. You should title it ‘mine mine mine.’”
Despite the usual arrogance I’d come to expect from the gods, his actions were unexpected. His rage,over me,had him destroying his room, and as he’d just said, he didn’t like anyone touching his things. A bug was more important than his bedroom.
Score one for the bugs.
“Why are you in here? Did you make a decision?” he asked, moving closer to me, debris brushing the bottom of his robes as he walked through the mess.
I opened my mouth to answer, but … there were no words. I hadn’t had a chance to finish my analysis, and for the first time in my life I couldn’t make a decision. I couldn’t figure out the best thing to do.
“Give me the full proposition,” I finally choked out. “Everything. Don’t leave anything out. I want the fine print.”
He groaned, his eyes shifting to a stormy colour. “I don’t know what it is about you, but when you get all bossy …”
Holy gods.My mind went blank as my body burned, and then a strange energy started to swirl within me. I’d never felt anything like it before, as though my insides were filled with a million burning little sparks. I closed the distance in two steps and before I could register what was happening, we were kissing like two beings who were drowning. Desperate. Consumed.
