Terrance wasn’t looking at them though, he was staring at me—his expression unreadable.
In unison, all of the Abcurses stepped forward, crowding into me so that the Bestiary God couldn’t quite see me. As much as I wanted to stay hidden in their mass, I knew I needed to face the consequences. I would never earn the loyalty of the gods by cowering behind my boys. They knew that as well, but they couldn’t seem to quell their instincts to protect me.
I pushed through them, managing to squirm my way to the front. Terrance still stood in the same spot, but his expression had recovered somewhat, back into the semi-arrogant look gods did so well.
“The storm,” he breathed, before taking a step closer to me. He then shocked the hell out of me when he dropped to his knees. “I pledge my support to you. If it is a battle you want, I will fight. If it is leadership, I will follow, and I will not falter. If death is my path, then I will take this as well.”
I no doubt looked completely unhinged in that moment, my mouth open, my eyes wide, and my limbs frozen.
“W-what?” I finally stuttered. “I don’t want to be a leader, and if I can avoid a battle, I will. I just want to stop Staviti, and the more people who will support me in that, the smaller the chance that he will kill me for trying.”
A smile spread so broadly across his face that he looked completely transformed. Younger even. He got to his feet and shook his head a few jerky times. “I have created so many creatures in my time: shaping them and loving them as I would my own children. But I have never run with them. Not once did I get to experience life through their eyes. You gave me a gift. A gift that Staviti has never given me in the many centuries that I have followed him.” He then seemed to finally notice the two naked women huddled close by the door. “And now you have done the same for them,” he murmured.
I turned to look at the others behind me. “What are they? What have I turned them into? Are they gods?” I asked softly.
I highly doubted that I had createdtwomore gods, especially since transforming Emmy had put me into a comatose state for many sun-cycles, and though I was definitely feeling depleted of energy, I certainly wasn’t anywhere near comatose. The Abcurses didn’t answer, but I could see that they were examining the girls, trying to figure it out.
“I think …” Aros drew my attention. “I think you just transformed them. From mudhog into ... person.” He pointed. “Something between a mudhog and a dweller—or possibly just a dweller. I sense no heightened energy from them.”
The female on Terrance’s right let out a low squeaking sound and I jumped. She did it again and I realised that she was trying to speak.
“I should turn them back,” I rushed to say, but before I could even speak again, Terrance shook his head.
“No, please don’t.” He held his arms out, blocking both of them as though I would try to snatch them away. “I would like to time to learn about what you’ve done here. To explore this new species of creature. Perhaps I might even be able to help them with my own gifts.”
He had already taken them under his wing as though they were a new form of beast that he had crafted himself. Somehow, I knew that I would be fighting a losing battle if I pushed to get them back.
“If you need me to turn them back at any point …” I allowed the offer to trail off.
He gave me a simple nod before he turned to usher his new “friends” toward our front door. “I will see you at the party tonight,” he called over his shoulder, before disappearing completely.
The silence in the room lasted for many moments as all of us processed what had just happened.
“I have power like Siret,” I said, turning so that I could face them. “He can disguise things and transform them.”
“You have power like all of us,” Siret corrected. “I wonder if there’s anything you can’t do, when you set your mind to it.”
Was that true? Could I be as strong as Rome if I wanted?
I rushed toward him and he shook his head again. “I’m not going to fight you just so that you can prove you’re as strong as me, Rocks. I already gave you my strength—I think we’ve done enough negotiating for one sun-cycle.”
I’d have to work on him another time, because it was important to test the full boundaries of my powers, but he was right. I had asked him to not hold back from me, and he had done what I asked—after a significant amount of coercion. If I pushed for more this sun-cycle, it wouldn’t be fair on them. With a quick change of subject, I brought us back to the party.
“I might have to demonstrate my power at the party the next sun-cycle, and unlike Terrance and his obsession with creatures, I doubt everyone else will be as happy about becoming a mudhog. What should I do?”
Siret opened his mouth and I shot him a hard look. “If the words penis or face leave your mouth, I’m going to turnyouinto a mudhog.”
His grin just widened, but he didn’t say anything.
“We can feel your power,” Aros told me as he stepped closer to me. My legs went a little weak as his gift wrapped around me and sent tingles through my centre. “You won’t have to demonstrate anything. The simple fact that Emmy is a god will be enough.”
“Are we sure that it’s a good idea just to announce that to everyone?” I asked, looking between all of them to gauge their reactions. “Neutral seemed pretty against it.” He’d only caved because Emmy had put her foot down and told him that he wasn’t the boss of her.
No one in the room looked concerned, and yet that didn’t lessen mine at all. They didn’t worry about much, thinking themselves invincible, and Emmy was only important to them because she was important to me. If something happened to her because I inadvertently put a target on her back, none of them would lose sleep over it.
“Neutral will keep her safe,” Yael reminded me. “There aren’t many, outside of Staviti, who could challenge Cyrus. And he won’t attack again until he’s sure he can win.”
I agreed with him on that point, and yet the nerves wouldn’t leave me be. I had a feeling that the next sun-cycle would be the cusp of our battle, and the odds of survival hinged heavily on my performance. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t summon the confidence needed to convince a bunch of gods that they should turn against their creator and support my ideas.
