“A better damn ranking system, I hope,” he grumbled back, stopping in front of me.
Coen had moved around him and was already disappearing down the path through the trees. I took the opportunity to examine the forest a little more carefully, admiring the rough wooden edging that separated the marble from the wild, containing the dirt, fallen leaves, and twisted roots within a neat wooden box. The path itself seemed to be made of slabs of uneven marble, twisting and winding into the growth, faintly lit by little lanterns dangling from the lower-hanging branches.
“Is it the house?” I pressed, my eyes flicking back to him as his fingers twisted through mine, pulling me toward the path.
“No, you already knew about the house.” He needlessly picked me up and set me onto the marble path, as though it was important for him to carry me over that first step.
I started to grow excited about what might lie in wait for me at the end of the path, but Coen’s words of caution kept bringing me back to practical fears, never allowing my mind to wander far from the trees as I began to move forward, Rome close behind me. We had only walked for a click when his hands landed on my shoulders, his fingers digging in with a commanding pressure, making me arch my spine back a little as he lowered his head down beside mine, both of us facing the path ahead of us.
“How are the goddess classes coming along, Rocks?”
I wasn’t sure why we needed to stop walking to have this conversation, but I wasn’t going to complain about the one-on-one time. I leaned back into him, my hands reaching up to twist around the back of his neck. Instinctively, his mouth dropped to the skin below my ear, his teeth nipping lightly as his hands slipped over my raised arms and down the sides of my chest to settle at my waist. I tried to contain a shiver, but I was sure that my words came out slightly wobbly.
“Adeline and Pica have been teaming up on me but they don’t seem to agree on anything, so I don’t think I’m making that much progress. Pica thinks that I should be open and honest and everyone willloveme. Adeline thinks that I need to be anyonebutmyself.”
He rumbled with laughter. “My mother is right. The other gods will never take you seriously as a viable contender to challenge Staviti. You aren’t cruel, you don’t want power, you have no desire to control or reshape the world, and youaccidentallybring people back from the dead … on occasion.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” I sniffed.
“I think you’re the best thing that ever lived,” he whispered. “I also think we should hurry before Seduction gets—”
“Impatient?” an amused voice asked from a few feet away.
I startled, allowing Rome to push me around the next bend in the path. Aros was resting against a bench seat that had been crafted with raw branches and thicker, unrefined logs. He stood as I stopped before him, holding his hand out for me. I took it, but Rome captured my other hand, forcing me to turn in his direction. His massive hands shaped to the sides of my face then, his lips swooping down to mine. The Abcurses didn’t do quick kisses: they took my lips with an intention that demanded to be acknowledged, and I acknowledged it now as I let out a small sound of need. He pulled back, pressed another hard kiss to my mouth, and then retreated fully, straightening up to his full height. He disappeared down the path the same way Coen had.
Aros still had a hold of my other hand, and he tugged it now, a smile teasing the corners of his lips.
“Sweetheart,” he greeted.
“Three,” I replied, throwing my arms around his neck and allowing him to draw me in fully. It was interesting that they were following the descending order of the nicknames that I had given them. Maybe they liked them more than they let on.
I basked in his heat, feeling lighter already as his hands smoothed down the curve of my spine, pressing every inch of my body to his before he eased back. He was as unwilling to release me as Coen and Rome had been, but they seemed to have planned this out and were apparently working to a schedule. Aros tucked me beneath his arm, walking close beside me along the narrow path.
“How much longer does this forest go on for?” I asked, wondering if Pica had also extended her platform somehow.
“We’re at the end now,” Aros said, steering me around a bend as the trees began to thin out, a light appearing between the leaves and branches.
I remembered Coen’s warning then, and cast a quick glance over my shoulder. There was a tiny animal on the path behind us. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but it had a fluffy tail, a russet-coloured coat, and large, watery brown eyes. Its ears perked up, its tiny nose twitching.
It was watching usverycarefully.
I tried to contain my shiver, picking up the pace as I hurried to the marble structure only a few steps away. The dwelling was small, with a few Pica-styled garden boxes surrounding it: they housed tall trees that dripped strings of leaves down to the marble ground; spiked, flame-coloured plants; and huge, fuzzy ferns in deep emerald shades. The marble house itself was shaped almost like a small dweller cottage. Oddly enough, it reminded me of my cottage back in the seventh ring that I’d shared with my absent mother and my mothering sister.
I swallowed, my steps slowing, my eyes running over the odd marble shape.
“Do you like it?” Aros questioned, his voice soft as his eyes searched my face.
“It … Who chose this?” I choked out.
“Donald and Dweller-Emmy. We had something different planned, but they insisted on this. Well, Dweller-Emmy insisted on it. Donald was asked to design a few features.”
“And you let them?” I asked, a little surprised. The Abcurses didn’t generally want external involvement when it came to making decisions about me. They sometimes forgot to even seekmyinvolvement.
“Dweller-Emmy said that she knew you wouldn’t be staying here permanently. She said that we can design the next place, wherever we decide to settle.”
Something warmed in my chest then, and I pulled him toward the door. He stopped me just as I reached for the handle, pulling my arm back and turning to press me back against the door.
“My time ends here,” he said by way of explanation.
