Fourteen
“How are you feeling?” he asked me, his hands running up and down my arms as though he could sense that the leather was starting to become uncomfortable. He probablyhadsensed that.
“I’m okay,” I told him, mostly being honest.
He rolled his eyes a little. “Let’s try again. On a scale of one to ten, how completely shit do you feel, baby?”
“I prefer scales of one to five,” I shot back, poking my tongue out at him.
“Good,” he muttered, grabbing my face and pulling it to his, capturing my tongue before I could pull it back in. His teeth nipped sharply, his power leaking out along my jawline and making me shiver. Suddenly I was filled with an overwhelming emotion, and I barely had time to examine it before I was throwing myself at Coen in a powerful kiss. My arms wrapped around his neck, and his hands wrapped around my thighs, helping me to secure my legs around his waist. His power leaked out again, moving from my jaw to the back of my neck, and fissuring through the tight ball of emotion that had lodged itself in my throat, somehow relaxing me.
It was the oddest thing to feel his pain colliding with that tight ball—a manufactured discomfort tore through my natural discomfort, dissolving it and dissolving me at the same time. The ball of emotion eased, and I opened myself up, tears leaking from my eyes as our kiss turned frenzied.
“Gods, Willa.” He broke the kiss, sucking in an unsteady breath, half falling back against the trunk of the tree he stood beneath as though his legs had grown weak. “Don’t cry. What’s wrong?”
His breathing was still ragged, but he had paused to wipe the tears from my cheeks, his darkened eyes searching mine.
“You … used … your … power,” I choked out, still rolled by my emotion.
He looked confused, and he pressed a soft kiss against my mouth again as though he couldn’t help himself, before pulling back again. “Did I hurt you? I don’t sense any hurt …” His eyes widened. “Fuck. Did I hurt you?”
“No.” I tightened my arms and legs around him fiercely, gaining back a little of my control.
I took his mouth in another kiss, squirming against him as it grew deeper, the pressure of his hands increasing as they passed over my spine, pressing me desperately into him. With a curse, he pulled away again, leaning his head back against the tree and closing his eyes, trying to regain control.
“What happened?” he asked when he finally fixed me with a serious stare. “Tell me, Will.”
“You used your power like I asked you to. You didn’t hold yourself back from me … even though you’re so drained. Even though you have no energy …” I was tearing up again, so I trailed off.
His smile was slow, his eyes almost returning to their usual bright green, before his attention caught on my lips again and then suddenly our positions were reversed. My back hit the tree, his hands pulled at my thighs, forcing me into his body and almost crushing me against the bark. His mouth took mine fiercely and it felt as though his control had just snapped, but there was no time for me to enjoy it before the sound of approaching voices broke us apart. He pulled away with a tense groan, resting his forehead on mine for a micro-click before he reversed our positions once more. Emmy and Cyrus had almost reached the top of the stairs, so Coen lowered me down, setting me firmly in front of him.
“What—” I started, but his hand landed on my hip and dragged me backwards, right against the hard, rigid length of him thatdefinitelywould have shown if Emmy and Cyrus had been able to see him clearly.
I bit my lip, trying not to react in an embarrassing way—like moaning or reaching behind me to feel him better—because that definitely wasn’t something I wanted to do in front of my sister and the Neutral God.
“All clear?” Cyrus called out, spotting us and hurrying over to where we stood. They were each carrying large baskets covered with blankets, and there was a sizable pack slung over Cyrus’s shoulder.
They had definitely found supplies.
“The god-residences were empty,” Coen replied, his voice underlined in so much gravel that I couldn’t help the responding tremble that passed through the length of my body. His hand tightened on my hip, and he fell silent for a moment before continuing. “We found your old room, Neutral, and cleared it out for you both. The main room has a fire burning so we can go down there to plan our next step and eat—if you found food?”
“We did,” Emmy confirmed, patting the top of her basket. “It won’t be perfect, but there’s dried fruit and meat, cheese, crispbreads, and some wine. It’ll be enough. Everything else has spoiled.”
“What else did you find?” Coen asked, nodding at the packs Cyrus was carrying.
“Weapons,” Cyrus replied. “Dropped by some of the servers, I’m guessing. I figured that it was a good idea to arm ourselves. We have all spent so much energy over the past few sun-cycles, and if we continue like this and are ambushed by another group of Staviti’s servers, or whatever else he has hiding up his sleeve, we’re practically defenceless. None of us are practised in fighting without our power.”
“Actually …” I shook my head. “The Abcurses are definitely practised in that. They used to have to fight at the arena in Blesswood all the time, and they would see how long they could last without using their powers—besides, they were all weakened from being in Minatsol, just like we are now.”
“She’s right,” Coen confirmed. “Butyouwould be defenceless, and so would Emmy. So it’s good you found weapons.”
“That wasn’t all,” Cyrus said, and I was basically floored by his apparent lack of care at the fact that Coen had just insulted his strength. He continued speaking as though being told that he wasn’t as strong as another god wasno big dealto him. “We also found some maps that might be useful, and some spare clothes—”
“Oh thank the gods,” I burst out. “If I have to sleep in this leather outfit one more night, I’m going to just throw myself into the Great River because my life might as well be over.”
“Um …” Emmy blinked at me. “That was a little dramatic.”
“She’s a bit emotional right now,” Coen replied, both of his hands now on my hips as I smiled at the smugness in his voice.
