Sixteen
We made it back to the seventh ring just as the sun started to set. It had been a long sun-cycle, and I was feeling the exhaustion creep in again. There were no visible signs of anyone in this ring, just as there hadn’t been in the eighth. But we decided we would remain here until sunrise.
“So, we’re sure that no dead dweller will reach us by tomorrow morning?” I asked, yawning loudly.
“We have time,” Aros told me, reaching out to capture my hand. He wrapped his warm palm around it, and my knees buckled a little. His power slicked through me like warm oil absorbing into my skin. I was panting by the time he hauled me closer. “We have the entire village to ourselves,” he said, his breath fanning across my cheeks.
“Emmy and Cyrus,” I mumbled, not really sure what I was even asking anymore.
Aros’s lips pressed into my neck and I groaned.
“They’re in Soldel. We’re meeting them there, remember?”
I didn’t remember anything then. Not my name. Or where we were. Or the fact that I was being seduced by gods in the very village I grew up in.
Aros was pressed to my front now, and another warm body stepped in behind me. I swallowed roughly, almost dizzy.
“Do you have a bathing area here?”
That voice belonged to Yael; he was the one pressing into me from behind. “Mmm … uh … yes,” I breathed. “It’s in that building.”
I managed to turn so I could point them in the direction of the dark grey bathing house. It was a squat building made of stone, which did give it great insulation against the elements. We were allowed a bath every few sun-cycles, to conserve water, and you had to haul your own buckets in to wash with.
Aros’s hand cupped my face, his thumb rubbing across my cheek as his lips pressed to mine. I rose up, higher, before parting my lips to let his tongue slide inside. When he released me, I turned and allowed Yael to kiss me the same way.
At this stage, we’d need the bath before and after. “I’m going to keep watch,” I heard Coen say, amusement in his voice.
“We’ll figure out the bath situation,” Rome said, and there was a grunt that sounded a lot like he’d dragged Siret along with him.
That left me with Aros and Yael. Reaching out, I fisted my hands into both of their shirts and dragged them closer to me. I didn’t want them on opposite sides because I needed to kiss them both.
When I kissed Yael, Aros went back to pressing his lips—and power—along my lines of my jaw and throat. When my legs started to tremble because the strength of his seduction was rocking me to my very core, they both wrapped an arm around me and held me up. I gasped out a word before things could get too heated.
“Wait!”
They pulled back and my feet met the floor again.
“You’re worried about the army?” Yael asked, his dark eyes taking in the torn expression that I was sure was painted all over my face.
“Uh …” I laughed. “Yes. I’m worried about the thousands of weird, undead servers that are marching on this townright now. Is this really the best time and place to … you know?”
They both grinned then, and I tried not to react to the seductive pull of Aros’s energy and the way Yael’s crooked grin had heat bubbling through me.
“Pain!” he called out. “Rocks needs some more persuading!”
“What are you doing?” I hissed, even as excitement rushed through me.Three of them?I wasn’t even sure that I could physically do it, but now wasn’t the best time to shirk away from a challenge.
“What’s the problem?” Coen asked, walking back into view. Apparently he hadn’t gone far.
“Willa is feeling guilty about being intimate while an army marches toward us,” Yael told him.
“Guilty?” Coen questioned, arching a brow at me.
I started to shake my head, but paused. Yael was right. I was feeling guilt over the idea of doing anything pleasurable while hundreds of dwellers were scurrying toward Blesswood, scared for their lives. They would reach the sixth ring and none of them would have a guide—only their own fear and company, and the message that we had sent with them.
“I … I don’t think I can leave them,” I admitted. “This is Staviti’s doing, but he’s doing it because ofus. Becausewefreed the water to into Minatsol. We can’t just send everyone on their way like that. They must be so lost and afraid—we’ve been living as gods for too long; we’ve forgotten what it’s like to have no power. You five have never felt what it’s like to be at the mercy of the gods, to live as a pawn in a world that doesn’t belong to you. These people have done nothing to deserve this. They’ve done nothing but worship the gods and the sols, and look at what happened. They would have been the first to die. The first to fall—without warning—beneath the horde of servers rising from the ground.”
The longer I spoke, the more their expressions shifted from amusement at my sudden mood swing to admiration.
