“You are MINE,”the sticky voice lingers through my mind. My skin is pulled again, almost like suckers have it suctioned to … The light in my head goes off, realisation coming back to me.I’m attached to the kraken. A tentacled sucker is connected to my body, which can only mean one thing. If the voice in my head doesn’t belong to my God-bonded, maybe it belongs to the kraken.
Don’t make any sudden movements. Don’t freak out.It’s all I can do to stay calm about this new revelation.
Goddess above, I can hear the kraken.
It circles a suckered tentacle around my upper thigh. I continue to push down. “I’m not yours. You cannot just claim somebody. You don’t even know my name.”
I don’t know why it’s important that the kraken knows my name. It seems important to add. My response is out of frustration. Suddenly, the air changes around us.
“You don’t need a name because you are mine.”I almost want to roll my eyes. I’ve come across some interesting creatures since leaving Haven, but this sea creature is really starting to take the cake.
A flash of stained glass windows moves through my memories.I know where I’ve seen this beast before.He’s one of Fury’s creations. He has to be. The snark. The holier-than-thou attitude. Saff is a lot nicer; maybe because she’s been searching for her lost egg for centuries. This kraken has just been down here pining for fresh meat to plunder.
“Do you know Fu—”No, that’s not right. He would know him as Orion.“Do you know Orion? Is he your creator?”
A tremble moves through the tentacles attached to me.“Orion?”
It’s a gamble. Maybe he hates his creator. There certainly doesn’t seem like there’s any love lost between Gideon and Fury. Even Saff acts like he’s an estranged father she has to deal with until her baby is safe and they can go far, far, far away from him.
Does anyone like Fury?
You do.
No way.Shut up, brain.I hate Fury.
“Yes, Orion?”
“How do you know of him?”It’s an accusation, but not in anger. Curiosity sparks me.“You smell of ash and fire. You remind me of him. That’s why I chose you, not the scaled one. She smells strange. I don’t like it.”
Moyrie.“You’ve seen Moyrie?”
“She sleeps by the rocks.”His grip tightens ever so slightly around my thigh and waist like he knows I’m going to sprint for her. Ican’t see her in this darkness, so I only have one option—believe the kraken.
“How do you know of Orion?”
Right.I’m still not sure how to broach this subject.He doesn’t seem completely opposed to him. Maybe the truth is best here.“We are God-bonded. He’s my mate.”Reluctant mate.I don’t add that part aloud.
Things change fast after I utter those words. Tentacles gently extract themselves from my body, bolstering my form to a seated position.
“My Goddess.”I cough up a kidney.I’m not a Goddess.
“I’m not a Goddess, I’m just bonded to a God.”
“You belong to my God. You share his power. That means you are my Goddess.”
Blood drains from my face. This is a new turn of events. I never saw it that way before.
I’m no Goddess.
twenty-nine
Saff
Myegghatches.
I’ve been waiting for this moment for many turns of the suns. Now, he is here, a purple tangle of limbs, pushing through a hardened shell.
My heart blooms.
