My brows shoot up. “You said you weren’t supposed to use your powers.”
“Rules can be bent a little.” He shrugs. “I won’t do it again if you don’t irritate me.”
For some reason, that makes me laugh. “Everything irritates you.”
I could swear a hint of a smile touches his mouth for the first time. “As I’ve said before,” he says after a long moment, “I like the goat.”
Leaning in close to him, I tease, “I’ll be sure that’s added into your prayers when you return to the heavens.”
A laugh barks out of him, the sound harsh and rusty. I’m startled at the sound but also pleased. Is this the first time I’ve seen Kalos…happy? It makes me want to do more. Maybe that’s why I was brought here—because anyone else would have left him alone in that room to get covered in more cobwebs, and I made him wade through an entire swamp with a goat.
“Married couple,” I tell him again in a low voice, and touch his arm once more. “Remember.”
“I’ll remember. Which one?”
“Which one what?”
“Which god are we seeking out?”
Oh. I’m momentarily flummoxed. It’s not something I’d thought about. Would it be too on the nose to say Kalos? Iguess a lot of people wouldn’t pilgrimage to see him. That might make us seem like even bigger weirdos. “Which god is safe to pick?”
He snorts. “None of them. That’s why we’re here in the mortal realm.”
Hmm. Good point. “Well, I don’t think we can pick you. How about your brother?”
Kalos shakes his head. “No one wants Rhagos’s attention any more than they want mine. He is Death, remember?”
And from what I can tell, there’s not a lot of warm fuzzies for a death god. I get it. “Okay, how about the goddess of beauty? What’s her name again?”
“Not her,” he says, tone suddenly sharp.
“Why not her?”
“Belara holds grudges.”
He’s mentioned that before. “And she has something against you?”
“She does. We were lovers in a former time. It ended badly, and she is now my sworn enemy.”
For a man who had his memory wiped, he sure does remember a lot of details. A goddess for a lover, now estranged. Fucking perfect. I hope she doesn’t come after him, too. My happy mood sours and I suddenly want to kick him. “Any other bombshells you want to let me in on?”
“Bombshells?” He narrows his eyes at me. “What is a bombshell?”
“An unpleasant surprise.”
“It’s not my fault you’re ignorant.” He moves ahead, giving Dingle more lead on the rope.
I let that slide, because I don’t think he realizes just how much I’ve given up to come here and be his companion. Of course he doesn’t know—he hasn’t asked. He won’t, either. I’ve seen depression rear its head plenty of times, and I knowthe best way to handle it is to support someone even when they’re being unlovable.
I take a deep breath, center myself, and open my eyes.
Kalos is just up ahead, watching me. His expression is impossible to read. “Are you coming or not, my sunshine martyr? This was your idea.”
Nodding, I move forward again. “Yeah. I’m coming.”
Chapter
Thirteen
