“Dreams?” The guy gaped at her. “We're finally free, and you want to find some guy your drug-induced mind created?”
“We're going to get all of you back to where you belong,” I said gently. “Don't worry about the little things right now, okay?”
The man looked from Emma to me and then nodded. “Okay. Fine.”
“Pathetic,” Demeter huffed. “You think that you love her because I made you fuck her? Ridiculous. You bonded over a shared, sexual experience; nothing more.”
The freedmen closed in tighter.
“Hold!” I said, and they froze. “I can't let you kill her. I need her for a battle, and thenIget to kill her.”
“As long as she dies, I'm okay with that,” one of the men said, and the others nodded in agreement.
Demeter rolled her eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
Demeter led us to her palace and—at my insistence—found some clothing for the freed prisoners. She wanted to do some research in her library while we were there, but I was getting nervous. I knew that Thor would be worried, and I started pacing the library while she read. Kirill had taken the humans to the kitchen to find them something to eat, but he returned with a mug of coffee for me; fixed precisely the way I liked it.
I smiled and shook my head in wonder as I lowered the mug. “You're, like, the perfect man.”
“Hardly,” Kirill whispered as he glanced at Demeter. “I'm a bit worn.”
“No; you're not.” I took his hand and squeezed it. “You are not the sum of things that have been done to you. Instead, measure yourself by your own actions.”
Kirill smiled softly at me. “How did I know you vere going to say zat?”
I stared up at him and let out a shaky, sad breath.
“Vhat is it?” He asked softly.
“She's married,” Demeter looked up from her book to announce gleefully. “So, don't get your hopes up, pretty boy. You can't have her.”
“Shut up, Dementor,” I snapped.
“What happened to being a one-man woman?” She asked.
I started to growl, but Demeter just smirked and went back to reading.
“You're married?” Kirill asked in shock.
“Yes,” I admitted.
Kirill seemed to think about it, and then shrugged. “I don't care.”
“My husband will,” I said. “Look; you know that there's something between us that has been there for awhile. I can't explain this all to you, but I need you to trust me. This will work itself out; we just need to give it time. I can't tell Thor about you yet.”
“I understand,” Kirill said steadily.
“Time,” Demeter huffed, and then her eyes narrowed. “We're dealing with a god of time.” She lifted her stare to mine. “What aren't you telling me, Vervain?”
Go on,Al said,explain it to the rapist.
“I believe that Aion and Nyx have changed the past,” I said.
Both Demeter and Kirill's eyes went wide.
“And it has altered our present,” I finished.
