What a grand fucking convenience.
Solaris scratched the back of his neck. “Okay,” he mumbled, shifting around awkwardly.
Theon eyed Solaris’s glamor that dimmed down his divinity, to his collared shirt, tucked into tailored slacks, and down to his loafers. The High God’s posh style only further vexed Theon.
Ronin cleared his throat, flashing an amused look Theon’s way. “So, uh, about what we discussed the other day…”
Theon snapped his eyes onto his friend, his pulse accelerating with the passing seconds. Why was he bringing this up now? In front of the Fire God?
Ronin sighed, and Theon’s stomach gnarled, sensing his hesitancy and where it led. HeknewRonin. Better yet, heknewNaia, and this idea had her name all over it.
“No.” Theon shook his head repetitively, clinking the hoops in his earlobes. “Fuckno.”
“Theon, just listen,” Ronin said.
“Nope.” He cut his gaze onto Solaris, imagining all the time he would have to spend with this blowhard, egotistical god. Just the thought made his stomach sour.
The High God regarded him with his flashy smile, unfazed by Theon’s rejection. “It would be my privilege to?—”
“Not gonna fucking happen,” Theon said with an iced finality. He respected Ronin as the boss of the Blood Heretics, but this would drive him insane and leave him mentally weak to Soren’s deception.
Ronin massaged his temples, openly displaying his fatigue. “Look, I agree that we need to find more answers, but you aren’t going alone.” He placed his hand on his own chest, looking at him. “Naia and I would both fucking worry ourselves sick. So, if you want to do this, Solaris here,” Ronin threw an arm around the High God’s neck and gave him a pat on the chest, “is going with you.”
They both stared at Theon—Ronin with his shit-eating grin and Solaris, all teeth, like he was trying to sell Theon a fucking car.
The room fell quiet as Theon contemplated his options. Worrying Naia and Ronin would only distract them, and Theon needed them to be levelheaded with their focus on Ash.
He could request someone else—Avi, even—but Theon understood why Naia had suggested the High God. Despite his insufferable arrogance and annoying charisma, he was strong and immortal, someone Theon wouldn’t have to worry about getting gutted during a confrontation with Soren and his mysterious witch. In fact, the image brought him an inkling of joy.
Theon glowered, grinding his molars.
Fuck me.
He looked at Ronin, ignoring Solaris’s shining gaze. “Fine.” Then, he turned away to leave. “I depart tomorrow.”
He’d need to take up meditation or some other mentally expunging activity to keep from turning the High God’s blood to frost.
Theon strolled down the hall at a leisurely pace, the gravity of Ronin’s words sinking in.
The chilled air hugged around him, a draft that snuck in through the doors as members came and went. Once he departed, he wasn’t sure how long he’d be gone from the place and people that he considered his home.
As he walked, he peered over the railing, down into the lounge at the full tables and?—
“Naia was worried that you wouldn’t go along with the plan.” Solaris jogged up to his side. “Thank you for agreeing, and for not making us beg.”
Theon snapped his head up, glaring at the High God.
In the five years that Solaris had been coming around, Theon did well to pretend like he didn’t exist—leaving the room when he appeared, casually falling into conversation with someone else when Solaris was nearby, walking past him as if he wasn’t there at all. Theon tried showing the High God that he was not someone he wished to even call an acquaintance.
However, it never managed to enter through his thick skull.
Solaris tilted his head down, amusement twinkling in the bastard’s grin. “You’ve never been chatty with me. Why is that?”
Theon said nothing as he walked, hoping Solaris would take the hint. It was Theon’s last night of respite. The last thing he wanted was to spend it fighting the urge to carve off his own ears.
Solaris continued in stride alongside him, lifting his arm. “Your shirt is?—”
His finger brushed over Theon’s nipple piercing and flicked the unfastened button of his shirt.
