He tenses. “Stop calling me that.”
I grin and take a few steps back. Nathan and Michael rush through the door and skid to a halt as they take me in. “Oh boy, aren’t I lucky?” I place my hand on my chest. “Little old me warrants a whole tyranny of gods.”
They spread out along the perimeter of the dome-shaped prison. I make my way to the center. “Give me a second, boys,” I state, shaking my limbs, “I haven’t had a good fight in months.” I do a lunge on my left leg, they stiffen; making me chuckle.
“Torture it until we get Lawrence’s location and any intel,” Archan commands.
“Then?” Zac asks, studying me like a specimen under a microscope.
“Then we kill it. I don’t have any use for a creature wearing the face of an angel.”
I pout. “Oh, baby, you say the sweetest things whilst promising violence. It’s such a turn on.”
A heavy pressure pushes at my mind. The brutality of it makes me wince as I reinforce my mental shield with “Fallout” by UNSECRET and NEONI. I bat my eyelashes at Archan. “No foreplay, lover? I’m disappointed.”
Fact: Dying and being returned negates the need to be terrified of the unknown. I died a girl unsure of her powers and feelings, overwhelmed with the vastness of the knowledge I didn’t possess but was expected to use. Now I’m back as a woman with awareness of her place in the universe and clear about the male she will spend an eternity with. I know I can’t do this alone, so they will have to wake up, pull their heads out of their asses and recognize me for who I am. Archan steps through the wards. The rest of them follow. I fold one hand behind my back, stretch my arm out, and crook my finger at him. Morpheus, eat your heart out. Wait, this god might actually eat my heart.
Immortality has taken some things from me, but power and heightened senses aren’t amongst them. Archan pauses, his blank features betraying nothing as the air shifts behind me.
I crouch, spin, and scoop my foot out in a roundhouse kick, which throws Jed on his back. Then I teleport to the side of the dome, away from the angry gods.
Zac rushes forward, coming at me head on; predictable to the end. His fist snaps out; I dodge a blow hard enough to break my nose, grab his wrist and lever myself up his chest, performing a somersault, and clipping his chin on the way. He grunts, releases me, and falls on his ass.
Archan rushes me from the front, whilst Michael comes at me from behind. At the last second I teleport out of the way, the males smashing into each other with a groan. Wow, that looks like it hurts.
“Ouch, that’s embarrassing,” I mutter.
“I don’t understand how it’s teleporting,” Michael says, spreading back out to the edge of the dome.
“It’s an illusion. There’s no other way,” Archan grinds out.
“Consider me hurt. You believe I’m not even here,” I mumble as I scan the males now on their feet at opposite corners.
Nathan is sneaky, his causal posture not giving anything away. He looks me over with fear and uncertainty. Hmm, maybe someone is going to be sensible.
“Nathan,” I start, “remember when you healed me? Both times?” His foot pauses, the frown on his face deepening.
“Lies and deceit,” Archan grinds out.
The air shifts behind me. I teleport behind Nathan. Michael’s foot comes within an inch of Nathan’s chest.
“Aw, the almighty primordial can’t catch little old me,” I pout at Michael. A rumbling growl comes from his chest. “Now, now, boys, I am a one man woman. Not that you aren’t all pretty, but I’m taken.” I point to the bite mark on my shoulder.
Archan zeros in on it, Nathan disappears and in a blink, Archan is in front of me. His arm wraps around my waist, whilst his other hand grabs my wrists and he throws me to the floor. The air rushes out of my mouth with a whoosh. His heavy weight comes down between my legs as he stretches my arms to their limits and pins them to the floor above my head.
“This might be sexy without spectators,” I mumble.
“You can wear her face, bare her scars, and speak her memories. But you are a poor imitation. Drop the facade and let’s get down to business. I don’t take pleasure in torture, but you are driving my darkness to the surface, demon.”
He snaps his fingers. Zac hands him a sharp shiny knife; a blade embossed with ancient symbols. “You know what this is?” he asks, tilting the knife in front of my face.
“I might have been dead, but I’m pretty sure that’s still called a knife,” I deadpan.
His jaw ticks. Even now I can get under his skin. Good to know. He touches the blunt side of the knife to my cheek. The cool metal slides down and along my jaw before continuing the path down my throat. He flips the knife. I hiss as the sharp tip pierces my throat. Warmth dribbles down the side of my neck.
“This is a clever little tool used to force people to tell the truth. If you fight the spell, it will cause you incredible pain and suffering.”
I roll my eyes. “Excellent, asshole, get on with it then.”
