“You better hope nothing happens to them,” Zahara warned from behind us. “Power like yours always assumes it’s eternal. It’s not. I’ll make sure of it.”
The god turned to meet her glaring stare, only offering a sure nod of promise. I held my gaze at the dreary tree line, an overgrown path cutting the middle of the dense forest, paved by the magic itself for followers to walk——a silent and deadly invitation to enter. I’d interrogated Calvin earlier, fearing my unpreparedness would bring us all to our knees; however, even knowing what little he was able to explain scared me even more.
My nerves sprouted roots and spread like a poison seeping into my veins. An invisible embrace wrapped around me, radiating warmth hugging my torso, stretching to my feet. Itrubbed against me, calloused and rough, as if the touch hardened by years.
Each of my feet staggered, my head whirling to find what held onto me.
“I’ll take you to land if the water isn’t something you’re ready to brave yet,” the god’s voice hummed low in my ear. The realization struck me: his magic. It enveloped me tighter—not restricting, but comforting. For a second, I allowed it, permitting him to cradle me like a part of my past needed the contact.
To hell he would.
The dagger at my thigh flipped in my fingers, landing between the tips of my grip. He reeled back, shocked at the threat, and the power fell like a dropped enemy soldier.
“Why would you care?”
He stared at me, his eyes trailing slowly between each of my own, then held at the furrows digging between my eyebrows. The sly smile he flashed hid something greater than he would put to words. I was sure of it.
“There’s no reason for us to be enemies,” he drawled smoothly.
“Tell me why you want the titan, and then I will consider believing anything you say.”
He froze, stuck in his mind. His eyes shuffled, even as they remained glued to me.
“Why don’t we start smaller, like maybe my favorite color? My worst fear?” The pulsing, cracked scar down his face glowed against the moon’s growing light.
“No,” I interrupted. “Tell me why you want the titan. What could a god possibly need with a titan?”
He swallowed, a slow droop of his eyelids marking his contemplation.
“I am cursed… and dying. Only a divine being of greater or equal power can counter it.”
Barely mustering the huff that rose against my chest, the extended dagger slid back into its sheath.
“And that would be a bad thing? A rogue, cursed god dying? That sounds like it’s doing a service to the realms.”
Noctis’s eyebrows and lips worked in tandem, curving down slightly, almost imperceptibly.
Good.
“There’s no other god or goddess who will help you? Have you truly burned all those bridges?” I asked, desperate to understand his intentions. If only he allowed me into his mind—his motives—I might be able to trust him. However, my body constricted in his presence. My skin peppered at his gaze. My head burned with intensity that screamed to build a brick wall of skepticism.
“I carry the weight of choices others would never understand, and I would carry it twice.”
Cryptic. And not at all an answer.
“Must be nice doing whatever you want and calling it necessary.”
“I’ve told you why. You’re supposed to be nice to me now,” Noctis replied with a forced tilt of his lips on one side.
“I told you I’dconsiderbelieving what you say.”
“Fair enough,” the god muttered under his breath.
Calvin slapped a hand on my shoulder, interrupting the conversation. Probably on purpose.
“Will your fins appear if you touch the water?” He gestured toward the shallow ocean separating us. We’d have to wade through it to reach the forest.
“I’m not sure.” I shifted on my feet. Memories of the advancing Tide Reapers reminded me of what hunted in the depths.
