Page 50 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

He clicked his tongue. ‘You most certainly are not,’ he said. ‘I think you might prefer it to the other names I have for you.’

I rolled my eyes. I should have realised the insufferable creature was Vyrus long ago. My eyes bore into his broad back as branches snagged on his coat. It was no good. There were too many questions buzzing through my head to remain silent. Not when he could leave at any moment.

‘So,’ I said, catching a glimpse of his smile as he looked back. ‘If you don’t demand the souls of ten mortals every decade, why do the Brothers do it?’

The God said nothing for a few moments, and I wondered if he’d heard me, before he spoke. ‘Fear has the potential to be a sharper weapon than any sword.’

I couldn’t help nodding. We followed the Sisters and Brothers without questioning their words or intentions.

‘Is anything written in the Histories true, then? Is the sin-fuelled meteor true? Or did a snowball fight with Evella get out of hand?’

He stopped his horse, took a long sup before twisting in his saddle. A shiver tracked over my skin at the darkness in his eyes.

‘What would you do to win back your husband? Your king?’

The question caught me off guard; an ache slammed into my chest.

‘Anything,’ I breathed. ‘I’d do anything to win him back.’

Like turn the God of Vengeance into my ally just to hold him again.

‘Burn the world down? Tear it apart and hang the consequences simply so you could kiss his lips once more?’

I swallowed, tears pressing hot and harsh against my eyes, and nodded. Pab whined, bumped his nose against my calf.

‘That feeling in your chest? The one that crushes you, the one tearing you apart because you lost the only one you could ever truly love? Imagine that growing, swelling in your heart, year after year. Centuries. Millenia.’ He turned back, edging his horse on. ‘I was losing her and everything I did pushed her further away. I thought, if I could just hold her tighter, press her closer, she’d stay.

‘I created Evella. Believed I owned her. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I’d let her go. Would she miss me? Come back? Maybe she’d grow tired of you all and crush this stupid planet. But.’ He took a long, long draw from his bottle. ‘I’ll never know the answer to that. I created everything. Everything but a heart that could only be mine.’ He snorted. ‘Can’t even hold onto my own…’

Vyrus pulled his horse up, a shiver raced up my spine as he turned in his saddle, waiting for the moment I moved alongside him.

‘You’d do anything?’

Heat rose up my throat as his brown eyes narrowed. Rolling my shoulders, I sat straighter, nodding. The grin that spread across his face would have another turning tail and running, but I had to win this stupid God over.

His tanned fingers went to the buttons of his brown shirt, his gaze steadfastly on my own.

‘Not that,’ I cried, panic twisting my heart as he worked the first button loose. ‘Anything but… that.’

The God barked out a harsh laugh as another button opened. ‘Believe me, I’ve no intention of making a cuckold out of that idiot husband of yours.’

My fist clenched, ready to slam into his chin, divine being or not, when a third button opened and I blinked. My trembling fingers moved towards the God’s chest.

‘What do you know about a God’s heart? You Shuterans have altered those Chronicles so often even I don’t know what’s in them anymore.’

My pulse hammered as my fingers continued towards Vyrus’s chest, as though I no longer controlled their path.

‘That your hearts are more than just vessels for pumping your life’s blood.’ I pictured the gilded pages, the hand-painted illustrations from The Chronicles in Bronzehold’s chapel that had bewitched me as a child. ‘All of your might and power is contained within. That each God possesses a unique heart. Which in turn contains a unique gift – protection, peace, knowledge, even misfortune – which you can use to help any mortals you see fit.’

He nodded. His expression lost in the growing gloom. I took a breath, unsure how he’d accept my next recollection.

‘And you, Vyrus, God of Vengeance⁠—’

‘Creation.’

I took a deep breath. ‘—God of Creation, removed your heart. Without Evella’s love, it faded, a shadow of the glorious gem it had once been, but you still saw its beauty and tried one final time to win her back.’ I paused as Vyrus grunted. ‘But Evella had no need for it. She threw it to Eusis, where it shattered…’

I snapped my fingers back. That was where the story ended. The chronicles moved on to Evella and her tale. The chronicles of the past included the lost chapters of the forgotten Gods – the Gods still revered in the Southern lands. But what had become of Vyrus? A God without his power. I looked up. His gaze locked on mine as he nodded.