Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 123065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“They have to worship you as well, and can we please stop discussing the sacrifice?” I grit my teeth in an attempt to stop saying more. The sacrifice is everything, it means everything, and no matter my own personal feelings if it doesn’t happen the exact way it’s supposed to…
We’re all screwed. I’m screwed.
My patience and self-control are wearing thin. Her lower lip starts to tremble. This is why I should have walked away and never looked back despite what my heart and body are telling me.
I sigh and sit down on the bed pulling her into my lap in the process. “I had Kratos freeze my heart.”
Her head jerks up. “Why would you do something so stupid?”
I smile down at her. “A lot of good it did me with Enki mixing drinks.”
Understanding dawns on her face. “Oh, I see, so, back on the island you were basically drugged. Okay, and now I’m extremely embarrassed. I think I’ll just go look into the water now and meet my fate—” She gets up.
I grab her by the wrist and tug her backward then lift her so she’s straddling me, her legs dangle on either side of my tunic, the small bell around her ankle gives a little jingle, reminding me and her yet again of what’s to come and who truly owns her.
“Go ahead then, if you want to stare into the water, stare into the one who heats it,” I whisper. “And I wasn’t drugged. Enki simply thawed what Kratos had done.”
“And did you do this for each sacrifice? To make it easier?”
“I’ve never had to in my entire existence,” I admit. “Until you.”
“I’m nothing special.”
“You’re right,” I agree.
Her eyes narrow. “I’m just another sacrifice.”
“Exactly.”
“Shouldn’t you at least try to lie to me and make me feel better?”
I love her strength. Any other human would be on the bed crying. Instead, she’s asking for compliments.
I crack a smile. “Do you want me to tell you that you’re interesting? Intelligent? Beautiful? Different? That in a cave full of thousands upon thousands of names, yours will always stand out to me?”
Tears well in her eyes. She sniffles and looks away. “It would be nice to hear all of those things, yes.”
“I would find you on the beach, your specific grain of sand would be full of all the colors of the universe. I would find you every time.” I press my forehead to hers. “Now swim.”
Cleo’s eyes meet mine, I smell the sea, I pull her down into the depths of that sea. My mouth fuses to hers, the bond becoming tighter the deeper we go in my mind’s eye.
I want to take her on one last journey, I want her to inhale the salty water and know that her sacrifice is worth it for all the souls still stuck in purgatory.
She’s not as afraid this time. I allow the souls to float by us. They can’t see us, but she can see them, all of them clambering to the surface, desperately trying to be free.
Does she see?
Does she know how difficult this trial has been for me?
Does she know how selfish I wish I could be when I taste her? When I’ve had her?
It doesn’t work this way; it never has. Her brother will live—she will descend, he will ascend, it’s how it’s always been because she’s the one that has the power of Chaos inside her. He does not.
They are twins; one has to go, one is the last, and it is her, she was the one chosen.
I pull her through the water until it’s nearly impossible to see anything. We can only feel each other’s mouths. I reach into the darkest corner of the sea and grab a small seashell, plucking it from the water.
Cleo pulls away from me briefly, I snap my fingers and we’re back in the cave, her chest is heaving, gorgeous blue skin shimmers from her dive into my sea.
I grab her hand and press the seashell into her palm. “A gift.”
“It’s blue.” She smiles down at the small insignificant shell. “I like it.”
“You’ll be reborn with it, think of it as a token that you’ll never be sacrificed again. It’s a shell of protection. No god can hurt you as long as you have it.” I lean down and press a kiss to each corner of her mouth, then gently grab her by the hips and set her on the bed. I give her my back and start to walk away.
It’s the end for us.
For me.
To take any more from her…
To feel her, would destroy both of us. I’ve often wondered why I took an oath of celibacy with the other creators, and now I know.
Sexual intimacy makes you falter. It makes you want what you should never be tempted with. It’s one thing to share a kiss, to seduce, to touch. It’s quite another…