Courting War (Vicious Gods), page 28
Kellyn growled in pleasure.
“Good, I need you.” Theo sighed and seized his ass. “Now.”
Then he plunged inside of her, and nothing else existed but him. Now, they were forged together in destiny—in prophecy—linked forever, and their strings of life danced and mingled. Intertwining.
Kellyn kissed her temple as he surged deeper inside her, and she clenched around him, gasping. The pleasure was too intense—too right. “Kel,” she moaned, digging her heels into his back.
He was her ending and begging and everything that made life enjoyable. He was a piece of healing for her soul; no matter what happened in her lengthy, unending life, her echo was no longer hollow, and she would never forget this and cherish it. Forever.
Love it forever.
One long, thick, slow thrust and her hips rocked up to meet him, seating him to the hilt.
It was ecstasy, every nerve ending in her body lighting up with the indulgence of it all. “You’re perfect.” She groaned into him, raking her fingernails down his back.
They found a rhythm—a seductive dance, pounding into each other and playing at desire.
Playing at love.
Kellyn palmed her breast; his thrusts fast, wonderful, and aching. His mouth came down to circle her nipple as she cried out. “Yes. Oh gods, you’re so—” she gasped again at his truly gifted tongue.
They reveled in each other, in the closeness, the connection, the glorious hard, fast movements until they came utterly undone, falling over the edge together and shattering.
Ruined for anyone but each other.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
THEODRA
In Love Ex-God
(No, one cannot even think that!)
Moderately happy, definitely not in love Ex-God
LOVE CAVES, CITY OF THE GODS
Kellyn held her firmly in his arms, stroking languid fingers down her back, the glowing cave light dancing on his brow. His touch sent fireflies into her stomach, warming her chest, and filling her with an unfamiliar feeling.
Safety.
After coupling a few more times, Love’s magical chain broke off with a crack that sounded like a piece of a glacier fracturing. Of course, it was lovemaking that ended the bargain. Theo rolled her eyes.
Afterwards, they’d whispered secrets into the darkness until sleep claimed them.
But now they were awake again, and Kellyn’s mouth was on hers. They would never have enough of each other. “I see you enjoy courting danger,” she breathed into the kiss.
“No, I enjoy courting War.” He tangled his hands in her hair and pulled away to gaze into her eyes. “I love you, Theodra.”
“I know,” she breathed. I love you, too.
Theo flinched when she realized the depths of her thought. The danger in it.
Kellyn’s fingers stilled, and he tilted his chin down, his eyes filled with concern and affection etched into the amber irises. “Are you alright—”
“Oh, neither of you are, foolish boy.” A dark, hollow, disembodied laugh soaked the room.
“No.” Theo shuddered, her entire body shivering, spiders of anxiety crawling all over her skin. She sat up and grabbed her shift into her hands, covering her breasts and awaiting the impact of her mother’s magic and wrath. They were in terrible trouble.
The Immortal Law. A mortal couldn’t fall in love with a god—at least not true love. True love was forbidden between a god and a human. Gods were forbidden to procreate, and immortals were infertile unless they lay with their true—fated—mortal love. The punishment for breaking the Immortal Law was death for the human and a hundred years of torture for the god. A confession of true love triggered the Immortal Law.
Kellyn’s words doomed them because he meant them.
“He didn’t mean it.” Theo’s voice quaked. “Mother, he didn’t mean it. He doesn’t truly love me.”
“Put your clothes on, wretched daughter,” Nefeli said, materializing like a nightmare, towering above them. “I thought you would be different. I thought you would resist the sinful temptation of man.”
“I have. I just used him for his body.” Theo glanced at Kellyn, begging him to understand her lies. Her nostrils flared, and she cracked her neck like a snake preparing to consume its prey whole. To save Kellyn, she would break him. “I mean, can you blame me? Have you seen him? I was having fun playing with him.”
Theo’s throat ached. It felt like hydra acid devoured it and stole all her words, but she forced the worst of them out, anyway. She said the following words to him. “You don’t love me, and I don’t love you, and I never will. I’m not capable of loving a human. It’s not possible. You were all one big game.”
Theo swallowed, wanting to die. His eyes stormed with betrayal and pain. His deep olive skin paled and dripped with broken hopes and tarnished dreams. Seeing the hurt she caused destroyed her, and she hated herself.
War was a villain, and she would forever and always be. Her next sentence proved it. “Thanks for the fuck.”
The last words were unforgivably callous, but she needed him and Nefeli to believe them and convince herself of it, too.
“Stop this, Theodra, it is pathetic. Get dressed. The Pantheon has been assembled for your judgment. You’ve broken the Immortal Law.” Nefeli turned on Kellyn. “I would suggest you dress, too, unless you would like to die the way you came into the world.”
Theo pulled her shirt over her head and clumsily laced her corset before crawling over to her dress, which was in the pile of his clothing. To put it on, she had to nearly touch him. She took a moment to feel his closeness for maybe the last time, leaning into his protective embrace.
“Kel . . .” Her eyes bled, and her fingertips grazed his jaw. “I’m so sorry. I never meant—” she couldn’t say anymore. It would all be used in their trial.
He wrenched her in close, and his lips touched her ear as he whispered, “It will be okay, I promise.” It was an empty vow. He was a human and no match for the gods.
A jolt of confusion struck her stomach as they were pulled apart by magic and refracted to the Grand Ballroom in front of the gods and the audience of the Sacrifice. Theo fell hard to the floor, and in a heap, her hair dangled down her shoulders, love-tousled, and her clothing was in a similar state. It was more than clear what they had just been doing. She clutched her chest as if to protect herself.
They were utterly vulnerable and helpless, completely at the gods’ will.
Embarrassment mixed with fury coiled in her stomach, hardening into a dark resolve.
She placed a palm against the floor and sat up, raising her head high.
Trying not to make it obvious, Theo checked on Kellyn. She didn’t want to cause his death, and the only way he’d make it out of this alive was if he forsook her and declared that he never loved her.
His head was also held high, and he faced the gods with dignity and bravery.
Theo’s pinky twitched, slightly reaching out toward him. She wanted to comfort him, and she wanted comfort from him. But she couldn’t give it.
That way only held death.
Theo tipped her chin up and met the gods’ eyes with a glower. They towered above them on their thrones formed from magic, each throne flowing with its god’s tell-tale style. Andromache’s twisted from sun rays, Silas—Fire’s—was etched from flames, Havyn’s from darkness, Harvest’s from vines, and so on, and their expressions were as varied as their magic.
Havyn appeared bored; Trickery was jubilant, and Andromache somber. Her chest rose with tense breaths, her purple eyes a sea of devastation. She took a step toward her sister as if to comfort her but thought better of it a moment later.
Theo’s eyes flicked to the crowd, finding Cecile and Emmett standing amongst fellow champions. Laurel crowns blessed their heads, signifying that they had beat the Sacrifice successfully, and completed all five of their challenges. Theo’s chest warmed at this but was immediately replaced with fissures of fear.
The room smelled of rosemary, cozy winter fireplaces, and nutmeg, but the scent twisted and decayed in Theo’s nostrils, leaving only the smell of dead flesh. She didn’t know if it was real or simply the manifestation of her emotions.
“Welcome to your judgment.” Nefeli’s voice was quiet, but its menace carried throughout the whole room.
Magic circled Theo’s hands and dragged them back behind her, chains twisting around her wrists before flowing down and fixing themselves into the floor, binding her so she couldn’t move. The chains hummed with electricity, and Theo raised a brow. They were God Chains, designed to hold an immortal and tamper their magic.
It didn’t make sense. Theo was still human. She couldn’t magically break through her chains. Could she?
“Kellyn Ellis, Prince of Theoden, as of this moment, your Sacrifice Games are over. You will not get to finish your final challenge as you have broken the Immortal Law. You’re accused of falling in love with a god. You are accused of true love.” Nefeli rose slowly, tauntingly from her throne, her magic kissing her skin like glistening rain. “How do you plead?”
“Don’t answer that.” Theo’s eyes whirred to Kellyn, pulling at her chains with the movement.
“You won’t speak until we request it.” A gag crawled over Theo’s mouth. It felt like walking face-first into a spider web. Haunting and disgusting. Gooseflesh rolled over her arms, and she shuddered.
“So, prince, how do you plead?”
But before Kellyn could answer, Havyn drawled, “Can he have truly fallen in love with a god when Theo’s been mortal the whole time?” At her name, the audience took in a collective breath.
Wait. Was Havyn trying to help? If Kellyn was convicted, he would die, and wasn’t that what she wanted? Didn’t Havyn wish to fulfill their deal?
“Hmmm,” Nefeli made the sound like she was irritated with being corrected. “We shall correct that problem then.” Nefeli waved her hand, and a crash of sensation swallowed Theo whole.
It felt like a thousand humming fireflies were flying under her skin, filling the chambers of her heart and swimming through her veins. Every nerve ending in her body sang and electrified. Theo’s strings of life knitted together, strengthening, and hardening into immortality. Theo’s magic surged but was trapped like a dragonfly in a jar. Trapped by the chains.
The raven torc around her neck fractured in two, drifted to the ground and crumbled like ash. Obsidian feathers circled her neck, morphing and forming a collar. The feathers crawled down her body like warrior paint, creating a shield—an impenetrable barrier—forming a stunning yet terrifying dress. Then just as it returned, the chains around her wrists bound her power.
“Now, he has broken the Immortal Law.” Nefeli scowled at Havyn.
“I didn’t hear him say he loved her. The confession of true love and all that,” Havyn drawled, her eyebrows twitching.
Nefeli’s purple irises bore into Kellyn. “Boy, do you love her?”
“Don’t, Kel,” Theo begged. “Don’t.”
Kellyn sewed his lips together and rolled his shoulders back defiantly.
“Aww, perhaps you need some motivation.” Nefeli ran a finger across her blood-red lips. Nefeli snapped her fingers, and a jolt of pure agony slammed into Theo. She crumbled and pulled her knees into her stomach since she couldn’t use her arms. “Proclaim your true feelings for our little War, and I’ll make her pain stop,” Nefeli said. “But every minute you stay silent, her pain will intensify tenfold.”
“Don’t,” the word was a cry as Theo writhed in pain. “Please, don’t. I can take this.”
Behind her back, Theo tried to reach a hand out to Kellyn, her heart beat a bomb in her ears. He closed the distance and clutched her fragile fingers, his eyes sparking with fury and unshed tears. He hated this. Hating watching her and doing nothing.
And he would break before she did.
Nefeli sauntered across the room, her heels clicking against the marble floors. When she reached Theo, she jerked her up by her chin, breaking the hold with Kellyn. “You’ve refused to play the game of gods for so long that you’ve become so easy to trap,” she said, leaning down, her violet eyes swirling with fury.
Turning them to Kellyn, Nefeli’s smile turned feral. Holding the mortal’s gaze, she snapped her fingers, and the pain in Theo’s body deepened, becoming unbearable. A blood vessel cracked in her eye, and blood dripped down her face. Her eardrums exploded, crimson mingling with other liquids snaking from her ears, and she howled, whimpering like an abused puppy.
“Theo, I can’t.”
“Please, Kel, they’ll kill you.” Her words were a croak. “Please . . .”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
KELLYN
Champion of Theoden
VOLCANIC BALLROOM, CITY OF THE GODS
Kellyn couldn’t take it anymore. It was horrendous torture. He couldn’t let it continue.
It was gruesome.
It was cruel.
But her body sustained it because she was immortal. What would easily kill a human was light maiming for a god.
Kellyn didn’t know if Nefeli would kill her daughter, or if it were even possible to kill a god, but he didn’t want to find out. Foolishly, he hadn’t even known it was possible for a god to feel pain, but it was so clear now that it was. The thought felt silly, but so much about the gods was unknowable. Theo was in agony that his mortal brain could not fathom.
Kellyn knelt beside her and pulled her into his arms, comforting her and whispering settling words into her hair. The gods hadn’t chained him. He was a mortal, a tiny bug to be squashed, and no threat to them.
It would be insulting if Kellyn wasn’t so gravely concerned for his love.
“Theo, I—” he started. How did he tell her that he couldn’t take it anymore? She might have been able to withstand it, but he couldn’t.
“I deserve this,” she croaked, blood dripping from her lips.
Kellyn shook his head, his fingers grazing her chin. “No one deserves this.”
She cried tears of blood. “I can’t live in a world where you’re not alive.”
“Oh, how foolishly sweet,” Nefeli said, snapping her fingers again and further deepening the pain.
Theo’s eyes fastened on Kellyn. They were pools of obsidian with a dusting of panic. Tortured, she tried to speak, but the agony muffled her words.
“You have the power to relieve her torture,” Nefeli’s dragonfly crown fluttered and swarmed around her head. “Just say three simple words.”
Kellyn looked around for help because he would betray Theo no matter what he chose. Betray her wishes or betray her body.
The seven other pantheon gods stood like their statues, simply looking on and doing absolutely nothing. Andromache’s eyes blazed, and her fists were rolled into balls, her bearing and swirling magic pulsing with fury, yet she still did nothing. Havyn seemed resigned—bored even. She picked at her nails, barely paying attention. Trickery glittered and chewed on a green tea cookie as if it were popcorn and he was enjoying a show.
Kellyn rubbed his face in shame because there was only one choice. “I’m sorry, Theo,” he whispered, his vision tunneling in on her. He took in the beautiful shine of her ink-black hair, the purple tint of her brooding eyes, the softness of her curves, and the perfection of her soul—for one last time. He would only ever choose her. Never himself.
Any other option was an impossibility.
Kellyn started the Sacrifice thinking he’d signed his death warrant. It turned out, he had. It came true, just not as he imagined. Kellyn joined the games wanting to die honorably. It was his one goal, and now he would fulfill it. There was nothing more honorable than dying for the one he loved.
It wasn’t a choice. It was a game of vingt-et-un where there was no other alternative than to catch a twenty-two. There was no winning. Not even a remote possibility. There never had been because he wasn’t meant to escape the games alive. He was destined to fall in love with a god and die for it.
Theo had drowned to save him—now he knew why, and he could return the gesture and die for her because there was no other way to move forward. This was his final decision.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
Theo’s nostrils flared, and her eyes bled with misery. “No, please.”
His bones ached, and his heart beat to the rhythm of calamity. “I love you, Theo. I could no sooner deny that than rip out my soul.”
Theo whimpered, a sob escaping her lips. She ran her limp fingers across his cheek, accidentally tracing blood on his cheekbone like warrior paint.
“Wonderful,” Nefeli clapped, “we can continue. Kellyn Ellis, as stated from your lips, you are the true love of the Goddess of War—her soulmate—and therefore, you will forfeit your life after a period of torment that befits your crime.” Translation: torture. “We will convene tomorrow morning to begin your sentence.”
Nefeli stepped forward and turned to the crowd. “The Sacrifice has come to an end, and we will celebrate the victories of the six surviving champions with a grand ceremony at which our little prince will be the main entertainment.” A smile carved from cruelty rested on her face. “But for now, enjoy the merriment.”
Chapter Forty
THEODRA
Devastated Goddess of War
VOLCANIC BALLROOM, CITY OF THE GODS
“Wait,” Andromache stepped forward from her throne and ended Nefeli’s pronouncement for festivities. “I move to abolish the Immortal Law.”
A dirty silence exploded through the room, and Nefeli’s joyous countenance dimmed.
“As would I,” Havyn drawled, not even looking up from picking at her nails.
Butterflies took flight in Theo’s stomach, bursting from their cocoons. Her sisters were fighting for her—the way she should have fought for Andromache and Devereaux.
It was beautiful—and surprising.
Theo caught Andromache’s gaze, and the goddess nodded. It was a simple gesture, but it spoke volumes. It was true support. An acknowledgment that they would always be on each other’s side.
