by D. G. Swank
The explosion shot debris into the cosmos, and me along with it, but the sun’s gravity pulled us to a screeching halt. The particles began to clump together to form a molten ball, which spun while orbiting the sun.
The birth of the Earth.
Debris from space began to plummet to the surface until a rock carrying a drop of water hit the lava, then another and another. A crust began to form, and then water. Power rose from the juncture of land and water, and a being was born.
Ahone.
I’d never seen him, but I knew it was him more surely than I knew my own name.
He created plants and animals and man, along with a host of other supernatural creatures to keep him company. Then the wind gods became jealous of his power and Ahone split himself in two, creating Okeus, his brother. His twin. Ahone kept the better parts of himself—compassion and love—and gave his brother only the insidious parts—greed and evil.
Okeus was jealous of his brother’s creation of humans and he strived to create his own, but managed only to form monster after monster until he found someone who could help him—a woman in a Croatan village who had been a witness to creation. Enthralled by Okeus’s tremendous power, the woman gave herself willingly to the god of war to give him a child worthy of inheriting his kingdom.
But then Manteo and Ananias Dare created the curse—at Ahone’s bidding—locking Okeus and all of his supernatural creatures deep in hell while Ahone alone remained free.
Until a baby was born eight months later.
Ahone watched from above as the woman gave birth, nearly dying from blood loss. He considered killing the baby—his brother’s perfect son—but quickly changed his mind.
He could use the boy for his own benefit. His brother would eventually break free, and how perfect would it be for Okeus’s long-desired son to reject him?
My consciousness hurtled forward in time, to my own creation. I must have had some control over the vision, thankfully, because I didn’t see my parents doing the deed. My view was from outside the window in their bedroom. But I sensed an unseen force present at my conception, injecting my soul, a witness to creation, into my physical being.
Abel and I had both been controlled from the very beginning. We were pawns on a celestial chessboard.
I was hurled forward in time to Okeus, who sat on a throne constructed of bones, surrounded by hundreds of souls—humans and monsters. Some, the chosen few, were naked and emaciated and bound to his throne with heavy chains. They wailed in agony, and Okeus soaked up their misery as if it were a drug.
A malevolent smile lit up the god’s face. “Let Ahone orchestrate his games. I shall plan my own. Abiel will be mine, and his succubus will bear many children while he is forced to torture her as punishment for defying me.” His eyes darkened and his voice filled with power. “Just as I will make the son of the land pay for his own betrayal. He will watch me kill the daughter of the sea after I endlessly torture her, and I will soak in every scream, every wave of pain. Then I will kill him too and chain their souls to my throne to torment them for the rest of eternity.” His eyes narrowed, and it felt like he could see me, like he was staring into my very soul. “I will find you, Kewasa.” He spat my name as though it left a bitter taste on his tongue. “I will send my army to find you and drag you to hell where I will make you into nothing.”
Just as quickly as I’d been sucked into the creation of the universe, I was back on Abel’s bed, in his arms, as he urgently called out my name.
I stared up into his eyes, and I knew what we had to do.
We had to kill Okeus.
Chapter Four
Piper
Abel searched my face with worry-filled eyes.
“How long was I out of it?” I asked in a low tone.
“Nearly a minute,” he said, his hands running up and down my arm. He was sitting up and he’d pulled me onto his lap, my side pressed to his chest and abdomen. “I worried I killed you.”
I released a shaky chuckle as I tried to pull away from him. “Someone’s full of himself.”
His arms tightened around me. “This isn’t a time for joking, Piper.”
My humor fell away. “No. You’re right. It’s a time for plotting.”
His head tilted as his eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“We have to kill Okeus.”
His body stiffened. “You passed out and woke up delusional.”
“I didn’t pass out, Abel. I saw it.” When I realized he didn’t know what I was talking about, I grabbed his hand. “Creation. I saw the creation of the universe. The birth of the gods.”
His jaw slackened and he hauled me closer. “Piper. You’ve received a tremendous gift.”
“You couldn’t sense it with the ring?”
“No.”
“Ahone played you, Abel,” I said softly. “He was there when you were born—I was there when you were born. Your mother nearly bled to death. Ahone was about to kill you, but he decided to turn you against your father instead.”
Abel didn’t react.
“You knew.”
His hand began to lightly stroke my arm. “I’ve suspected.”
“When he told you about me,” I said, “what was his purpose? Why would he want you to die?”
“To get even with my father?” he said in a monotone. “Obviously, he wanted to use me to hurt him. Maybe he hoped you’d have to kill me in front of my father. Give me to him, then take me away.”
“But Okeus rules hell,” I said. “He’d still have you.”
“He wants a son to rule the earth while he rules the underworld. Once I’m dead, I can’t come back. And then I become a threat to his throne.”
“He’s currently harboring a grudge the size of Mount Everest.”
“Of course he is.” Then he stiffened. “You saw something.” When I didn’t answer, he said, “You saw Okeus.”
“He sat on a throne made of bones, Abel. I heard him announce his plans for you and me and Ellie and Collin.” I paused as a shiver of fear trailed down my back. “He intends to torture us for all of eternity. He knew my soul was there. He told me that he was sending an army for me.”
Abel’s face paled.
“So we kill him instead,” I said in a flat voice.
He leaned back and stared down at me. “You say that like you’re suggesting we go to the store to buy a loaf of bread.” He shook his head. “You can’t just kill a god, Waboose. They are immortal. The best you can hope to do is bind their power. And even that is next to impossible. Neither one of us is even close to strong enough.”
“What about the curse keepers?” I asked. “I’m sure they want to kill Okeus too. Collin hates him.”
“You think the curse keeper would kill him for you?” he asked in a rough voice.
I turned and grinned up at him. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous.”
My grin spread. “The ring told me differently, Abel.”
His hold on me tightened as he lowered his mouth to mine, his lips and tongue possessing me.
I wrapped an arm around his neck, losing myself to passion.
He lifted his head with a frustrated look. “I’d hoped that I’d find you less distracting after we consummated our relationship, but I only want you more.”
He was right. I was overwhelmed to the point of distraction too, but we needed to get back to the subject at hand. “Your jealousy is wasted. Collin doesn’t want to kill Okeus for me, and you know it. He’d do it to save himself and Ellie, but mostly for Ellie.” I paused. “I suspect he’d move heaven and earth to save her.”
His eyes narrowed to pinpoints. “Are you insinuating I wouldn’t do the same for you?”
His question caught me off guard. “I don’t know…maybe. But Collin loves Ellie. They have a relationship, albeit a dysfunctional one. They’ve known each other for months. We’ve known each other for a couple of weeks, and you’ve purposely stayed away from me.”
He stared at me and I wished I had the ring to know what he was thinking right now.
“Abel, you disagree?”
“You’re correct,” he said, sounding stiff and formal. “We haven’t had the time they’ve had.”
He sounded hurt or insulted, or perhaps both, but for the life of me, I didn’t understand why. While our supernatural bond was indisputable, it was pointless to compare us to Collin and Ellie. Abel’s desire to leave the mortal plane was what had initially driven him to me, and although our connection had grown into something more, something much deeper, it wasn’t love.
A dark look crossed his face. “Perhaps you’re correct that our supernatural bond and my need for you to kill me motivated me in the beginning,” he said, “but do not for one moment dissect emotion out of this.”
His statement gave me pause. “I never said—or thought—that there wasn’t emotion involved. I know you care about me, Abel, and I care about you. But it’s not love.”
Not yet.
I knew that, given more time, I would love him.
Something flashed in his eyes, but he promptly changed the subject. “If my father is sending an army for you, then we have two choices—we either hide here or go back. I opt for staying here.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “You want me to hide? Are you kidding me?”
His jaw tightened. “Make no mistake, Piper, you and your safety are now my highest priority.”
“But if we stay here, we leave the curse keepers vulnerable. And what about Jack and Rhys? You want me to just leave them there?” And what about the perpetual five-year-old ghost boy hidden in my attic? I wouldn’t abandon Tommy. “No, Abel. We have to go back. We can’t run from our problems, and I don’t want to spend my life in what amounts to a pretty cage.”
“I have to protect you at all costs.”
“And I have to protect my friends and my cousin.”
His rigid back and tense body suggested he had no intention of budging. I needed to take a different approach.
“Abel,” I said softly, pressing a kiss to the base of his neck.
His body stiffened. “I know what you’re doing, Waboose. I’d know even if I weren’t wearing the ring.”
I didn’t let him deter me as I pressed another kiss on his chest.
Some of the tension left his body, replaced by an entirely different type of tension as I trailed kisses across his chest and down to his nipple.
“Why am I so drawn to you?” I asked in all seriousness, already wanting him as much as I had the first time…maybe more since I now knew how amazing it was with him.
His answer was to press his mouth to mine and roam my body with his hands, leaving me panting for more, the seductee now the seductor.
“We have to go back, Abel,” I said breathlessly. “We can’t stay here.”
He stilled, his face hovering over mine. “I know,” he whispered, “but let me have you one more time.”
I looked deep into his eyes filled with longing and possessiveness.
“You’re mine, Piper Lancaster.”
“And you’re mine,” I said, testing the words and feeling the weight of them on my soul.
He pressed me back on the bed and took me, hard and fast, and I clung to him, meeting him at every stroke. As we lay panting afterward, he hung his head close to mine and said, “At least you didn’t pass out on me this time.”
I grinned up at him. “You must be losing your touch.”
He smiled back and brushed some stray hairs from my cheek. “I want more time with you, Piper. Just you and me.”
My heart ached. I wanted that too, but we’d already spent too much time here. “We have to go back. The sooner the better.”
His smile fell and his gaze held mine. “I can’t stop thinking about what happened in the warehouse. You could have been killed.”
I gave him a wry look. “But I wasn’t. And it’s the only way back. We need to recruit the others before Okeus sends his army, and at the very least, Ellie and Collin deserve to know Okeus’s plans.” I nudged him to roll him to the side. “But first I need to get dressed. I’m presuming all the clothes you bought me are in the guest room.”
“It’s your world, Waboose. If you wish them to be there, they will be.”
I pushed him off me and slid out of bed. “If I put on clothes I created in a parallel world, will I still be wearing them when I go back to ours?”
He propped up on his forearm, his lusty gaze following my movement. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Rolling my eyes, I decided to wear my original undergarments—just to be safe.
“Good idea,” he murmured as he got out of bed too. “I don’t want anyone else seeing you. Especially the curse keeper.”
I liked this version of Abel, the one he became when we were alone together—warm, affectionate…lust-filled.
A fire lit in his eyes and he glanced down at me as a small grin played at the corners of his mouth. The mouth I very much wanted to kiss again. Would I ever get my fill of him?
“I am always full of lust for you, Waboose, whether you have me to yourself or if we’re in a room full of people. I plan to spend the next century proving it to you.”
His declaration stole my breath, but also reminded me that he could read every thought that passed through my head. I reached for his hand. “No more wearing the ring unless we both agree.”
“I don’t approve of that plan,” he said in a sullen tone. “I need to know where you are and what you’re thinking.”
“Our connection tells you where I am,” I countered. “And if you want to know what I’m thinking, just ask.”
He considered it for a moment, then said, “Let me keep it on when we go back to the warehouse. We may need the connection if we encounter demons.”
I frowned up at him. “Fine, but there’s no reason for you to have it on now.”
I slipped the ring off his finger, then stretched up and placed a quick kiss on his mouth before I walked out.
I headed to the guest room, refocusing my thoughts. I wondered how big this world actually was. The world I’d created for Tommy had pretty severe limits, but this world seemed to encompass Abel’s entire house. And the surrounding mountainside.
The guest room closet was still full of clothes, and it struck me as odd that I’d recreated a closet full of items I’d barely paid attention to before.
I put on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, plus a pair of shoes from the back of the closet, and headed back out to the living room, surprised Abel hadn’t followed me to the guest room.
I found him on the balcony, wearing a charcoal colored T-shirt that clung to his chest and arms, and fresh jeans that weren’t stained with blood.
Kieran Abel liked to pretend he was a soulless monster, but I knew better. I’d seen the frayed edges. I’d experienced his concern for my emotional well-being. Maybe his soul had gotten dusty after centuries of not caring about anyone other than himself, but he was capable of caring about people. He obviously cared about me.
What had I cost him by forcing his hand to save me at the warehouse? Okeus now knew he had a son and, worse, a son who defied him. Whatever the price, I refused to be sorry for going to save my friends. It may have been a trap, but if we hadn’t sprung it, Rhys and Jack would likely be dead. Just like my best friend Hudson.
The thought of Hudson sent a wave of grief through me. I’d failed him. How had the Great One killed him? Had he been tortured? I’d been in too much shock to pay close attention to the state of his body.
His body, bloodied and beaten, likely still lying on the warehouse floor.
Abel turned to face me, his eyes burning with a different emotion this time. Compassion. While I’d suspected Abel had the capacity for it, I had seen little evidence of it before. No, that wasn’t true. He’d shown me compassion before, but never to this degree.
I continued toward him and he held out his arms, enveloping me in his embrace when I wa
s within reach.
This embrace was as different from what we’d just finished as night and day. He was giving himself to me now without wanting anything in return.
It only made me more certain that I was right about him.
“It’s only natural that this would be overwhelming,” he said. “Do you have regrets?”
“No,” I said. “That’s not it. Hudson’s body is still lying on that warehouse floor. Like his death meant nothing. Like no one cares.”
He kissed the top of my head and I broke down into tears that quickly turned to sobs.
“I killed him, Abel. I killed Hudson.”
“You didn’t kill him, Waboose. The demon killed him.”
“It killed him to hurt me.”
He was silent for a moment. “The demons and gods will use everyone you love and care about to hurt you and break you. It is the destiny that comes with your ability,” he murmured softly in my ear. “It’s not fair, yet there it is.”
I wanted to argue with him, but I knew he spoke the truth. I looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. “I need you to keep doing that.”
Confusion filled his eyes. “Doing what?”
“Telling me the truth.”
“I will, Waboose. Even when it hurts.” He frowned, then turned to look down at the dark valley below his house. From the balcony of his real house, I’d seen the lights of Asheville in the distance. Now I saw only a black haze. The air was unnaturally still. This place wasn’t real, even if it felt like it.
“We need to be prepared to fight the moment we step into that warehouse,” he said.
I swallowed, glancing at my belt laid out atop the small balcony table. Abel must have set it there after I headed to my room to change. “I’ve only had a couple hours of training with this sword. I saw those demon lions. I don’t know that I can fight them.”
His eyes darkened. “You can, and you will.”
My eyes shot to the sheath hanging from his belt. “You only have one sword.”