by Katie May
“Someone replaced our memories with fake ones. That same person is trying to kill Emily now, probably because he or she knew that she’d get her memories returned with the blood moon. Case closed,” Tate announces dryly, and with great reluctance, I turn towards my grumpy lover.
I don’t think either of us can honestly say that our relationship is healthy. We hate each other just as much as we love each other. He’s a fucking asshole, but I wouldn’t love him as much as I do if it wasn’t for the hate.
And yes, I know that is all kinds of fucked up.
He’s slightly more muscular than Arsin and Avery, but less so than Helio. Light scruff accentuates his strong jawline and lush lips. Dark hair, longer on the top than the sides, frame a face seemingly hewn from ice.
Fuck him for being so handsome.
Literally, I want to fuck him.
And I kind of hate myself for it.
A strange combination of anger, pity, and satisfaction flows through me when I see the ugly bruises on his face.
“Okay, asswipe, do you have any ideas who this person could be?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow. His lips twitch as if he wants to take me over his knee for sassing him. I can never tell if he’s fighting off a smile or a scowl. Maybe a mixture of both?
“Athena, obviously.” He rolls his eyes as if I’m an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. “She’s always been jealous of you. And she’s in love with me.”
“Too obvious,” I retort, hands clenching into fists. “And don’t be so full of yourself. Not every person with a vagina is in love with you.”
“She’s right,” Sin points out. “Some of them have dicks.”
Tate’s smile broadens, eyes never leaving mine, and I swear I never wanted to punch someone as much as I do him.
“That doesn’t mean she’s in love with—”
Helio clears his throat uncomfortably. “She is.”
“Sorry, sweetheart.” Avery flashes me a sympathetic grin. “She wants Tate’s cock.”
I swear my eye fucking twitches, especially when Tate’s smile turns smug. The mere thought of Athena placing her slimy hands on my man has me wanting to destroy the world.
“We need to talk about what we remember before…all of this.” I extend my arms to emphasize what “all of this” means before dropping them to my lap. Pinching down on my wrist, reveling in the familiar burst of pain, I confess, “I don’t have any memories leading up to this moment.”
“Me neither,” Avery concedes. Helio grunts in agreement, and Sin begins to cackle malevolently.
Only Tate remains silent, face impassive.
“One second, we were in the Realm of the Gods, and the next, we were here,” I continue, biting down on my lower lip until blood drizzles down my chin. Sin, without preamble, arches his neck forward to lick it away. “It’s strange. I have such vivid memories of my childhood.”
Perfect, wonderful memories.
“Me too,” Avery agrees. “So it’s impossible to know how long we’ve actually been on Earth with those fake memories. It could’ve been only days, or it could’ve been years. Hell, even yesterday could’ve been nothing but a fake memory.”
“Fuck, this is making my head hurt.” Tate groans, lowering his face to his hands.
“What type of god or goddess could do something like that?” Sin muses, voice muffled from where his lips are still pressed against my skin. “Give us fake memories. Send us to Earth… Those are definitely not skills Athena possesses.”
For once, we’re all struck speechless by Sin’s words. He’s right. The type of power this takes is beyond my comprehension. Very few gods and goddesses have the skills to do this to us.
“The God of Deception would be able to,” Avery says quietly, his voice like the crack of a whip. It seems to have the same physical effect as one too. That one sentence flays open my skin. I’m bleeding again, and I don’t know how to stop the steady flow.
I expect Tate to be furious, to leap to his feet and confess his innocence. Instead, he merely leans further back in the armchair, hands clasped behind his head.
“You think I did it,” he says simply, face bereft of expression. He leans forward suddenly, one of his long fingers tapping the underside of his chin. “It would make sense, wouldn’t it? Athena has always been in love with me. Maybe I fell in love with her as well.” As he talks, he maintains eye contact with me, each word a metaphorical kick to the gut. I hold his stare defiantly, face apathetic, and a frown curls his lips at my reaction…or lack thereof.
“So we came up with a plan to eliminate the Goddess of Pain,” he continues. “Obviously, she’s too powerful to destroy in the Realm of the Gods, so we sent her here with fake memories. Over time, the human world will drain her and her men of their powers. With my powers of deception, I’m able to distort her memories, and I’m also able to change Athena’s appearance so no one would recognize her. While the rest of Emily’s men were running around like headless chickens, I was making sweet love to Athena, the Goddess of Virtue.” Throughout his entire speech, his inflection doesn’t change once. He could’ve been doing something as mundane as discussing the weather. “Is that what you believe?”
“You’re such a fucking prick, Tate,” I say, just barely holding the tears at bay.
His smile is slow and cruel. “I told you before that you shouldn’t love me, Emily. You’re just too stupid to listen.”
Helio is across the room before I can even take a breath. With one swing of his fist, he renders Tate unconscious.
“You know, I would’ve set him on fire if I knew we were going down the murder route,” Sin drawls lazily. He once more flops himself onto my lap, only this time, his face is in my pussy.
“No. Murder,” Helio growls out. He stares at Tate in disgust. “He’s a lot of fucking things, but he didn’t betray Emily.” He presses a fist to his chest, just over his heart where I know his power resides. “He loves her more than anything.” As if he can’t help himself, he kicks Tate’s unconscious form.
“I could’ve told you that.” Avery is the only one who seems relatively unperturbed. He’s currently setting the table for breakfast—though the French toast is no doubt cold by now. “He’s an asshole, but he’s not who we’re looking for. No, someone else did this. Maybe the God of Chaos?”
“God of Memories?” Helio pipes in.
“Goddess of Orgasms?” adds Sin before he begins to cackle at his own joke.
“So there’s a shit ton of gods and goddesses who could’ve done this to us,” I surmise, sighing heavily.
“I need you to think,” Helio grunts out. “Any noticeable enemies?”
“Besides Athena? None. At least, none that could do something like this.”
Fuck, I wish I could remember the days leading up to my memory loss. I just know the answers will be there, interwoven in an intricate web of lies and deceit.
“And the god or goddess who did this to us might have been hired by someone else,” Avery points out, using his spatula to emphasize his words. “You originally hired Helio as your executioner, remember? It’s not uncommon for rulers to outsource.”
“You’re right,” I agree, groaning. “I think the first thing we need to do is find the person who hired you to kill me. There’s no doubt in my mind that they’re related.”
“I might be able to help with that,” a familiar, cocky voice states from the doorframe. Avery immediately grabs the closet knife, holding it at the ready, but Helio doesn’t even budge from his spot against the far wall. Obviously, my gentle giant heard and saw the intruder before we did.
Desmond—the God of Combat and my final lover—takes a step forward. Hauled over his shoulder like some sort of demented backpack is a second man.
“Goddess, meet Burke. Burke, meet goddess and friends.” His lips curl into a smile that’s both mischievous and wicked, amused and evil. “Burke is the one who paid us to kill you.”
CHAPTER 14
Burke is an insignificant man i
n every way. You would never believe he hired four men to kill me.
His face is pudgy with an abnormally large nose and too thin lips. Wispy black hair, interwoven with gray streaks, flops in front of his closed eyes. Currently, he’s dressed in a pair of tan khaki pants and a blue striped shirt, almost as if Desmond abducted him straight from a business meeting.
But I can only give Burke a passing glance, my entire attention consumed by Desmond.
He looks exactly as I remember him, down to the laugh lines around his piercing brown eyes and the jovial grin on his face. His brown hair is long, nearly to his shoulders, and is extremely full and luscious. He has thick black brows and light facial hair that only emphasizes his sexy features.
“Des,” I whisper as he drops Burke’s body unceremoniously to the ground. I race forward, arms extended, and he returns my stare with wide-eyed wonderment. But the second we would’ve collided, he stealthily sidesteps me, face uncharacteristically taut.
“You…remember?” Avery asks uneasily, moving to stand behind me. He places his hands on my shoulders and gives them a reassuring squeeze. Normally, his touch is calming, but I can’t help but cringe away, focused intently on Desmond.
And his rejection.
It feels as if he shoved his hand through my skin and ribs and grabbed my beating heart. Slowly, he begins to crush it in an iron vise, restricting all blood flow.
Desmond’s signature sly grin returns, but it’s forced. He refuses to meet my probing eyes.
“My memories returned to me last night,” he admits, shrugging once. “After…” He clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably, favoring the leg I stepped on when the man attacked me.
It suddenly occurs to me that Desmond was the man outside of my work. It makes sense, considering he’s the God of Combat.
“Anyway…” Desmond scrubs his hand through his shaggy brown hair. “I went through my contacts and discovered Burke was the one who paid us to kill Emily.”
“Did he only hire us four?” Helio asks, muscles rippling as he flexes. He lifts his gaze to stare over Desmond’s shoulder at the still open apartment door. No doubt, he’s trying to figure out if there are any more threats he needs to eradicate. Any more people he needs to kill in order to enact vengeance.
“Isn’t that twisted fate?” Sin drawls lazily, moving to jump up on the kitchen counter. He has a cigarette dangling from his lips as he offers me a crooked smile. “The men who swore to love and protect you are the ones who tried to murder you.” Desmond winces at Sin’s words, Avery frowns, but Helio remains impassive.
“Sin…” I warn, but he ignores me, removing his cigarette and putting it out on his bare arm. Immediately, a hideous red welt appears on his tan skin. In the Realm of the Gods, that wound would’ve healed in seconds. And Tate’s face? Those bruises would’ve diminished in only an hour or two.
Tate’s right.
The human world is depleting us of our powers.
Will we continue to lose bits and pieces of ourselves until we’re nothing but mere mortals? Is that this person’s master plan?
Or is he or she attempting to kill me completely?
“I wonder which one of us got the closest to killing you,” Sin continues. “My guess is Tate.”
All three men hurl metaphorical daggers at my oblivious God of Flames.
“Who is this man?” I ask, redirecting the conversation to the topic at hand. Using the toe of his boot, Desmond turns Burke over until I’m able to see his face clearly.
“Don’t know.” He shrugs his broad shoulders, his black shirt pulled tight over his muscles. “Have you ever met him before?”
My brows furrow in consideration. “Not that I know of.”
“Could he have been a customer at Georgie’s?” Avery asks, and Sin releases a low, guttural growl.
“Georgie?” He jumps from the counter and stalks forward, every inch the dangerous, unhinged predator. “That better be a fucking girl.”
“Nah.” Avery flashes the other man a shit-eating smirk. “He’s a guy.”
With almost bruising intensity, Sin grabs my arm and drags me towards him. I stumble over my feet, catapulting forward until my hands are on his well-defined chest.
“Did you sleep with him?” he growls. Before I can answer, he continues, “Have you slept with any men since you’ve been here?”
The silence that follows is more pronounced than ever before, and I know that I have all of the men’s undivided attention. Even Tate, slowly waking up from his Helio-induced slumber, pauses at Sin’s question.
“Err…”
“I’ll kill them all,” Sin warns. And I don’t doubt him for a second. He’s fine with sharing me with the others, but that’s only because he knows and trusts them—in a way only a man like him can. But anyone else? He’ll light them on fire and watch them burn with a giddy smile.
I have no doubt that the others will help, even Helio, my more level-headed mate.
Tate pushes himself onto his elbows and scowls at me, but I ignore him.
“Okay, let’s clear the fucking air. Have any of you been with another woman when you had your memories wiped?” I ask, my nails digging into my palms. “I won’t be mad as long as you’re honest. You didn’t remember me.” I take a deep, calming breath. I’m afraid a part of myself will die with their response, but I work hard to keep my face blank.
The men exchange glances, but not one of them speaks.
“Be honest with me,” I warn. “Raise your hand if you’ve been with another woman.”
Squeezing my eyelids shut, I brace myself. Fuck, this is hard. So hard. I’m afraid I might physically die of jealousy.
When I reopen my eyes, not one of my men has their hand raised.
“Huh?” I ask, gaping.
Tate rolls his eyes, slowly ambling to his feet. “What? Is it really too hard to believe that we’d be celibate? Dammit, Em, you really have no faith in us.”
“You…haven’t…”
“Nah.” Sin shrugs his shoulders. “No girls interested me.”
Helio simply grunts and shakes his head.
“You know I only ever loved you,” Avery replies with a cheeky grin.
“I thought there was something fucking wrong with me,” Desmond admits, still avoiding eye contact. “I couldn’t even stand a woman’s casual touch.”
Tate just glares at me. “What about you, Emily Lopez? Has any man touched those silky thighs of yours? Kissed your neck or lips? Kneaded those perfect breasts?” He scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling. “Are you really that much of a hypocrite?”
“I didn’t fucking ask you not to have sex!” I hiss, wheeling on him. “I didn’t even know you!”
He drops his arms and balls his hands into fists. “No, but a part of you must’ve known when you asked us this question that none of us would even fucking look at another woman. But you probably didn’t have the same qualms, did you? How many men have you fucked? How many—” Before he can even finish his statement, I’m across the room and slapping him across the face. His head whips to the side, eyes darkening, but he doesn’t lift a hand to stop me.
“I’ve dated, yes,” I seethe, already knowing that Avery and Sin will track all of these guys down and make them pay. Fortunately, they have no way of knowing who they are, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try. “But I never touched another guy. Something always stopped me, and now, I know what it is. A part of me knew I had to be loyal to you fucking assholes.”
“Hey!” Desmond says lightly. “Don’t group me in with all the other assholes.”
“Do you want a gold star?” Tate asks dryly, giving me a slow, mocking clap. “A tiara? Would that make you feel better? Face it, Emily. We’ve always loved you more than you ever loved us.”
“Don’t make me slap you again,” I warn, pushing myself onto my tiptoes so I can stare into his eyes. “Where the hell is this coming from?”
Without responding, Tate turns on his heel and stalks
down the hall. I hear the familiar sound of a door slamming closed.
The bastard had locked himself in my bedroom!
“Insufferable, conceited, asshole prick,” I murmur, glaring in the direction he disappeared down.
“You can spank his ass later,” Desmond says, attempting a feeble smile. As soon as I meet his gaze, he diverts his eyes and focuses on Burke’s unconscious body.
What the hell is that about?
Desmond claims he has his memories back, so why is he acting like I don’t exist? That we haven’t been lovers for centuries?
Does he…not feel that way about me anymore? I know he claimed that he hasn’t been with another girl intimately, but what if he developed feelings for someone? The thought feels as if someone had poured gasoline inside of me and then lit a flame. All that’s left is charred, unrecognizable organs.
If Desmond decides he no longer wants to be with me, I’ll accept that. I love him enough to let him go if that’s what he desires.
But I’ll irrevocably lose a part of myself in the process.
Helio, with a grunt, leans down to pick up Burke. Without preamble, he dumps the sleazy businessman into one of the dining room chairs. Burke’s head lolls to the side, but he remains blissfully unaware.
For now.
With a cocksure grin, Sin saunters forward, his fingers already alight with blue flames. He presses them to Burke’s cheek, and the man jerks upright. Before he can scream, Desmond shoves a sock into his mouth.
Burke’s gray eyes flick towards me, as if because I’m a girl, I’ll be more inclined to help him.
Ha. I may be a pretty package, and I may go out of my way to help others, but I’m still wrapped in barbed wire. One touch from me, and you’ll bleed.
“My…friend, here,” I begin, pointing towards Desmond. He winces at the term, his normal smile faltering, but doesn’t contradict me. “He told me some things. Some very bad things.”
I lean forward until my face consumes Burke’s vision.
Can he see the darkness lingering just beneath the surface?