“Coffee,” he told the waitress. Her nametag read NANCY.
“I’ll take a shot of the whiskey Big Jim has behind the counter,” Kira added with a wink. “The one he keeps for special customers.”
Nancy frowned. “Do you have ID?”
“I don’t need ID.”
Nancy blinked, her eyes glazing over for a moment before she nodded and headed back to the counter. “That’s neat,” Kyle commented. “Using goddess compulsion on poor mortals. Isn’t that frowned upon in Illysia?”
Kira grinned smugly. “I want what I want. And to tell the truth, the whiskey makes it easier to bear being stuck in this human form.”
“You mean keeping Kali under wraps.”
Her eyes flashed, as did her smile, but she didn’t respond. Nancy delivered his coffee along with a shot glass of whiskey. Kyle watched as Kira tossed back the drink, licking her lips, then returned his gaze to his coffee. The blood in his veins thrummed with electricity. He was a good guy at heart—but God, she made him want to do bad things.
Kyle flushed. Being in love with Sera had never made him feel this unhinged. This combustible. And Kyle knew just how dangerous this kind of attraction could be. These kinds of romances never turned out well—there was always a casualty, and he’d bet his left arm that it would be him.
He cleared his throat. “So, about your sister. She said her name was Darika.”
“Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?” he asked.
“That she’d be here.” She shrugged at his quizzical look. “My sister is . . . eccentric.”
“One could say the same thing about you.” His laugh was hollow. “You don’t get along?”
“No, it’s not like that. We just have”—she paused, as if searching for the right words—“different interests. It’s strange that she would come to a place like this.”
“And you would?”
“Looks like it.” An impish smile curved her lips. “Plus, I followed you.”
“Not that I don’t like being stalked by a cute girl, but you know that’s—how did you put it again?—borderline creepy, right,” he said, tossing her own words back at her.
“I told you, I want what I want,” she replied with a shake of her head. “And I like you. You intrigue me.”
“You don’t know me.”
She smiled again. “Oh, they talk about you plenty in Illysia. How you risked your life to save the Mortal Realm from the designs of your father. How you’re gifted with the rare ability to see people for what they truly are.” She leaned back, spreading her arms on the back of the booth. “Tell me, Kyle, what do you see when you look at me in my true form?”
“Why?”
“Humor me.”
Despite the warning bells pealing in his brain, Kyle let his energy surge forward to meet Kira’s. He’d expected to feel something once his aura connected with hers, but the strength of the jolt took him by surprise. Her energy was savage, a powerful void sucking at him, drawing him in.
The waves of her goddess aura, undulating in smoky bands of gray and red, surrounded him. Kyle drew a sharp breath. He could never withstand her strength, he knew, if she chose to overcome him. He took a different approach. Instead of struggling against the push and pull of her turbulent energy, he held himself still, letting its waves break over and around him as if he were a rock.
“You’re stronger than I expected,” she murmured.
He grunted. “And you’re more terrible than I thought.”
Kira’s burst of laughter drew the attention of most of the diner’s patrons. Kyle could feel their energies brighten in response. Even Big Jim, whose sour expression had become a permanent fixture, wore a blissful expression that looked totally nauseating on his face. Kyle shook his head.
“So?” Kira coaxed. “Tell me what you see.”
Nodding, he let the murky haze of her aura settle and beheld the goddess Kali in all her terrifying glory. His breath hitched, his heart battering his ribcage—not with fear, though he was more than a little afraid, but with awe. Unlike Sera in her true goddess form—beautiful and timeless, her flickering aura taking the shape of a lotus flower—Kira was fierce. Fearsome.
Her midnight-blue skin gleamed. He knew from his studies that the darkness of it represented the transcendence of all colors because she was the end and the beginning of all things. Her dark hair hung loose and wild, and her eyes blazed with cosmic energy. A long red tongue protruded from her lips. She was nude, but that was not surprising—she was not a goddess who gave in to illusion, including clothing. It was hard to look away from her.
Kyle sucked in a sharp breath at the perfection of her body, unmarred by the garland of skulls hanging from her neck and demon head earrings that swung from her ears. They were both symbolic, but that made them no less gruesome. Two of her four arms were occupied: one with a bloody sword and the other with a freshly severed head. The other two beckoned, offering promises of the comfort of her embrace.
Kyle expelled a shuddering breath and released the connection. His heart was racing. He felt alive, his blood pounding hot and furious in his veins. Kira was pure female energy—shakti. And it was more than intoxicating.
It was deadly.
“I am not as bad as all the stories make me out to be,” she said, watching him. “I don’t take life without cause. People only fear me because they aren’t ready to be liberated.”
“Liberated from what?”
“Material attachment. Self-admiration.”
Kyle stared at her. “Is that what you intend to do—liberate them?”
One elegant shoulder lifted in a shrug as a smile curled the corner of her lips. “Human beings are bound to their egos, and that is the path to Xibalba. I only offer release and unification with the one Supreme Being. Moksha.”
“Moksha?”
“Eternal freedom from samsara, the karmic cycle of death and rebirth. I offer hope for those who are ready to leave the suffering of this world behind.”
Playing it cool, Kyle leaned back and rested both arms over the back of the seat. “Sounds complicated.”
“Think of moksha like attaining nirvana,” Kira said. “It’s all about karma. If you do good things, you move forward in your next life. If you do bad things, you go backward. It’s pretty straightforward.”
“I know what moksha is, Kira. I’m the guy who sends souls on their way. But I like to think of it like a moral bank.” He shrugged. “Kind of like those house point hourglasses in Harry Potter? You know, where you fill them up with good deeds, not bad ones?”
“Harry Potter?”
Kyle grinned at her scathing expression. “Cool stories about a boy wizard. You’d like them.”
“Don’t be absurd.” She paused, her eyes meeting and holding his. Clearly, she wasn’t entertained. “My truest followers see me as a benevolent goddess—one who can cleanse away their fears, who can take away sin, decay, and ignorance.”
He swallowed, his amusement fading as he tore his gaze away. “I am sure you can be. But you don’t want to liberate a few souls. You want to destroy the entire Mortal Realm.”
“Bodies are temporary,” she said, the intense expression on her face belying her casual shrug. “Creation is born from destruction.”
Kyle shivered at her words. Though he and Sera’s parents had discussed as much in their kitchen, hearing Kira admit it made his entire body go cold. One thing was clear: if she took it upon herself to demolish the Mortal Realm, there would be little they could do to stop her.
And yet . . . beyond the bands of her aura, Kyle had sensed something deeply protective. People feared Kali because of her destructive, furious rages, but in truth, she was a fierce guardian. Once provoked, she would stop at nothing to defend the helpless.
But Kira didn’t look like an enraged defender now. She looked calm. Purposeful. As if his fate—and everyone else’s—had already been decided. A chill sliced through him. “Are you going to do it?” he asked.
“Destroy the Mortal Realm?”
“Only if you fail.” Kira stood. “And you will, Kalias.”
He flinched at the sound of his birth name. “My name is Kyle.”
“Your faith in the mortals is misplaced,” she said. “They have always welcomed demons with open arms. The path to Xibalba is paved in gold and untold riches, while the path to Illysia is bound in thorns and trials. Human beings will always be seduced by the easier path.” Kira tossed a twenty-dollar bill onto the table with a graceful arc of her hand. “And I like the name Kalias. It reminds me of one of my names. I’ll see you in school.”
“School?” he repeated as she sauntered away.
“I think I’ll stay awhile,” she said over her shoulder. “Keep an eye on things. See what happens.”
“Why?”
“Maybe to prove that I’m not as bad as the stories make me out to be.”
LOVE IS A SLIPPERY SLOPE
The sun was just setting, its last rays scattering across the gilded sand, splashing the landscape in warm, vibrant hues of burnt orange and dusted crimson. In her world between worlds, Sera extended an arm, watching the gold and scarlet flames descend like a waterfall beneath it. Her wings. If Xibalba hadn’t tainted her, her deifyre would be silvery gold like her mother’s. Sera pushed upward, feeling the sunset aura lifting her so that she remained suspended in midair, her body turning in a slow circle. Balmy breezes touched her cheeks and she closed her eyes, letting the wind take her where it wanted.
She hadn’t intended to come here, but now that she had, it felt right. It felt like home. And she needed to see Dev. Even though she was angry with him for keeping things from her, she needed answers, and he was the only one who would give them to her.
Eventually, her feet came to rest at the edge of a rocky, desolate canyon. Sera inhaled sharply. This was new. A green river undulated like a serpent in the gorge below. She wondered if the canyon’s sudden appearance had anything to do with her agitated state of mind. It was possible. The topology of the realm tended to shift with her moods, and her current state of mind was capricious.
Sera lifted a palm and watched the brilliant light from the setting sun drench it in gold. Her deifyre flared in response, the shimmering hues surrounding her like a star gone supernova. She stared at her glowing palms, her eyes tracing the two sigils on the raised part of each heel. Her two halves. Exhaling softly, she felt the push of her immortal weapons as her two burning swords appeared, one scarlet and the other silver. Both deadly, they stood for different things. But both were intrinsically part of her.
Which was why she was such an anomaly.
A freak.
She smiled at the word. She’d been called a freak her entire life, and while it had been tough to understand why her own mother had shaded her to keep her identity hidden, Sera was now glad she’d grown up odd. Being different had forced her to build a strength she wouldn’t have come by otherwise. It’d made her tougher. Harder. And she needed that resilience now more than ever. Being on the outs with a group of teenagers was a cakewalk compared to being a pariah among a group of gods and goddesses.
The gods feared her.
“I know you can hear me, Dev,” she called out. “And you can’t avoid me forever.”
“I’m not avoiding you.”
The honeyed voice came from behind her, and Sera turned, her heart thirsty for the first glimpse of him. He was dressed in a yellow shirt with brown pants rolled at the cuffs, and he looked too beautiful for words. His dark hair tumbled in long waves to his shoulders, his brown eyes burning with an inner light. A single gold ring hung at the top of his ear.
Though the last time she’d seen him his skin had been blue—its natural color in his godly form—now he’d reverted to the bronzed, tattooed skin he’d had when they’d first met. Those intricate tattoos in every shade of blue had been one of the first things that intrigued her about him. Even now, their artistry made her breath catch.
Dev looked around as if he, too, had never seen this particular part of her world. “This is different. Stunning, though.” He glanced at her. “But then, nothing you create ever fails to astound me.”
“I like the complexity of it,” Sera said nonchalantly, though she flushed at his praise. “The breadth and depth. We can’t always see what’s on the surface, can we?”
His fathomless eyes met hers. “No, we cannot.”
Suddenly, she remembered what she’d come there for. Sera narrowed her eyes and placed her palms on her hips. But her words left her as he took a few steps toward her closing the distance between them. Her skin prickled, her pulse hiking several notches. It was ridiculous, the effect he had on her.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
“Stay away,” she warned. “I’m pretty mad at you.”
The corner of his mouth curled into a half smile that made her heart trip over itself. He ignored her, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips. His hands rose to cradle her face as his lips burned an imprint on hers. The scent of marigolds and cloves filled her nostrils. It took every ounce of her willpower not to grab his shoulders and deepen the kiss. Instead, she pulled away.
You’re supposed to be angry, she reminded herself.
“Did you miss me?” he asked, his breath fanning against her cheek as he rested his forehead against hers.
“Hardly.”
“Your eyes betray you,” he said, his gaze falling to her lips. Dev’s thumb grazed her chin and warmth spread through her like wildfire.
With a sharp inhale, she took a step back and cursed her traitorous eyes. “Don’t be fooled. They’re as pissed off as the rest of me.”
“And why are you upset, my love?”
“Why did you tell the Yoddha not to tell me what’s going on? I’m not a child, Dev.”
“Because I wanted to tell you.”
“Why?”
He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Because of Kali and Durga?” Sera asked, frowning. “Why have they come, Dev?”
Dev paused, as if trying to find the right words. He moved to sit on the edge of the cliff, letting his legs dangle over the side and patting the space beside him. She sat. “There are more demons than ever in the Mortal Realm,” he began.
“That seems to be the general consensus.” She couldn’t quite curb her sarcasm. “Are you going to finally tell me why that is?”
He smiled at her petulant tone, and she scowled in return. “At first we thought they were just trying to escape Xibalba, to feast on human energy. But it’s getting harder and harder to find them. They’re lying in wait.”
“In wait for what?”
Dev exhaled grimly, his fingers reaching out to grasp hers. “Perhaps for someone to help them.”
“Like Azrath? But he’s dead,” Sera said. “We killed him. There’s no way the Demon Lords can breach the wards between Xibalba and the Mortal Realm without him.” She paused. “And they would need Kyle’s blood to even summon an apocalypse demon, which they’ll never get. He’s on our side.”
“Is he?” The words were soft. Silky.
Sera spun to face him, stunned by the tone of accusation. “What do you mean? Of course he’s on our side. He’s the one who’s been banishing demons back to the Dark Realms while the Trimurtas sit in Illysia, resting on their golden laurels.”
She snatched her palm out of Dev’s. Kyle had done nothing but try to make up for what his father, Ra’al, had tried to do. And now, he was bound by blood oath to protect the human world. He would never betray them.
He would never betray her.
“It’s a possibility we have to consider,” Dev said evenly.
She narrowed her eyes, fuming. “And what possibility is that, exactly?”
“That Kyle is the one letting the demons through.”
“You’re wrong,” she said, her voice rising. “He would never do that.”
“You see,” he said gently. “This is why I needed to be th
e one to tell you.”
“You’ve always wanted to believe the worst about him,” she said. How could Dev, of all people, suggest such a thing? “Even when he was the one to save you from Xibalba. You know that without him everything would have been lost.”
“Yes, and we are forever in Kyle’s debt for that.” Dev hesitated, twisting his body to face her. “I am in his debt, more so than anyone. And I do trust him. I trust him with my life, and with you. I was the one who suggested that he take Azrath’s place.”
Sera moved to the ledge of the overhang, watching the serpentine curve of the river hundreds of feet below. She could still feel Dev’s consciousness, like a tether connecting her to him. “If that’s true, then why are you saying these things now?”
“I was outvoted.”
“Outvoted?”
“There are three of us in the Trimurtas,” he explained. “The others did not agree with me that Kyle is not a threat. That’s why Shiva wanted to send his consort.”
Sera froze mid-step. “Durga I might be able to understand. But Kali? She acts first and thinks later. She’s too consumed by blood lust.” She drew a worried breath. “And you still haven’t explained why they think that Kyle is a threat at all. There wouldn’t even be a Trimurtas if it weren’t for him, and you know it. You’d still be stuck in Xibalba, and demons would be festering in all the realms.”
“I know, but you need to hear me out, Sera. You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment.”
She bristled with indignation. “Of course I am. He’s my best friend, and I care about him.”
“Sometimes those we trust the most are the ones we should fear.”
“You think I should fear Kyle?” she asked softly, watching the landscape shift with her mood. Dark gray storm clouds obscured the perfect blue of the sky, and the shimmering green river below transformed into a murky brown. Lightning streaked, brightening the jagged precipice at Sera’s toes. She wasn’t afraid, but the violent shift in her surroundings startled her.
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