I lifted my hands. “This was you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’m not completely heartless. Even before I became the chiasma, the gods promised me relief. I saw an end in sight, and so the suffering was bearable. You, however… I’d turned a once-mortal girl into a vessel, required to shoulder the burden of the entire world. I see how that might be too much to take.”
I clutched the blanket and straightened myself.
“So,” Apollo continued, “I’ve devised a fair trade. We can take turns. I will take the place of the chiasma, a month each time, and you for two. I had to ready my magic for this procedure, and you needed time to stabilize as the chiasma. Sorry that you had to wait before you could return. I didn’t want to get your hopes up when I couldn’t be certain of my experiment.”
I stared at Apollo, letting his words sink in. “I don’t have to be the chiasma forever?”
Apollo frowned. “Did you not listen? You do.”
“But there’ll be breaks in between. It won’t be an eternity of being so… alone.” I clutched Liam’s hand. He returned my gesture, squeezing tightly.
I thought I saw a smile spread across Apollo’s face, but it flickered away as soon as it came. I missed the innocent part of him. I recalled when I first met him, he had no memory, and could live in a more carefree manner. Maybe I missed the innocent side of me, too. The things I’d seen as the chiasma made it impossible for me to return to being the old Cara.
“I need to take the place of the chiasma before Nyx decides she needs to disintegrate the world again. I’ll see you when it’s your turn.” Apollo turned toward the exit.
“Thank you,” I said, eyes tearing. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Apollo looked at me over his shoulder. “It wasn’t entirely altruistic. I might have gotten used to existing as the chiasma, too. There are many things you can do as the orb that you cannot in this human form. It could be my own form of balance.”
“Still, this means everything.”
“I know.” Apollo looked over my vassals. “Enjoy your time together. I will expect you to return to your duties in a month.”
“Thank you,” I said again. I wasn’t sure if I could say it enough. “But… what about my vassals? Will they have normal life spans?”
Apollo shook his head. “You are still their goddess, right? In fact, as the chiasma, your strength rivals that of Nyx’s. Their life spans will mimic yours.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. At least I knew that they wouldn’t have to leave me.
“Yes. I’m just so, so incredibly grateful.” I’d thanked him too many times. The gratitude swelled through me, and I wasn’t sure how else to properly convey it to Apollo.
“Just serve your duties well.” He pushed the door open and strode out into the night, leaving me alone with my vassals.
“You heard that?”
Together, they grinned. “Loud and clear,” Devon said.
“I’ll still have to go back for two months each time.”
Theo lifted my hand and kissed the back gently. “More time to grow fond of you, then. It is absence that drives longing in the heart.”
In his emerald eyes, I saw the same joy that I felt.
Epilogue
Liam
Three months later
The winter wind beat against Liam’s face. It was always cooler whenever Cara was the chiasma. Apollo loved the heat too much, and when he’d taken his place as the chiasma for that month, the temperature increased. The winters coincided with Cara’s time as the orb.
“How different do you think she’ll be this time?” Hansel asked as they trekked down the path to the chiasma. It’d been two months since they’d seen Cara. They’d have a month to spend together after that, and Liam was going to treasure every moment of it.
“She’s always different,” Devon said, straightening his shoulders. “That’s how you know that’s her.”
Theo snorted.
Liam tried to contain his excitement. Fenrir ambled next to him, the mythic wolf’s white fur grazing his legs. Fenrir had changed into his larger form. It was more convenient that way. Liam had strapped a rucksack around Fenrir and used the wolf to carry his items.
Liam had changed for the better over the last two months. He was feeling more like his old self. Broody, still, but less self-destructive.
“Are the rest of you not returning to the Sanctuary?” Liam asked everyone. He’d enrolled again slightly more than a month ago. His father was pleased about that. Liam was going to take his father’s place as head of the household right after he graduated. At least he wasn’t going to keep throwing up on carpets anymore, saving his servants lots of trouble.
Hansel rubbed his neck. “I’m taking new systems from Earth to implement in Haven to cope with the winters. They’re going to need me there.”
Liam sniffed. “You should talk to Cara about that. I think she’s getting too carried away with the cold.
“My little sister’s getting married,” Theo said. “I have to help plan her wedding. You know, be her good big brother and all that.”
“Besides,” Devon said, “we’re already Cara’s vassals. The personal guardians of the chiasma itself. I think the Sanctuary’s beneath us.”
“That’s not what the goddesses think,” Hansel said.
Devon rolled his eyes. “I don’t really care about their opinions. Not after what they did to Cara.”
Liam lifted a brow at Devon’s abrasive tone.
They stopped in front the chiasma. It was about time for Cara to return. The massive ball sparkled and pulsed, as if it were aware of the change coming.
Apollo had arrived before them. He was fully naked, his sculpted back exposed to Liam. He was accompanied by his two bears. Liam recalled Cara telling him that they were called Imber and Solas.
Apollo faced the chiasma. “I’m almost ready,” Apollo said. “Cara will be yours again soon.”
Apollo stepped forward and spread his hands out, as if calling to the chiasma. A bright light shot out from him. Liam shut his eyes. It was like the sun itself exploded in front of them. A swirling sound whooshed around the vassals as the wind picked up. Apollo transformed before them.
A flash.
The chiasma changed color. Purple to green. The temperature picked up suddenly. And when the flash disappeared, it wasn’t Apollo there, but Cara. She wasn’t wearing a thing, just like last time.
They’d come prepared. Liam opened the rucksack strapped around Fenrir and pulled out a blanket. The vassals had a set of clothes for her to put on later. He rushed forward and hugged Cara with the blanket. Cara felt small and comfortable and nice in his embrace.
His.
“Welcome back, goddess,” Liam said.
Cara smiled up at him and flicked her finger across his nose. “You’re better now.”
“You’re back with us.” Liam pulled a strand of hair away from her face. “It gave me a reason.”
“To?”
“To improve—”
“Not be a drunk,” Devon said.
Liam looked over his shoulder and scowled at his comrade.
“We only have a month with each other,” Hansel said.
“No,” Cara said, shaking her head. “Not just this one. There’ll be many others, thanks to Apollo.”
“More time for you to mess things up,” Devon said teasingly.
“Hundreds, thousands of years of mischief,” Cara added, smiling.
Theo chuckled. “Why is that the first thing you think of?”
“Because I’m me.”
“Never change,” Liam said. All he saw in Cara was perfection.
Cara got on tiptoes and drew Liam into a kiss.
And there would only ever be one of Cara in both worlds. She was one of a kind. Liam admired the beauty and fire in her. Those flames would never burn out, and Liam was thankful that he could feel her, hold her, and watch her grow.
�
��To an eternity of us,” Cara said, laughing giddily.
“Whatever you say, goddess,” Liam replied, unable to hold back his swelling happiness.
Wherever his goddess went, he would follow, and despite an immortal life, he would treasure every waking minute of the bliss he held in his arms.
Afterword
Thank you for reading!
Stay updated on my Facebook for news of upcoming releases.
There will be a new series tied to the Soul of a Dragon universe next year, and short stories related to it will be sent through my mailing list.
Sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/fde17fae416a/signupform
Also by Clara Hartley
Sera’s Curse
Bane of Dragons (Book 1)
Curse of Dragons (Book 2)
Salvation of Dragons (Book 3)
Fall of Dragons (Book 4)
Soul of a Dragon (Same universe as Sera’s Curse)
Obsidian Wings (Book 1)
Shadowed Lies (Book 2)
Fractured Souls (Book 3)
Golden Embrace (Companion novel)
Secrets of the Fallen
Demons and Sin (Book 1)
Depths of Hell (Book 2)
Ashes of Heaven (Book 3) (Coming Soon)
Reign of the Goddess Page 14