The Game of Gods Box Set

by Lana Pecherczyk

  “A librarian can’t help me. I remember well enough until the moment I died. I want information for immediately after that.”

  “When you died?” Lena looked thoughtful, as though she were piecing together a puzzle. “So, you’re saying I saw your death?”

  “Who are you?” Jesop demanded, discarding the empty bag into a waste bin. “What do you want?”

  “Jesop, it’s not for us to—”

  “Judge, yes I know. But he’s lying to us, putting our house in danger.”

  “I’m the queen’s enforcer.” Cash came to stand next to me and took hold of my hand again.

  “Impossible,” Lena said. “I saw him die.”

  “Well, I’m here. In soul, not in body.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m one hundred percent certain.”

  “I’m sorry if this is disrespectful, but how can you be so sure if you were blind?” I asked.

  Lena whipped around to face me. “Because watching the enforcer face off with the prince was the last thing I saw before the creature clawed my eyes out.”

  “But did you see him actually die?” I asked, pressing on.

  “Yes. He was there fighting the prince one minute. The next he was gone. Vaporized in the blue fire. It spread from the enforcer and blanketed the area for miles. It shot out of him, and every rabid creature dropped dead, including the creature attacking me. He saved us all.”

  “Sounds like something you’d do, Cash,” I mumbled. “Saving the world at your own expense.”

  “So you see, hunter, it couldn’t have been you. That Seraphim died.”

  “No. I remember you, Lena. You were young, feisty, and you worked in the medical center the queen set up for the human village. You were a good person, volunteering your time. Except, your hair was a lot shorter, shaved on one side—an odd fashion, if I recall correctly.”

  Silence deafened the room.

  She turned on Cash. “Are you telling me that the force I saw spreading was your very own soul?”

  Cash lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “It appears so.”

  “Then… your soul wasn’t the only one that dispersed. The prince’s did too. I remember sensing many emotions in that explosion of life-force, not all of them yours. When nothing surfaced, we assumed both of you had died. I owe you my life,” said Lena.

  Jesop made a derisive sound. “The enforcer died. He could’ve found that information about your appearance from the histories.”

  “I never recorded my hairstyle. And after that day, I grew it out. The only way he’d know is if he’d seen me.”

  “Or someone told him,” Jesop insisted.

  Lena shook her head. “I’m an Empath. I read emotions and sense where chi is focused. And the hunter is sincere. I’m sorry, Cash. If you are who you say you are, then your body has been destroyed. I’ve tried to use my ability to direct your chi to heal, but it can’t. Your body is too human. Or, it could be the strange immunity you have to metaphysical powers.”

  “I’m with you there. I’ve tried to do that on him—focus energy to heal. It doesn’t work,” I said. “Back home a friend of mine was cursed by a witch and I un-cursed him by making him heal himself through my own hex. But Cash is immune. I got his soul parts to join, but soul manipulation is not the same as body manipulation.”

  Lena went very still with her face directed my way. I nearly said something because it was beginning to feel awkward, when she spoke to Cash.

  “Perhaps a Seraphim blood infusion would help prolong your body, hunter. We can schedule you in for sample collection and find a match. Jesop may even be able to convert something that’s close to a match.”

  “Wait a minute. You hexed someone like a witch?” Jesop asked, gazing at me through cautious eyes.

  “Yeah, a witch tried to possess my mother when she was pregnant with me, but instead, I absorbed her and took her abilities. That’s why people think I’m a Soul-Eater.”

  Lena clasped her hands together, intently listening. “That’s why you have different energies inside you? You absorbed them? Ah. It’s all making sense.”

  I sighed. “I know what it sounds like, but… yes. I suppose that’s what happened. I battled a witch a few months ago and the only way to stop her from killing everyone I loved was to absorb her. She already fused souls with my sister. But now, I’m experiencing difficulties keeping them down and I don’t know how to get them out and separate them.”

  Cash watched me with intensity and I thought maybe I said something I shouldn’t have. In silence, Lena returned her hands to hover over me, shaking her head. “Between the two of you, my power is getting a work out today.”

  “Can you tell how many are left?” I asked.

  “Souls? Maybe two, no, three. Four including your own. They are quiet, but…” Lena trailed her touch down my arm to where my hand met Cash’s. She continued up Cash’s arm.

  He stiffened, uncomfortable, flaring his eyes at me, wary.

  “Your soul is stronger here, through this connection,” Lena said. “I’m curious, you said you’re having trouble keeping them down. Does that happen around him?”

  I thought back to all the times I’d heard The Others, or had them take over. None of those times were around him. Yes, I’d heard them in Houston, but he’d been away for most of that. Wren had said something similar when she handed Cash the book. I hadn’t forgotten about that conversation and mentally reminded myself to pick it up when Cash and I had some privacy.

  “They’re definitely quieter around him,” I said.

  “Fascinating. What other information can you give me?” she asked.

  I started from the beginning and told her everything. How I could sample energy to strengthen myself, how I could manipulate biology like a witch, how I had the urge to drink someone’s blood and take in everything they had, including their abilities, memories and soul. How if I died, one soul in me would be sacrificed so that I may continue to live. I even told her my father might know how to trigger The Others. When I finished, I felt awful and barbaric.

  “I want them out of me,” I said. “Desperately. But I want my sister separated from the witch. I want to give her soul peace. If I could have that, I’d consider myself healed.”

  “The only way to get rid of them is to kill yourself in a controlled environment until the last one is sacrificed.”

  “But what if it’s me that is sacrificed?”

  “With the hunter close by, I don’t think so.”

  “But I don’t want that. I don’t want Leila gone forever. I want her free to reincarnate, or go to heaven, or wherever human souls go.”

  “I suppose, the souls got into you one way. There must be another way out. And you said the witch fused two souls together. There must be a way to undo that. When a door closes, a window opens.”

  “There might be a way.” Jesop stood forward. All eyes moved to him. “You said you needed their blood to take them in, what if I remove traces of their blood in your body by converting it all to yours?”

  “You would first need to see what her original, untainted blood looked like,” Lena said. “So you had a reference point.”

  “Well, that’s unlikely. It’s not like I keep a vial lying around. And I don’t even know my true identity, so no idea where my Seraphim body is.” I gave Cash a meaningful look. He knew who I was, but kept silent. My head flopped down on the pillow.

  “It’s not your Seraphim body we want. That blood is different to your aging Player body. If we were to transfuse your blood with a Seraphim match, it would convert you to Seraphim, then you’d become one. Immortal. Finding a match is almost impossible without your original body, so we need your Nephilim blood. Otherwise we’d breech the rules of the Game.”

  Throughout our exchange, Cash didn’t mutter a sound, but something was going on behind those big multicolored eyes.

  “Hm,” Lena mused. “Well, until then—I’d like to keep you in for observation over the next twenty-four hours. The poison ap
pears to be gone, but we need to be sure. And you need rest. Nephilim can heal fast, but as Jesop said, you age and die, just like humans. Sometimes you need to rest like them too.”

  “Thank you for everything you’ve done, but I’m feeling much better. I can’t stay.”

  “You’re not going back to your father’s after what he did,” Cash said abruptly.

  “I’m not staying here.” I wanted to get back to the Urser rooms to check that lab book. See if my name had been added. But the thought of stepping into that room with him, to be inches from my father, turned my stomach. What was to stop him triggering The Others again? This time, I could be out for weeks. Months. Maybe never.

  “As long as you rest. I don’t mind where you do it,” Lena said. “And I have to let you know I reported this incident to the Tribunal. Assassination attempts on Ludus soil will not be tolerated. Roo, I’ll go and alert them to where you will stay in case they need you for follow up questioning. And your mentor would like to know, I’m guessing?”

  “No!” I said at the same time Cash said, “I’m her mentor.”

  “If you’re talking about Bruce Urser,” I elaborated. “He’s not my mentor. I have to live there because of my situation, but I want nothing else to do with him.”

  Her head angled towards Cash suggestively. “I could discharge you to another?”

  “I’ll watch her.” Cash’s eyes projected determination. “At my place.”

  “Very well. I’ll recommend that you stay with your mentor until you recover. We’ve come up with a few solutions to your unwanted house guest problems, Roo. I expect you to come back to see me after the trials to pick one of them to investigate further. Jesop, honey, thank you for getting a new bag of saline, but I think we can remove the IVs. We’re sending Roo home.”

  Chapter 22

  “I’m not letting you go back to him. So get that out of your head in case you were thinking of going to spy. He can go fuck himself.” Cash’s arm around my waist tightened as we walked through the Ludus maze to his apartment.

  I was dizzy, cold and lethargic, but getting better. My fingers weren’t numb but my teeth still chattered. Before I’d left, they lent me some Corvus House merchandise to dress in, including a hoodie and some sweatpants. Despite the internal fleece of the clothing, the cold wouldn’t leave my bones.

  “I’m done with this nonsense,” Cash continued. “You belong with me where you’ll be safe. That’s what happens with all mentors and their progenies.”

  I wasn’t so sure. After Cygnus, I had the sneaking suspicion that my being near him wasn’t safe for him. Not to mention I was fast becoming an assassination magnet. His abilities were failing him. Even Lena felt hopeless about his prognosis. Yes, he was a skilled warrior, and often instinctively brutal. My crushed neck was a testament to that. But what if the next time he woke him from a nightmare, he couldn’t protect himself? What if I was the nightmare—the one person who knew his weaknesses?

  We arrived at his apartment and while he found his keys to open the door, I stepped back.

  “Cash. I’m too dangerous for you to be around. I should go.”

  “Talk like that again and I’m going to tie you down and lock you away.”

  I gasped. “You wouldn’t.”

  He opened the door and let it swing open. Then he hauled me over his shoulder in a fireman hold and walked into the rooms, kicking the door closed behind him.

  My legs kicked in the air, my arms hung down his back and I smacked him repeatedly. Each strike glanced off uselessly. He tightened his hold around my waist.

  “Don’t test me, Roo,” he growled. “I’m the dangerous one.”

  His immovable mountain of a body didn’t budge, except for his heaving chest with every fast breath. He waited with me dangling.

  Eventually, I stopped fighting. “Fine. I’ll stay. But it’s your funeral.”

  He dumped me on a couch, and when I scrambled to a sitting position, I met his eyes. So many emotions battled in them. He wanted to hit me, scream at me, hug me, love me. Everything was clear one minute, the next, he clammed up and shut his expression down.

  “You’re cold,” he said. “I’ll put the shower on. Stay there. Don’t move.”

  He left me sitting on his couch, hugging myself, and stared at the wilting pot plant on the coffee table. I knew how it felt. I stroked the drooping leaves idly. It didn’t deserve to be neglected and wilted, kept in this underground concrete hideaway. A little buzz of life pulsed out of it, and my heart ached a little for its pain. I made a mental note to take it to the surface later for some natural light. I surveyed the rest of the room. It was decked out in cream, like the Urser apartment, only less opulent. No gold trimming. A flat screen television hung on the wall opposite me, and a dining table that seated four was in a corner. A kitchenette sat to one side, and on the other, the door Cash disappeared down. Must be the bedroom.

  In front of the door was my purple suitcase, sitting proud and tall.

  I teared up. Logically, I knew I shouldn’t be near Cash, but my heart ached to stay. Damned the consequences. Waking at Lena’s to find him waiting for me was the best feeling. He was my home.

  I was falling in love with this man. His brute strength, his broody mood swings, his loyalty and affection—all of it. He was mine. I understood everything. I didn’t need to keep him away and he didn’t need to leave. We could enjoy this for whatever brief moment we had in this life. That’s what life was anyway, a series of moments joined together… right?

  I followed in the direction he went. The soft sound of waves whispering on a shore hit my ears as I entered his bedroom. A large bed sat against the far end. A fake window stretched from wall to wall with a sunset over a beach illuminating the room. The sound of running water grew louder as I heard the faucet turn on.

  When I found him leaning into the shower, holding his hand under the spray to test the temperature, he tensed. He glanced over his shoulder darkly at me. “I told you to stay put.”

  “When do I ever do as I’m told?” I said with a little laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

  He ignored me for a few moments while methodically setting about the room, getting it ready. Towels came out of the cabinet. Soap and shampoo set in the shower caddy. He dropped a foot towel on the floor. With each act, he paused and hesitated, as though he wanted to say something, but never did. By the time he finished, warm steam coated the room and his gray T-shirt clung to his torso.

  He came to stand in front of me. “Strip,” he said.

  I gaped.

  “You’re weak, Roo. I don’t want you slipping in the shower, so I’m going to help you.”

  “I’m okay.”

  “No, you’re not. You have no idea how close you came. When you were lying there at Lena’s, you had so much oxygen in your blood that your skin went cherry red. Like this—” His finger twisted around a lock of my long hair. A flutter low in my stomach. “The steam and warm water will lift your core temperature. Let me help you. Strip.”

  Still, I hesitated. Nervous.

  His finger trailed from my hair, to my jaw, then along my collarbone and down, exploring my body over my clothes, efficiently checking—as if he didn’t believe his eyes, as if he needed to feel the reality. I was safe. Whole. His other hand joined in and soon, all I could feel was his touch. It was through a layer of fleece, but my skin sang in his wake. My heartbeat accelerated. Then he dropped his hands altogether, stepping back, frowning. Our eyes clashed.

  “Roo, why do you doubt me so much?” Hurt flashed in his eyes. “Not just in this, but you keep wanting to go back to Urser. He’s abandoned you more than once, auctioned you off as a bride, caused you so much pain—physical and mental—yet you would rather be there than with me. Are you afraid of me? Have I ruined things so much between us?”

  “Cash, it’s not you.”

  “Is it because I won’t tell you who you really are? I know I said I want nothing between us—no lies, no secrets—but your iden
tity is not my secret to tell. You have to trust me on that. Marc will be back soon, and… just hold on a little longer. Please. Ask me anything else and I’ll tell you the truth.”

  I placed my palms on either side of his face. His lashes fluttered and he leaned in to my touch. I hated this wall of uncertainty dividing us.

  “I can wait for Marc. I trust you. I want nothing between us, too.” I said. “So, I need to tell you something.”

  He gripped my wrists and met my eyes with a steel gaze. “What is it?”

  “The other night, when I blacked out for a few days, it was because The Others took over.”

  “Yes, you mentioned that.”

  “What I didn’t tell you was that Urser said something to trigger it. He made me drink some of Cygnus’s blood and soul. He found a way to control me.”

  “So why would you want to go back there?” He pulled my hands from his face with a frown.

  “Because your name was on the list.”

  He didn’t respond. The silence stretched. I squeezed my stinging eyes shut, too afraid to face reality. When bravery opened them for me, I gasped at his intensity. Fists pumped at his side. Veins writhed up his muscled arms. Redness coated his face as he attempted to stifle his anger.

  “I’m going to kill him,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Don’t you get it, Cash? He’s not the danger. I am. What if I am the catalyst for their experiments? What if I am the one who is turning people into monsters?”

  Something snapped in him; his expression softened. “No. You would never hurt anyone.”

  “It’s completely possible. I know how to change people at a molecular level. I can—”

  “Stop.” He shook me gently. “It’s not you. I know.”

  I didn’t want to be evil. “How?”

  “I was there at the beginning. I saw the serum created. It’s him. It’s the prince. It’s Urser. It’s not you. I know you. Trust me, Roo. I would never lie to you about this.” He crushed me to his chest.

  With his strength surrounding me on all sides, my inner walls crumbled. I wept in his arms and he didn’t let go. He had no idea how much I needed this contact. The touch. His confidence in me. I pulled him to me as tightly as I could. Suddenly, it wasn’t enough. I needed more of him. The heat of his body not only soothed my cold bones, but connected with a part of my soul. That recognition glimmered between us, beckoning, enticing. More. Two halves of a whole, he’d once said. Soulmates. In that moment, I believed it.