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They’d probably be burned to bits the second they came in contact with the lightning coursing through my veins.

It was getting harder and harder to control my power. So, the only solution was to do what had worked in the past. Clamp down hard and shove aside any stressors.

The little I allowed myself to feel had to go.

Because even that little inch had turned into a mile. Like clouds slipping over mountaintops in the morning to spread a thick, impenetrable fog over a city.

It was a haze that I had trouble breaking through. It wasn’t gray. No, no it was a deep, rich brown with streaks of caramel through it. Light brown. Honey.

Shades of warm, welcoming color that were owned by—

No. I couldn’t even allow myself to think her name. Not when guilt for leaving her like that was still chewing at the edges of my resolve, gnawing at me like bugs after my blood.

I was a fucking asshole, I knew it. I’d put distance between us, not only physically. But whenever she was close, I felt like I was a hair’s breadth away from snapping. Like just the light brush of her fingertips over my arm, even covered by a suit, would send lightning flying out of my hands to electrocute everything in my path.

I forcefully focused my attention back on the splintered wood in front of me. “They’re all like this?” I asked Emre, looking over my shoulder at him from my crouched position.

He nodded stiffly, his arms crossed over his chest. “Every one. This is the worst of the damage. Like he sent someone particularly angry in here. The other two just have a broken door. One chair.”

“But broken into nonetheless.”

“Yes.” Emre’s disheveled, frantic interruption had been warranted. I was prepared to tease him for overreacting, but the second he told me what happened, I knew any other person would have shown up red-faced and visibly stressed.

Someone had broken into the three safe houses I’d set up earlier in the year, then run a drill on to make sure they were functioning. It was meant to be a last resort, a safe haven for the gods to go and protect their lives. And by proxy, their power.

That was the thing with the gods. It was our lifesource that was most important. Sure, our presence in society helped. But we could technically hide away in oblivion, retreating away from society and letting our heart beat keep our power alive.

There had been gods who’d chosen that path. But mostlikedto be surrounded by the fruits of their power. These safe houses were only supposed to be used if someone launched a full scale attack, necessary only to keep blades from piercing flesh and hearts beating.

And a member of this conspiracy, which was starting to feel much more like a coup, seconds away from storming the gates to the city and forcefully taking my power, had just desecrated that failsafe.

“How did they even find it?” I asked, even though I already had a few ideas. What I was more curious about was whether this was strategic or not. Whether this was integral to their own plan for taking power or if it was simply showing me—us—that they could.

“If it was one of ours,” Emre said, honor and loyalty threading through his voice. “I’ll figure it out.”

I picked up a piece of wood and threw it, rifling through more of the damage. “It wasn’t.”

“That would mean—”

“The god who did this would have known where theirs was. Then the other two locations from another god or their guards.” There was a god—or multiple—behind this. Whether they were simply helping or at the helm, that was unclear. Sure, a human might have been able to infiltrate three different god’s security on a high-level. But the likelihood they would without detection was low.

No, this was the work of the divine.

“Which would mean they’ve either infiltrated thatfar up in security or gotten to the god themselves,” Emre said, verbalizing my thoughts.

“Yes.” A sizable spark shot from my hand with the word.

Emre didn’t flinch, his eyes casually tracking it as it flew out a broken window. “You should go blow off some steam.” I snorted at the image. What a skewed, base way of explaining what would happen if I let my power out. “I can tell you for a fact the Romulus thing on Friday is going to be stuffed to the brim with people who are either already in on this or couldn’t care less if the gods become news of last year.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, challenging him to overstep. “Have I ever shown up in public with anything less than perfect control?”

“No.” Emre’s arms crossed over his chest. “But that was before.”

“Beforewhat?” The question was more of a dare than anything.

Emre didn’t take it. “I’m not going to waste my breath saying something you are either going to ignore or deny.”

I curled my hand into a fist to contain a spark. Emre wasn’t particularly sly or cheeky, but he was clearly trying it on for size. “That was far more wordy than just saying it.”