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She shook her head, her voice softening. ‘Don’t tumble into the trap of thinking you are a god, handsome. The fall from that precipice is lethal.’

Her eyes flickered with emotion, a fusion of regret and nostalgia. ‘I would know.’

Ki’Remi leaned in, placed an arm around her shoulders, and kissed her temple. ‘It shall all be well.’

‘It better be, Remi, for my father’s sake.’

‘Kidaya,’ he murmured, lending her the strength to cling on as the feast continued in a surreal blend of hedonism and strategic jostling.

Platters shimmered, shifting into whatever its consumer most desired.

The drinks were no less mesmerizing.

Goblets of luminescent nectar transitioned from sapphire to liquid gold with each sip.

Some sparkled like suspended constellations, tiny flecks of celestial light swirling in intoxicating spirals.

Finally, trays were brought out, heaped with theStarfruit of Longing.

The gods clamored among themselves to taste their sweetness the longest before it faded away in seconds.

Ki’Remi observed the banquet with suspicion, his fingers tightening around his tumbler of straight rum as the gods indulged without restraint.

‘This,’ he muttered under his breath, gaze flicking to Issa, ‘is the most excessive shit I’ve ever seen.’

She smirked, swirling the glowing liquid in her goblet. ‘Welcome to a feast of the divine, Commander. Try not to drown in decadence.’

Through it all, Ki’Remi kept his narrowed eyes on it all, skeptical, listening, assessing.

The gods were not benevolent.

They were chaotic, indulgent, primal.

They fiddled with their food.

They toyed with their subjects and flaunted their powers.

They did not have one iota of graciousness, treating their servers with incivility.

He hated the entire charade but bore it for her sake because his woman wasn’t just enduring this.

She was waiting.

Planning, biding her time, and Ki’Remi was ready to torch it all down for her when she whispered the word.

26

Primordial Menace

ISSA

Zavei materialized in the banquet hall in a storm of golden embers.

The gods barely noticed him, canting their eyes from him.

When Ki’Remi raised a brow, Issa explained.

‘He is not one of them; they consider him a demi-god like myself, who only exists to serve them. Nevertheless, at the sametime, he outranks them as Sulfiqar’s high guardian. ‘Tis a pain point all around.’