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CHAPTER 3

EVERETT

“R ighttttt,” Nova drew out, tilting her head as she analyzed the god in front of her, trying to gauge how he felt. “I’m hazarding a guess that you know about everything, then?”

“About you being my wife’s daughter?” he asked point-blank. I didn’t like his tone, so I moved to stand right behind her. Before she could answer, I wrapped my arms around Nova’s slender waist and tucked my head on top of hers, wanting to keep her as close as possible.

Osiris may have been the fucking asshole overlord of this place, but if he tried to make Nova even feel a little bit bad about this shit, I was going to put this excess power to good use.

“Correct. Something I was less than happy to find out about since apparently my existence is a literal ‘fuck you,’” she chimed. “But hey, I’m sort of your stepdaughter, right?”

Osiris examined her for a long moment, making Nova tense so slightly it wasn’t visible to anyone but myself. Then he cracked a slow smile and chuckled. “You aren’t wrong! And honestly, I’m not all that surprised. My wife is…stubborn, to say the least. If anything, this just shows how much she loves me.”

I wasn’t positive he could go that far with it, but at least he didn’t seem bothered.

He continued, “You remind me of her in so many ways.”

Nova’s nose scrunched in distaste. “Not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

I smiled into Nova’s hair. Her little side commentary had grown to be one of my favorite things to listen to, especially in situations like this. So much so that I planned to listen to it for the rest of my fucking life and—somehow, someway— after as well.

Osiris chuckled knowingly before moving on. “Rather than talk about my wife’s questionable revenge tactics, I’d like to figure out how exactly you survived what you just did—I mean, you physically didn’t survive it, but your essence, your soul, your magic has been preserved. The only reason I can think that happened has to do with you, Nova. Somehow you managed to shield all of them.”

I knew he was absolutely correct on that. Nova was insanely powerful—there was no denying that—but I was glad that I could feel our bonds working to help distribute the extra power she now carried. There was absolutely nothing worse than the feeling of being useless when it came to protecting or helping Nova.

“I have no idea how I did it.” Nova shrugged. “The only thing I remember is after releasing the magic, before accepting it fully, I saw the dark ones again. Which was a horrible experience, let me tell you. If that’s what Lorcan goes through all the time, I do not envy her.”

I tightened my hold on her waist in concern, hating that she’d been in duress while we were all unconscious.

Also, I wasn’t sure if Nova had fully realized it yet, but the trust she was putting in Osiris was purely instinctual. Of course we would naturally assume he was on our ‘side’ because of Isis, but we had no way of verifying that shit.

I trusted her judgement on him, though, just like I trusted her judgement on Anubis—even though I usually wanted to slaughter him after spending about five minutes with him. Unfortunately, even with my magic, I had a feeling that wasn’t possible.

“Interesting.” Osiris’s gaze went distant. “Well, I’m sure our soon-to-be visitors will want to know all about that—better save the full story until then. We have much to handle as it is.”

Hadn’t this bastard just said he wanted to talk about it?

“Visitors?” River demanded.

“Yes.” Osiris straightened in his throne. “All allies, I assure you. This is the safest place you can be right now, and I’m guessing you knew that, Nova. Especially since you transported all of you here.”

“Good job, baby.” I kissed the top of her head.

“Thanks.” She beamed up at me, her eyes sparkling.

“If you would like to clean up and change”—Osiris motioned to a pair of doors that opened slowly—“you can use our guest suite. I would estimate that everyone will be here in about an hour.”

I didn’t hesitate or ask questions, instead scooping Nova up and carrying her through the doors into the long corridor that was pitch black at the far end. I could hear the others following, but I was only focused on the world around us. The hall led us downward, deeper into the underworld.

“I have a question.” Nova leaned against my chest and looked around. “Remember in Earnest’s murder cave when you could talk to the dead? How does that work here? Is there a ‘dead’ realm, or is that what all of this is?”

I smirked and looked around, noting the deep carvings in the wall. “There’s actually nothing around us. It’s sort of null—I can’t hear, feel, or see a spirit. Not sure if that’s because they aren’t around or because they don’t exist in the same way.”

“What about the ones at the entrance?”

“I could see them just like you could, so I have a feeling our magic may recognize us as being dead right now,” I admitted.

“Don’t say that shit,” River growled.

“You two really do have opposite powers,” Nova hummed before moving out of my arms and dropping down onto her feet. “I’m surprised you became such good friends, honestly.”

Dancing ahead, August and Rowan moving past me to catch up to her, my gaze trailed over her tight curves covered in ruined clothes. So fucking beautiful, and also so incredibly right about her observation.

For all intents and purposes, I probably shouldn’t have been friends with half the bastards on my team, but we’d become a family—even more so now that we had Nova as our center point. I’d even begrudgingly accepted Volkan. Somewhat.

“How does she seem to you?” River asked. I could tell the concept of her dying was driving him crazy, but he was somehow keeping his shit together for now.

“As far as I can tell, okay,” I said. “But the power could be subdued right now because of where we are, so who knows.”

“You may be correct about that,” Volkan said, the others making their way past us so that the three of us pulled up the back.

“I’m more interested in how long we’ll need to stay here, though,” Volkan continued. “We’re already on a countdown, and I worry about the amount of time we’ll have when we return to the land of the living—especially to master the new magic she holds.”

And it was a fuck ton of power, so it could take time.

“How do both of your magics feel?” I asked them.

“I can tell I have more magic,” River said. “I haven’t attempted to use it though.”

“I think we’re just holding it for Nova, but it could also be that we can’t use it in this realm.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m not sensing any of the dead here,” I pointed out.

The guards bowed in greeting as we passed through the doors into our suite. Everything was dimly lit with low flames, and I had a feeling that the things in the dark here were much different than the ones on Earth or even in the Horde. In a different time and place, I wouldn’t have minded more time to explore.

I would give Osiris this—he had an ostentatious style of decorating. Every single centimeter of the room, floor to ceiling, was green marble, black onyx, and gold. There were no windows; instead massive panels of hieroglyphics shifted and moved under the light, telling and retelling their story. Low golden flames from the center hearth lit the shadowed corners, casting a warm glow on the dark velvet furniture.

“Oh, found the bathroom! I call dibs!” Nova called out with a bright voice as she disappeared through one of the many doors that led from this central space. I followed behind her, happy when I heard the thud of the main doors that signaled we were alone in the suite.

“Now this! This is a bathroom!” Nova exclaimed as I stood in the doorway. The sizable tub in the center of the room was already filling with hot water, steam rising from its surface.

Closing the door, I tugged off my shirt as Nova all but threw herself into the water, not giving a second thought about her naked form. I nearly released a groan of frustration. After all this time, she still didn’t realize how fucking hot she was—all without trying. It was ten times more painful when she was trying though.

Nova beamed as I moved into the water from behind her, tugging her against me. She let out a surprised squeak at how hard I was. Despite that, with the way Nova let out a happy sigh and sank against me, I couldn’t find it in myself to move from holding her.

“This is wonderful after today—or tonight—whatever time it is,” she said, letting her eyes close. “Especially after the thing where we released a bunch of primordial beings to fight cosmic entities. That nonsense was exhausting.”

“But you did it,” I said, kissing the shell of her ear.

She tilted her head up at me, smiling softly. “ We did it. We did it, and we are going to handle this upcoming shit the same way. And when it’s all done, we?—”

“Get married.” I flashed a smile at her laughter, stringing my hands through her hair and massaging her scalp.

“What then?” she asked curiously. I let out a thoughtful hum as I ran my hand over her throat, taking in her flushed cheeks and relaxed gaze.

“Then we do whatever we want, puppet.” I brushed my lips against hers. “What do you want to do?”

“Travel,” she said immediately. “Without the entire apocalyptic shit hanging over our head.”

“Where to?”

She didn’t skip a beat. “Back to Bora Bora for sure, but more beaches in general. Volkan taught me how to calm the storm part of my magic, so I feel pretty comfortable that I won’t bring a hurricane down on everyone.”

Barking out a laugh, I tipped her chin up to slide a kiss across her plush lips, promising in that fucking moment that I would do anything to ensure that Nova got exactly that.

Even if she brought a hurricane down on everyone, it would be worth it.

* * *

U nfortunately, moments later we were interrupted from our musings when Fox announced that Osiris’s staff had dropped off clothes for us to borrow, which spurred Nova into action.

I stayed in the water, resting my sore muscles for a bit longer as I watched her wrap a towel around herself and move toward the vanity, brush in hand. She was humming a soft tune, and I was unsurprised to realize I could spend hours watching the woman move back and forth.

Despite being only 5’6” and delicately built, Nova moved with a power that was unexpected and a fluidity that was mesmerizing. She was both graceful and confident, her shoulders always back and head held high. Her multicolored hair reached past her perfect ass, and her golden, toned frame was one that I had memorized every single damn inch of. Ever since being reborn that first time, and with each change of her powers, it felt like the woman became more and more unreal—so painfully unique.

Especially her eyes. Those magnetic, stormy eyes would have me in a chokehold for the rest of my fucking life.

Resisting the urge to call her back to the water, I put my head back and let my power wander, trying to slip into the ‘dead’ realm that I’d been able to find myself in many times before. But instead of the shadowy realm of the dead I could traverse easily, I was faced with a solid glass wall.

I could remember the first time I’d walked through the ‘dead’ realm. It had been after a rather savage beating, and I’d been relieved to escape even if it meant being surrounded by the dead. Despite being annoying as fuck, they were a mostly peaceful group of individuals. Mostly.

“Oh come the fuck on.”

My eyes snapped open to find Nova examining her leg in panic. I jumped out of the water, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my hips as I approached where she was turning her long, toned leg. The towel split to reveal…a new tattoo.

“I shouldn’t even look in the mirror anymore! Or at my own body!” she growled. “Every time something happens, I have more and more tattoos. Like what is this?!”

My fingers traced over the vertical pattern made up of fifteen sigils in navy ink. The symbols had power, I could feel it, and the number of them had to be important…

“The Titans,” I guessed, looking up at her annoyed expression. And fuck did I hate other people marking her, so goddamn much. But each addition to her body was her magic’s innate reaction when a change, bond, or alliance was made. The vibrant colors made her look like the gorgeous, deadly predator I knew her to be.

“Oh,” she breathed out, slumping slightly. “Figures. At least there isn’t anything else.”

Standing, I moved her wet hair away to examine her shoulder blades. Something had caught my eye. The geometric tattoo Rowan had given her was mostly covered by the towel wrapped around her, so the new ones in gold and green stood out starkly.

“What is it?” she asked softly.

My gaze traced the orb of green on her right shoulder, the color bleeding out from it horizontally until forming into a starburst effect of gold right on her spine, then continuing on to form another green orb on her left shoulder. I described the design to her, concluding, “It must have something to do with releasing or accepting the Earth’s magic.”

Nova sighed, closing her eyes in defeat. “Is it cool, at least?”

I cracked a smile before kissing the top of her head. “Yeah, baby. It’s pretty fucking cool.”

“Alright,” Nova grumbled. “Whatever, I’m over it. Clearly I’m meant to be a badass tattooed girly. I’m going to embrace it.”

Then she strode into the next room, intent on getting dressed. I watched her perfect frame walk into the main room with just a towel on, shaking my head at the groans it inspired.

This woman was going to be the world’s savior, but she may kill all of us in the process.