Page 34 of Immortal Sun (Dark Olympus)

CHAPTER 34

CLEO

“Eyes cannot hide a woman’s love for a man.” –The Saga of Gunnlaugur the Worm-tongue, ch.13

M y body is finally warm. I don’t need to stand close to Cyrus to feel it. I’m burning up from the inside out and every single person I look at seems to know I’m staring; their answering stares are complete invitations for me to join them. I know it in my soul.

My mouth waters for more than food; everywhere I look I see people dancing seductively with each other, laughing, enjoying life, reminding me of my impending death.

“Food.” Kratos comes up behind me as if to remind me I need to gain strength before I pick a god. “All of us, regardless of who you choose, need our stamina.”

“What?” I catch up with him and nearly stumble to the ground. He grips me by the arm, but no blue paint comes off on his hand.

“It won’t come off on me unless you choose me,” he says in a semi-annoyed voice. “And whoever isn’t chosen still has to do their godly duty and create.”

“Create?”

“You’re one of those, aren’t you? The repeaters?”

I roll my eyes.

“Oh and eye rolling, that’s new.”

I glare.

“You don’t scare me, tiny one.” He grabs a metal plate and starts piling it high with fruits, meats, cheeses, the list goes on and on. “We create more…how shall I sensitively say this?” His teeth rip apart some meat from a turkey leg. He chews and smiles while doing it. “We create more of you but better.”

“Me personally?”

“No small one, more gods so that the ones left behind in all of this can finally have their mates without creating an abomination by putting our power into them. In a way we continue to breed and continue to gain power the human way.”

I’m that. I’m the abomination. That’s all I can fixate on. I’m the one that’s half-human half-chaos, aren’t I? The one that needs to be extinguished while they purify the bloodlines out of what? Pity? Fear? A tear slides down my cheek. I didn’t ask to be created and yet, this is my destiny, maybe it was all for this, for this moment. I can live for a day and live the best life and know that maybe the reason I went through what I went through with my brother, with my mom all finally made sense. My sacrifice saves him the way it never saved her. I don’t belong here.

Okay. Okay.

My heart stops in my chest for a brief minute. “Was I created here?”

“You know, I thought Cyrus told you everything.” He shakes his head. “Where else would you have been created?” He waves the drumstick around. “Any guesses which god did it?”

“But, but—” I’m so grossed out right now. “That means I could be picking my dad!”

He spits out his turkey and starts to choke then pounds his chest with his hand and grabs a mug of ale. Once he has a drink and is done choking, he looks at me over the metal. “And again, I thought you were smart. You see, that’s where Game of Thrones really did us a disservice. Everyone just assumes it’s incest.”

“Because it is.”

“Tell me…” He starts eating again then rolls his eyes, grabs another plate, piles it high with food and hands it to me. “Sorry, but if you’re going to ask so many questions then I need you to eat while doing it. The immortals won’t wait forever, and you only get tonight.”

I bite into a roll that tastes like it’s been rolled in honey and groan. “Happy?”

“Thrilled.” He smirks and keeps eating. “If you know anything about our history it’s that immortals sleep with anything and everything, but just because we create more immortals doesn’t mean we are in any way blood related. Boom, the minute you’re born all ties to that immortal disappear except for the fact that you get a portion of their powers coursing through your blood. It’s silver by the way, just in case you were curious why you keep seeing it, but for you, once exposed to the air, poof, back to red, unless that is, you’re a true god and then you’re screwed.”

He keeps chewing off his drumstick, and I swear I nearly drop my roll.

“You gonna eat that?” He points at it with his drumstick.

To keep from screaming, I shove more in my mouth and look around at the rest of the gods laughing and eating as if this isn’t a completely horrific thing. It doesn’t matter if they don’t think that way because they’re spoiled gods, but I do. And yes, I know Enki slept with family members back in the day, and so did Kratos probably, Apep, and well the more I think about it, almost all of them inbred to create more gods.

And they’re doing it again with immortals.

“Oh, all but Cyrus,” Kratos adds.

I whip around so fast some grapes fall off my plate. “What do you mean all but Cyrus?”

I vaguely remember a conversation with him about this, about the reasons he doesn’t participate now, but I assumed back in his early days he did.

Kratos grins. “Why would he? The last thing he needs is to create an immortal, get attached, and not fulfill his duty before ascending to Olympus. He’s a virgin deity.”

My plate drops completely out of my hands. Judging by Kratos’s annoyed look, I’m wasting food. I truly thought he was kidding earlier, or just trying to make me talk, but the fact that it’s actually true that in his entire existence he has never slept with a human woman, while still touching me… I don’t even know how to process it.

He snaps his fingers and all my food is fine, back on my plate, ready for consuming. “How did you…”

“Each sacrifice before he ascends strengthens our magic. It was easy. Don’t get any ideas, though. Many have tried, all have failed, plus you’re the final one. Cyrus isn’t made that way. He doesn’t feel lust the way the other immortals do, or the way you are right now with all the stars covering your body.” He lowers his eyes. “Almost time to choose.”

I stuff my mouth with food and turn around right into Enki, who’s leering at me like he’s about to get chosen. “Hungry?”

I pull my plate away. “Starving.”

“Pity they wouldn’t let me bake some cookies for the table. They always say ‘no’.”

“I wonder why,” Kratos says in a dry tone, going for his, third—fourth?—turkey leg.

Inti walks up and holds his silver goblet to his lips peering at me over it then brings it back down. “You know, you could break protocol and just have all of us at once.”

I start choking again.

“What? Something I said?” He winks.

“Leave her alone, she’s nervous enough.” Dag comes to my rescue followed by Tyrell, who steals a piece of beef off my plate with his fingers.

I imagine any girl surrounded by real gods that are all this gorgeous would be clapping her hands and running circles around the trees, screaming at them to take her.

I don’t feel that way.

While my body is still dying to apparently be held and get laid, my soul feels heavy and sad.

When I glance up, Cyrus is leaning against one of the trees, arms crossed, staring at our interaction, jaw clenched, full lips pressed together in a frown.

His mask is beautiful, the sun of his mask would burn me. I would welcome it.

Apep takes my plate from my hands. “Why don’t I hold this for you?”

“Yeah.” I blink away visions of charging toward Cyrus and begging him to kiss me. “Sorry, I don’t know where I went.”

“A word of advice.” Apep’s white hair is down by his face; he looks like he belongs in Lord of the Rings . His smirk is so not welcome, even it’s a pretty one, for the first time since meeting him, he looks dangerous. “Don’t go for the bad guy. They always hurt you in the end, and Cyrus has one job, one job only, to get to Olympus.”

“Is there a way to break free from the trials?”

Apep is silent and then, “Would you want that for him? To lose his life’s purpose?”

“Pretty crappy life’s purpose,” I grumble.

He laughs. “Trust me, I wish I could grant all of us that, it’s not like he enjoys killing over and over again, the sun is meant to grow, to create…and he’s lived with nothing but death for hundreds of years since his trials started, how depressing.”

My stomach sinks. My sacrifice would give him peace.

He lifts the silver platter. “Eat, Cleo. You’ll need your strength.”

“It’s just sex,” I argue, grabbing another roll.

The immortals around me start laughing as if that’s funny.

Enki grabs a pitcher of wine and a goblet. “I think I’ll just bring this over to Cyrus, he looks pissed, and might I say a little bit jealous.”

“Impossible, he doesn’t get jealous.” Apep eyes Inti then holds the plate higher toward me. “Come on, pretty soon you’ll be on your back and starving for energy.”

My stomach flips when I glance over at Cyrus, but when I look at Tyrell?

I feel nothing but despair.