Page 35 of Immortal Sun (Dark Olympus)

CHAPTER 35

CYRUS

“The one you trust the most may disappoint you the most.”– Saga Fljotsdale, ch.23

I can’t even eat.

My heart is cracking, breaking. This is the end. The final one and I feel nothing but regret. I see the way all the immortals fawn over her, I want to create so much violence that my hands shake. Even the vampires and werewolves that showed up are pissing me off and most of them are mated and only here to celebrate. Shit, I just stared at a demon and wanted to murder him and he actually had a soul in his terrifyingly large body. He offered me a turkey leg. Am I truly the monster now?

I’ll be forced to watch her with him, over and over and over again before her death. His mouth will be tasting her skin, and she’ll have nothing but his essence burning inside of her, creating a fire of lust that will be impossible to control.

She won’t see me.

She’ll only see him.

Why did I ever think this was a gift? What sort of twisted mind game did I agree to in order to help the Chaos feel “better” about dying? A final true love? A final kiss? It’s a sick and twisted movie.

My heart isn’t my own anymore, it’s like a hammer pounding against my chest constantly reminding me that while it beats, it will never be hers, she’ll never be mine.

All I’ll have is memories of her taste, a trace of her hand etched on the very cave my body helped form.

If I could throw the entire forest into flames I would.

Waters are rising along with my temper, but I do nothing about it, which will most likely piss Ken off, who’s probably sleeping beneath us or attempting to.

Enki makes his way over with a goblet for me. He’s the last person I want to talk to. He’s going to tease me, try to trick me and make me want to kill him with my bare hands.

I don’t move as he approaches. I try to still my breath so he doesn’t see how upset I actually am.

“Ah, always good to be around the sexually repressed.” He hands me the goblet and pours the wine. “Do you even have a cock?”

“Do you have a filter?” I take the cup and hold it in my right hand. “And stop gloating, she’s not even going to choose you.”

Enki’s face falls. “And I was so sure after that time I visited her in the cave and tried to seduce her.”

“You what!” I roar, wine spilling out of my goblet.

Enki ducks and jumps away from me. “Don’t worry about it, I was rejected. It’s a painful memory, you know.”

“My ass.”

“What about your ass?” He peers around and stares at it. “That’s a good strong Egyptian ass, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t.”

“You need a strong drink.”

“I need you to stop talking.” I sigh heavily. Tyrell is approaching Cleo like he knows she’s going to say his name.

He’ll go slow.

And I’ll have to be feet away from them; knowing what I know.

“Wine looking good yet?” Enki laughs.

I shove him away and gulp back the entire goblet of wine then chuck the thing at his chest. He doesn’t dodge it, just looks at me, a small smile forming across his face while the goblet rolls to the ground.

“What now?” I yell irritated.

“Oh nothing, just that you never took your own advice, the advice you were so adamant about.” Enki draws close and grabs my shoulder tightly. “Never eat anything I make.”

The pitcher of wine that Enki is holding suddenly turns black. The ice around my heart isn’t holding on, it’s dying, it’s…melting from the inside out. My heart is shattering.

I lean over as a solitary tear falls from my eye and rolls down my cheek, hitting the ground and breaking like ice.

“I’ll kill you for this!” I roar.

Enki shrugs. “It’s just a little ice to calm your solar storm.”

“No.” A harsh laugh escapes my lips. “You’ll see it was more than ice. Good thing I have self-control, you shit!”

The ocean splashes against the shores as lightning strikes ahead.

Cleo turns to Tyrell.

I can’t see what they’re saying, he reaches out and touches her face, then pulls her against him. Her eyes are uncertain, in one last glance she looks back at me with begging eyes.

“NO!” I roar, stomping toward them until I can grab him by the neck and fling him behind me. Tyrell hits one of the trees, breaking it in half.

I’m blinded by rage.

By something burning and twisting from the inside of my chest. I can see the fracture where I have no control over the decisions I’m making. I must claim her before he can.

Inti and Kratos jump in front of me in full armor, ready for attack.

“What the hell did you do, Enki!” Kratos yells.

I scream at the sky. The mountains around us start to shake, along with the ground. The water rises up over the island. I can feel people starting to run across the rocks and into the woods to escape.

“I helped a friend!” Enki says. “Which clearly was a mistake, so if you don’t mind not rubbing my face in it! How was I supposed to know he was already this far gone?”

“Shut up!” Kratos yells above the rising storm. “Stop him!”

Kratos raises his daggers collecting lightning from the sky before he throws it in my direction. I dodge it and easily shove him aside. Inti thrusts his sword onto the ground then swings it toward my head, misses and swings again. I get a hold of it and shove him backwards.

I can feel the rest of the gods behind me.

All I need is to touch her.

I bend down and dig my fingers into the dirt then jump over them and grab her by the arm, shoving her against a tree.

Our mouths meet. Flashes streak across the sky followed by blasts of thunder. The tree next to us splinters in an explosive lightning strike. This is wrong. It’s not supposed to happen like this. So wrong. In all the centuries. Never. Never.

“Can’t stop,” I murmur against her lips, knowing I’m bruising them, not caring.

“Don’t stop.” She wraps her legs around me; I tug the golden fabric of her dress off her shoulder. I can hear the gods arguing about what to do, Kratos screaming, Tyrell saying it’s not fair, and Inti saying it’s not right.

Forbidden.

Virgin deity.

I shove my tunic aside and lift her higher. Several hands try to pull me away from her, but I use my last moment of strength to thrust into her.

Power explodes around me in whites and purples, shoving everyone to the ground, pinning them there while I claim her.

Cleo thrusts her hands into my hair, gripping it to steady herself. Her eyes are lost to me, her body is no longer hers.

It’s mine.

“You!” Cleo screams, clenching her teeth after. “You, I choose you!”

I roar so loud she winces.

“I choose you,” she repeats as a blood red tear slides down her cheek.

The ground around us is shaking with such force that I’d normally be worried, but I’m so consumed by her that she is all I care about. The earth is shaking, moving.

She meets me thrust for thrust letting my flames consume her. Her head scrapes against the tree and her nails dig into my skin so hard I pray for marks I can keep forever.

She’s so warm and tight, I can’t stop myself, my eyes roll back and the world around us flashes completely white when I finish inside her.

“Ra!” Her scream is deafening as she clenches her core around my pulsing cock, greedily milking my essence, taking it inside her.

My name.

That’s my name.

She has spoken my true name. Heat erupts through me, awakening something explosive inside that at once weakens and strengthens me.

Light burns from my eyes like the day I created the mountains, the sheer power is intoxicating. My head falls back in another triumphant shout while we’re still connected.

“Cyrus,” a voice interrupts.

I want to flick it away.

“Cyrus!” A bit more urgency is put forth.

I ignore everything but her, driven to pump my hips again.

“Cyrus!”

“WHAT!” I roar, the wind from my exhale causes Kratos to stumble backwards. “What could you possibly want, lower god?”

Kratos’s eyes flash red. “To remind you of your station, Ra.”

“I am Ra. Lord of the Sky!” I sneer at him. “It’s none of your business!”

Enki clears his throat and steps forward. “Maybe take her back to the cave for the rest of the night? Otherwise the feast will be ruined by a veritable hurricane.”

I look around. It’s starting to rain. The earth is still tremoring beneath my feet, shaking the trees and mountains around us. Still, just the thought of pulling away from her even to carry her across the ice feels like death.

Apep sighs. “It’s the right choice, let the rest of them celebrate the fact that the Immortal Sun finally mated for once in his life.” His sneer is so unwelcome, I wish I could end him. Instead, I ease away from her, gently lift her in my arms, and carry her away from them.

They don’t deserve to see her.

They don’t deserve to watch us together.

I’m trembling so hard that I can barely focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

Her head rests on my shoulder, her arms are wrapped around my neck. I feel her everywhere, smell her everywhere. She surrounds me…is inside of me. I would burn this world for her and never look back. I’d let the flames swallow all of humanity whole, and I would have no regrets.

“What now?” she asks. “What do we do now?”

I press a kiss to her forehead and keep walking. “Now, we exist for a few hours.”

“And die later?” she asks.

I don’t respond.

I keep walking.

And as we make our way down the icy walkway towards the beach. I look over my shoulder and whisper, “Ken, I’ll owe you a favor, nobody leaves the island until the sacrifice.”

Even saying it has my body filled with rage. Why this? Why now?

Water rises up over the walkway crashing against it, slowly one black tentacle lifts into the air, followed by another, and another until all eight tentacles surround the island in a tumultuous wave of water.

Once my feet hit the sand on the beach I turn around with Cleo still in my arms, and I see Ken’s face for the first time in a thousand years.

His blue eyes lock on mine, his round head has sharp spears shoved into it from the battles he’s faced with sailors, he wears them the way a soldier wears armor.

Black, silver, and gold spears, all form around his chin and shoulders, and while his mouth stays shut, I know what he’s saying, I can read his thoughts the way he can read mine.

Of course he’s always grumpy considering he’s always in pain, but today—he’s sad.

My heart pains me.

“Thank you, old friend,” I whisper.

He nods his head once and turns toward the island, lifting all his tentacles to create a barrier.

I walk back carrying a shocked Cleo, knowing I have less than twenty-four hours before her screams go from ecstasy to death.