Page 36 of Immortal Sun (Dark Olympus)

CHAPTER 36

CYRUS

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”―C.S. Lewis

“ D id I just see a kraken?” Cleo asks in a terrified voice.

“You just saw a kraken.” I’m torn between wanting to grip her tighter and hold her softly because she’s so precious. “He’ll guard the island and prevent any intruders from crossing the path.”

She’s warm in my arms, I don’t look down at her. I’m afraid that I won’t make it. I don’t understand my own body’s reaction to her or the warmth that continues to spread from my chest outwards, tingling that spirals down my arms to my fingertips.

I know she’s in shock, her pulse is wild when I step into the cave with her and set her down on the bed.

I lie to myself and say just one more time. I’ll hold her one more time, then I’ll worship her with my mouth, and then I’ll leave.

I’ll be able to break away from her and do my job, just one more taste, one more act. It’s the best for both of us.

Cleo wrings her hands together and looks up at me, her mismatched eyes glow under the moonlight. I did that. My essence flows through her now.

The stars sparkle up and down her skin as if drinking it in.

I can’t do it. I back away from her, one foot after another, until I’m at the mouth of the cave.

“You’re leaving?” Her face falls.

“I must,” I whisper. “Before I can’t.”

“And here I thought I was going to get worshiped.” She makes it sound like she’s getting rejected, when this is all new. “What’s the point of Ken guarding the island if you’re just going to abandon me the night before my impending death?”

I want to roar. Instead, I calmly take off my mask and set it on a nearby table. “To keep any other immortal from having what’s mine, that’s the point.”

A grimace briefly mars her loveliness. Then, “You had me for fifteen seconds, Cyrus, that’s hardly a claiming.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Why do you care?”

“It was longer than fifteen seconds!” I stomp over to where she’s sitting and jerk her to her feet. “And it wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place.”

“Because you’re Ra?”

“Because I am going to destroy you!” I shove her away. “Do you really want to create with me tonight only to look into my eyes tomorrow while I tie you to The Tree of the Underworld? Do you even know the pain I’ll experience? You’ll experience?”

Something’s wrong with me. I don’t know what it is, but power’s surging through my body at an alarming rate. It’s difficult to control, like I’ve been drugged in the best of ways, and the more she talks the harder it gets, the harder I get.

We can’t do more than we’ve done. There’s a reason I was a virgin deity, a reason I haven’t been with a human and I’ve never realized how important that reason was until this very moment as my body pulses with the power only the female twin can give.

Twin lights.

Fate.

One full of godliness, one full of evil.

I want them both.

“Knew that tree was different.” She sighs, distracting me. “Didn’t realize I’d be going out next to the grumpy squirrel or mean cow and descending to the underworld itself.”

“They have to worship you as well, and can we please stop discussing the sacrifice?” I grit my teeth in an attempt to stop saying more. The sacrifice is everything, it means everything, and no matter my own personal feelings if it doesn’t happen the exact way it’s supposed to…

We’re all screwed. I’m screwed.

My patience and self-control are wearing thin. Her lower lip starts to tremble. This is why I should have walked away and never looked back despite what my heart and body are telling me.

I sigh and sit down on the bed pulling her into my lap in the process. “I had Kratos freeze my heart.”

Her head jerks up. “Why would you do something so stupid?”

I smile down at her. “A lot of good it did me with Enki mixing drinks.”

Understanding dawns on her face. “Oh, I see, so, back on the island you were basically drugged. Okay, and now I’m extremely embarrassed. I think I’ll just go look into the water now and meet my fate—” She gets up.

I grab her by the wrist and tug her backward then lift her so she’s straddling me, her legs dangle on either side of my tunic, the small bell around her ankle gives a little jingle, reminding me and her yet again of what’s to come and who truly owns her.

“Go ahead then, if you want to stare into the water, stare into the one who heats it,” I whisper. “And I wasn’t drugged. Enki simply thawed what Kratos had done.”

“And did you do this for each sacrifice? To make it easier?”

“I’ve never had to in my entire existence,” I admit. “Until you.”

“I’m nothing special.”

“You’re right,” I agree.

Her eyes narrow. “I’m just another sacrifice.”

“Exactly.”

“Shouldn’t you at least try to lie to me and make me feel better?”

I love her strength. Any other human would be on the bed crying. Instead, she’s asking for compliments.

I crack a smile. “Do you want me to tell you that you’re interesting? Intelligent? Beautiful? Different? That in a cave full of thousands upon thousands of names, yours will always stand out to me?”

Tears well in her eyes. She sniffles and looks away. “It would be nice to hear all of those things, yes.”

“I would find you on the beach, your specific grain of sand would be full of all the colors of the universe. I would find you every time.” I press my forehead to hers. “Now swim.”

Cleo’s eyes meet mine, I smell the sea, I pull her down into the depths of that sea. My mouth fuses to hers, the bond becoming tighter the deeper we go in my mind’s eye.

I want to take her on one last journey, I want her to inhale the salty water and know that her sacrifice is worth it for all the souls still stuck in purgatory.

She’s not as afraid this time. I allow the souls to float by us. They can’t see us, but she can see them, all of them clambering to the surface, desperately trying to be free.

Does she see?

Does she know how difficult this trial has been for me?

Does she know how selfish I wish I could be when I taste her? When I’ve had her?

It doesn’t work this way; it never has. Her brother will live—she will descend, he will ascend, it’s how it’s always been because she’s the one that has the power of Chaos inside her. He does not.

They are twins; one has to go, one is the last, and it is her, she was the one chosen.

I pull her through the water until it’s nearly impossible to see anything. We can only feel each other’s mouths. I reach into the darkest corner of the sea and grab a small seashell, plucking it from the water.

Cleo pulls away from me briefly, I snap my fingers and we’re back in the cave, her chest is heaving, gorgeous blue skin shimmers from her dive into my sea.

I grab her hand and press the seashell into her palm. “A gift.”

“It’s blue.” She smiles down at the small insignificant shell. “I like it.”

“You’ll be reborn with it, think of it as a token that you’ll never be sacrificed again. It’s a shell of protection. No god can hurt you as long as you have it.” I lean down and press a kiss to each corner of her mouth, then gently grab her by the hips and set her on the bed. I give her my back and start to walk away.

It’s the end for us.

For me.

To take any more from her…

To feel her, would destroy both of us. I’ve often wondered why I took an oath of celibacy with the other creators, and now I know.

Sexual intimacy makes you falter. It makes you want what you should never be tempted with. It’s one thing to share a kiss, to seduce, to touch. It’s quite another…

…To join.

I feel her in my thoughts. Her pain. Her fear. Her joy at seeing me. And I want to comfort her, but all I see are the souls around the world needing just as much comfort from their pain, and the impending doom of the balance between me and Apep.

I cannot let him gain a foothold, and I cannot lose the control I barely grasp at this moment.

Small arms suddenly wrap around my middle. “Thank you.”

I hang my head, my body completely wrecked. “You shouldn’t thank your murderer, Cleo.”

“I’m not thanking Ra right now, I’m thanking you.”

“We’re the same, me and Cyrus.”

She hugs me tighter. “One’s so very human, the other carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Who do you want to be right now?”

Nobody has ever asked me this question. In all of my existence, I’ve never been asked what I would wish for, what I would want.

I could create constellations to worship Cleo, I could move mountains, throw the sea into chaos. I could, I could, I could.

But I’ve always thought to myself: I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.

Because to choose me, over a world full of people however evil and corrupt—is wrong.

I draw a deep breath. “A father.” I stare out at the sea. “One that comes home to a wife and kids, who binge watches whatever ridiculous shows my family wants to watch. I want to eat bread and not remember what it was like to plant the first wheat. I want to drink water and not be consumed by its darkness, I want to laugh, I want to cry—with my family. I want a family. I want, I want so much, to just sit and read a book to my son, my daughter, I want to touch your face so gently that it puts you to sleep, I don’t know those things, but I imagine they would be---beautiful.”

I can feel her sadness like it’s my own. “I could be a wife like that, you could be a husband like that, even in a mundane job. You could be a car salesman, look at your face alone.”

I laugh. “I would work anywhere for you and no job is too low or high, it’s survival.”

“We could survive together.”

The temptation is so strong my veins burn.

I imagine it.

And then all I see is fire, war, and chaos destroying the world because I failed, both her and the immortals.

It would have never lasted, right?

Chaos would reign.

And people I care for would die. People she cares for would die.

It isn’t fair.

But life rarely is.

The dirt, however, will nourish her, take care of her, restore what has been lost.

She’ll have dreams in her next life, and they’ll feel so real she’ll wake up in tears thinking of them, of us, maybe in her next life she’ll be a famous artist, an author, someone who creates the memories she thinks are false but are completely real.

I almost laugh. Maybe she’ll draw Ken. Wouldn’t that be ironic?

She’ll remember what she loved. And I hope, in her next life, at some point, she sees me, remembers me, draws me, thinks of me, sings about me. I hope so much that when she sheds tears she knows who dries them. That I’m looking down on her shielding her from the pain of loss. I hope so much that in her next life she finds what she never found in this one.

Peace.

She will never remember this. She’ll only feel a strong need to lift her head high towards the sky and spread her arms wide as I gift her with the only thing I can—myself from far away.

I will take the suffering, day after day, but at least…

I will be remembered by the small freckles I create on her nose just so when she looks in the mirror—she sees how much she’s loved. Most people look at them as a blemish not realizing, they can also be protection, a gift. I will forever be hers. I will rise for her only and humanity will be blessed because of it.

Her smell is intoxicating. She still holds me firm. I still have no strength to walk away.

“And what would Cyrus the car salesman do if he knew that he was going to die?”

“He’d make love to his wife.” I lower my voice. “Because you will never feel more at one with someone, and I would need her strength to face the future.”

Cleo rests her head against my back, her small hands roam down my sides and then my front. All it takes is the barest of grazes from her fingertips and I’m hard.

I tell my feet to move.

They do not.

I tell my heart to freeze.

It heats.

And I tell my soul it’s not worth the cost.

It soars.

Her hands graze me again. “We don’t know.” I clear my throat. “The consequences of more, Cleo. I don’t know. There’s a reason I haven’t—just know there’s a reason.”

“Am I unleashing a beast, then?” She grips me hard.

I moan, throwing my head back. I know my eyes have gone dark as power radiates through my body. “You will be unleashing the end, Cleo. Don’t test me. I froze my heart to keep myself safe, yes, but it wasn’t just for me, it was for you. I can’t. I can’t.”

“You promise you’ll still save Jake?”

I look away, tears blurring my vision. “You know I will.”

“And you’ll make it painless?” She gazes up at me, pleading in her eyes. “You’ll find me in my next life? Right?”

A tear slides down my cheek and lands on hers. “There isn’t any other way, Cleo. We sacrifice the little to save the few. I’ll ascend to the mountains. My trial will be complete so while I won’t be by your side, I’ll be in your sky, constantly watching over you.”

She nods. “Okay, promise you’ll be with me until the end.”

“Until the end.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Let me sacrifice Jake instead, I’ll find a way even if he isn’t the one meant for it, I’ll find one.” I leave out the part where it would be basically impossible, but I’m not thinking logically. I just want her here, and Jake, while not the chosen twin to sacrifice would at least buy me time. The even sadder part is I know I’m lying to myself, there are always twins. One is meant for sacrifice, the other is meant to ascend. It cannot switch and shouldn’t go against the cosmos.

I want to scream. I’m grasping at straws. Lying to myself. To her.

“Never,” she says interrupting my internal thoughts. “It should be this way. Let me just imagine I’m Juliet and you’re Romeo.”

“He’s an idiot.”

“So is Inti.”

“True.” He laughs. “I’ll search the world for you and shine bright on your face.”

“You better.” Tears fill her eyes. “Will I remember?”

He shakes his head. “No, you’ll remember nothing.”

“Can I? Can you give me that much at least? The gift of knowing your kiss and touch?”

“You’re not asking for a gift but for turmoil, pain, always searching, never finding, what sort of benevolent immortal would do that?”

“You’re an ass.”

“It would be a kindness, forgetting me.”

“It would be torture not knowing you.”

He falters. “I’ll leave something for you, something you’ll want to find, and when you find it, you’ll have your memories back. Does that sound like a fair bet?”

“It’s not a bet.”

“A promise then? I’ll leave you with part of me, so that when you see me again you recognize me.”

“And then you’ll be with me?”

“And then I’ll not kill you again, sure.” I lie and lie again. She won’t know. I will. I will be tortured by the past but thrilled she has a future.

She slaps me on the chest. “Be serious.”

“Your heart will know mine.” But it won’t ever know why. She’ll just think about me for a few days, maybe search for me at the same coffee shop and she’ll live her life and I’ll watch.

Alone.

Still shining.

Still fighting the cold feeling of jealousy in my soul.

“Okay.” She nods. “Okay. I can agree to this.”

“Until tomorrow,” I whisper. I shove her away, I have no choice.

This time she lets me leave. I collect my mask from the table and exit the cave. But when I get to the beach, Enki is there waiting for me. I frown. “How’d you escape the kraken?”

He grins. “Oh, I fed it.”

My stomach sours. “What exactly did you feed it?”

“A little of this, a little of that.” He raises his hand. “Go back into the cave, Ra. Finish what you started. I can keep watch.”

“The hell you will!” I roar.

He’s suddenly holding Apep’s blade. “Go.” He turns them both toward his chest. “Or we’re all done.”

“You don’t know that.”

“And you do?”

I clench my fists. “Why are you doing this?”

“What loving immortal, or friend, wouldn’t want you to have a few short hours with the woman you love? The same one about to die at your hands. Go, I’ll keep watch.”

“Enki?”

“Apep?”

“Your trickery is showing.” I glare.

Enki is suddenly Inti, and he rolls his eyes at me before plopping himself down on the beach. “Can’t I be an actual true friend for once? Go back in the damn cave before I drug you again.”

My eyes narrow. “What did you feed Ken?”

“That’s what you’re concerned about?” He bursts out laughing. “I fed him fish! What he eats! And he’s still guarding, I just bribed him, you know how much he likes dolphin.”

I gasp. “You didn’t.”

“Fine, I gave him kelp and he asked for a steak from Cow, which I wholeheartedly agreed to. Just go back into the cave.” His face sobers. “I’ll guard you with my life.”

“Says the lesser immortal who failed his trials.”

“To his master, yes.” Inti nods. “I may be a lot of things. I may help escort people to the afterlife in order to make sure they aren’t in pain. I may have my tricks, my laughs, but I will always have you, even if you don’t put up with me, not even on a good day.”

“There have been a lot of bad days.”

“Go inside already.” He rolls his eyes. “And make it worth my while.”

I growl. “YOU WILL NOT WATCH!”

He holds up his hands. “Kidding, kidding, wow, it’s just so easy with you these days. Don’t keep it in your pants, and I’ll turn my back and watch Ken devour a few…things.”

“What if—” I can’t even bring myself to say it. Drawing a fortifying breath, I finish, “What if this changes everything?”

His back is to me, the blade still in his right hand. He’s watching the waves, then looks up at the sky. “Change is necessary in life, Ra. You’ve done so much for the world, yet the world has done nothing for you. Maybe change is exactly what we need.”

“And if I fail my trial?”

He looks over his shoulder. “Would it be so bad to be a husband?”

“You were spying.”

“It’s what I do.” He winks. “Go to her.”

I settle the mask over my face as I turn away and walk, and then I run, I throw myself through the mouth of the cave as thunder booms overhead, and I grab Cleo, tossing her onto the bed.

I rip off my tunic dropping it to the floor. I’m not gentle.

Her eyes drink me in, heavy with lust. “You came back.”

I lean over her, my mask skill covering part of my face. The only thing I’m wearing is what the gods wear to worship the sacrifices. “I’m not leaving until the morning.”

Her eyes widen. I grip her dress and rip it down the middle, tossing it to the ground. Leaning over her until I have her completely pinned to the bed, I whisper in her ear. “Run.”

I jerk back away from her, my smile evil. She has no idea what would have happened when she was forced to choose a mere immortal, but she will know now what it means to choose the heat of the sun.

“What do you mean, run?” She scrambles back on the bed, the bell around her ankle making the pretty little noise it makes when she moves. “Like run outside?”

I smooth back her hair and smile. So innocent, even now. “The cave has several different caverns and pools. Let me chase you.”

“But I thought?—”

“You have exactly three seconds.” My words sound grated. The anticipation of sinking between her thighs may actually kill me.

Inti was right.

Change is needed.

And it starts with an immortal chasing his sacrifice, coveting what blood will be spilled, and enjoying her joy, her warmth, until the end.

Cleo scrambles off the bed and starts to walk backwards, deeper into the cave.

Torches line every single one of the walls, there isn’t a room I haven’t been in. I stalk toward her. “One. Two.”

Cleo turns on her heels to run, but she of course didn’t listen to my threats.

“Three.” I grab her by the wrist, twirl her around, and press her back against the rock wall.

Cleo cries out, a solitary tear runs down her cheek. I lean close and catch it with my tongue, licking up the side of her face and ending with my mouth at her sensitive ear. “Should have listened to me. Don’t worry, you’ll learn, but until then…” I flip her around and clamp my mouth onto hers. She wraps her arms around my neck and clings to me.

“I can’t.” I break apart. “Can’t stop.”

She reaches for me and nods. “Then don’t.”

I lift her higher and sink into her. She tries to grip the rock wall with her hands. As I pump my hips, she stiffens and then arches her back, pushing herself backward into me, taking everything I can give her and panting for more. My thrusts deepen until I’ve spent myself inside her,

I slide out, still hard and rife with desire for her. I press against her, allowing her to feel my lust. “Let’s try this again…run.” I let out a pant and release her.

She sprints past me, but her legs are no match for mine, the bell on her ankle rings to the right, then the left. I catch up to her and grab her wrist.

The gurgle and bubble of the first spring reaches my ears. It’s one of cleansing. I’ve only ever touched it once.

The caves are built on holy ground.

But what better place to take her than in the spring that promises futures beyond your belief even though I know it’s a sad fantasy that the lower gods talk about, like a fairytale you want to believe in but know isn’t true.

Maybe I’ll believe in it tonight.

Maybe I’ll wish on a few stars too, maybe tonight one will fall and save us all.

Maybe I won’t kill her in the morning.

Maybe I’m wrong.

I wrap my arm around her waist and fall with her into the green and blue water. She drifts below the surface, but when I haul her up her eyes are clear, focused on me, needy. “You promise?”

“Promise what?”

“Promise you’ll stay until the morning?” I can’t tell if it’s tears or water dripping down her face, either way I wash it away with my thumbs and lean forward.

Our breathing is in sync, mixing, joining just like our bodies will.

I carry her to the bench near the spring’s waterfall. “I’m staying until the end.”

She exhales against my lips and grabs my cock. “Then make it worth my while…Lord of the Sky.”

“Brave,” I hiss. The pain and pleasure are all too much, just having her against me has me seeing nothing but black waves. They crash onto me, thrusting me into the rocks, tempting me, teasing me with their rough caresses.

“Who needs the sky?” They ask .

“All you need is her.”

“Give in.” Another dark voice, him… Chaos. Even now he tries to tempt me to fail.

I jerk away from the tug, shaking my head, I grip Cleo by the shoulders. For once I want to choose me. I want to die a thousand deaths plunged into her flames.

She wraps her legs around me while I kiss her, and with each touch of her lips something darker pulses in my soul, something I can’t control and don’t want to as I push her up against the rocks surrounding the spring, losing my grip on reality. I dig my hands into her ass.

She hisses in pain.

I kiss it away then realize…

I like it. I like it when I hear her soft pants and screams, knowing they’re for something I did.

She’s driving me mad.

“Cyrus…”

She tries to hold onto me, but I push her beneath the water, my eyes blurring as she shoves against me and hits me on the chest.

I want to drown her so all she sees is my face in the end, all she wants is me. It’s intoxicating, being wanted so desperately by someone.

She was warned.

And here we are.

There, she is staring directly at me.

I pull her back up against the marble stairs of the small pool while she gasps for air.

Her eyes widen when she looks at me, and I can’t figure out why until I look down and see sparks of light coming from my fingertips, zapping against the pool water.

Something’s wrong.

I need to walk away.

But I also need her.

“On your knees.” I barely get the sentence out. “Please!”

She falls to her knees on one of the marble steps. I grip her by the hips and turn her around. Then I shove myself inside her. As of right now, I am the only one with her. I am hers. I may as well be her partner, her mate, since she is the only one I will ever have. In an eternity of rising and falling.

I have.

Fallen.

The sun has descended.

It only knows Cleo.

I can’t stop moving my body, can’t stop feeling, something else is taking over, and it feels addicting, like the heat between her thighs, like honey on my tongue.

“Cyrus!” she yells for me. “Harder! Please, I need you.”

“Yes. Need you too. You’re my only sunrise, my only sunset,” I agree with the feel of tears down my cheeks. They spill onto her naked body marked in silver blood. No more words are spoken. We only feel. I only want her heat, she clings to mine, and while my tears stain her back I realize I will never regret this, nor will I ever be the same. I was born to rise for her the way she was born to fall into the darkness for me. For Chaos. I never needed the spear. She is the spear. She is the god killer—not just for me but for Chaos too.

Soft moans echo off the cave walls. I should tell her to run again to get as far away as possible. Instead, the word tumbles, no it crumbles from my mouth, spoken into eternity. “Stay.”

“What if I like running?”

I groan, pumping my hips harder, kissing the back of her neck, then pulling her by the hair to gain more access. “I’ll only chase. Is that what you want?”

“Is this the reward I get for being caught?” We’re both playing our old roles again, the ones where it’s just a game. It’s just fucking checkers isn’t it? But we both know it’s not. I decide to play anyway.

I must.

She’s mine.

“Every time.”

She moves her body back against me, her entire body tensing. Mouth parting, she lets out a scream that I catch on the tip of my tongue before smiling against her mouth.

She whispers, “Then tell me what to do.”

I flick her chin. “Run, little human, run for your life, and I promise I’ll capture you every time.”

“Good.” Her smile feels sad. “That’s good.”

Dripping wet, she runs, and I catch her.

She runs again. I slam her body against the rocks.

“Run,” I rasp.

When she trips, I grab her, gathering her in my arms and pressing her softly up against the rock wall. With each movement of my hips I go deeper, and I sense her soul, her feelings of need, ecstasy. When I pull out, a small tear slides down her cheek, I catch it, burning it away into one more freckle I’ll remember, then press it against my chest, where my heart should be frozen, but she’s healed it. Where I should be feeling nothing—I feel her.

I lied.

She’s different.

And she’s different because she’s mine and I’m hers.

And now that I’ve found her, I have to let her go.

I shake my head, holding her still, and I promise myself I will find a way, no matter what it takes I’ll find a way, I have to.

“Let’s go rest for a bit,” I whisper against her cheek, then I carry her to bed.