Page 30 of The Gods We Defy (All Gods Must Die #2)

CHAPTER 30

S oft kisses brush along my body, waking me with a smile. The bed beneath me is soft, a stark contrast to the hard body wrapped around me.

Content and whole, I bask in this moment of happiness. Of warmth and safety.

I run my hands along Kestral’s back, needing to touch him, to know that this is real as I try to process the last few days.

The second trial is over. We made it. All of us. Kestral said the others made it through the portal, thinking I had also gone through.

The illusions, the snake, and the power that enabled me to kill it.

I was able to finally reach my shadows, but they formed into something different, something more , and joined with my light.

Reaching down inside me, I feel for them once more trying to sense that power, but… it’s gone. Again . Trapped behind that veil of smoke. But why?

Cyra thinks it’s a block I’ve placed upon myself.

Am I afraid of my own darkness? Of what I had to do. Of the things that I saw and felt down in that underground prison.

Of what I still have to do here in Túr Rí. I should focus on finding the stone. I’m closer than I have ever been.

“Tell me what you’re thinking?” Kestral asks, as I find his silver-gray eyes watching me.

“I wish I could,” I admit.

He frowns but nods, immediately understanding.

A vicious smile slides across his face as he drags a hand down my arm to my hand, pausing on the small swirling symbol before placing a soft kiss beside it. “When I find out who made that deal with you, they’re going to wish they were never born.”

“It was the only way,” I tell him, and he nods, but doesn’t lose the vicious expression on his face, still willing to avenge me.

“We haven’t talked about your powers yet,” he says.

I smile, attempting to avoid the question completely. “We haven’t done much talking at all.” I slide my hand down his chest, planning to move lower. But he grabs it and brings it to his lips, stopping my little detour. But I don’t miss his length as it hardens against my stomach.

“Talk to me. I want to know everything about you. I want to know your fears and your hopes. Your dreams and your nightmares too. I want it all.”

“Not just my body?” I give him a heated look and rub against him, against his cock as it twitches at my stomach.

He groans and leans down to kiss me, rolling until I’m beneath him. His eyes roam my face, my chest. “ That is a devastatingly beautiful addition to the package, but I want your heart too. I want every part of you. The good. The sides you think are bad. And all in between.”

My heart aches at his expression full of openness, as if he stripped away everything to reveal his vulnerability that stares back at me, waiting, hoping. And in that moment, it makes me want to reveal everything to him. Everything I can, at least.

“There was fear in your eyes when I last spoke about my powers. Why?” I ask.

He gives me a sad sort of smile. “I thought…” He shakes his head, sighing. “It doesn’t matter what I once thought. All that matters is that I think you’re amazing. So strong and powerful, and I want to help you become stronger in any way I can. Can you show me your shadows? I want to see what you’re capable of.”

Relief rushes through me when I realize why he’s asking. The final trial. He must be worried.

“Oryn and Nevan are the same,” I remind him, and he nods, urging me on.

“It’s going to sound like a lie. But… they don’t work.”

Instead of looking at me like he thinks I’m lying, he freezes, his brows furrowing with worry. “Why?”

“I think they’re blocked,” I reveal.

“Blocked? By what?”

“Not what, who . Me. I think I’m somehow subconsciously blocking them.”

His frown deepens. “Seren?—”

I try to clear my mind and just think of the words as I say them. “Something happened… after I came here. I can’t talk about it or think about it. But I think it might be part of the reason.”

He pulls me closer, as if trying to protect me. “Tell me what I can do to help,” he begs. “Name it and it’s yours.”

My eyes soften, my heart filling with so much warmth and love. “You already are.”

He leans into me, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight as if I’m about to disappear at any moment. I run my fingers through his hair, earning myself a throaty groan.

“You owe me some answers,” I say, hoping to move away from the intense subject.

“I do, do I?” He lifts his head and smirks at me, willing to playing along. “What would you like to know?”

“Anything?” I ask, surprised.

“Anything,” he breathes, waiting patiently.

“How old are you?”

He chuckles at my simple question. “Twenty-three.”

Not that much older than me. “I hear fae live a lot longer than the average Sidus or Caligo.”

His eyes sparkle. “ Much longer. Something you will also have now that we’re bonded.”

My brows rise, but he shakes his head. “Ask me another?” he says, as if enjoying this.

I scramble to think of something after his little reveal and say the first thing that pops into my mind. “Was it the first time you visited Findias? The time we met.”

He shakes his head. “I’ve slipped in before, but I only ever saw the Caligo houses and city in the mountains.” He frowns, growing quiet for a moment. “I didn’t know about the Sidus town or the suffering and pain you all went through. I would have helped if I had. Even if the rules forbid it.”

I give him a questioning look, hoping he’ll explain, and he does so without prodding.

“I’m not supposed to intervene. I’m supposed to sit back and watch and stay in the background. Any of us that enter any of the hidden kingdoms looking for chosen are. We act as over-seers. It enables us to move about freely and find those with potential.”

“For the trials?” I ask, and he nods.

I roll my eyes at that. The trials are foolish in my opinion. Maybe long ago they meant something, but now they are nothing more than a game for power and control.

He smiles at me; it softens his eyes and quickly grows warm with whatever he’s thinking. “But with you, I couldn’t help myself. I had to meet you. I had to meet the person who ensnared my every thought.”

Just like he has me. I thought I was going crazy thinking about him all the time. Worrying over his every look and action. But now I see it for what it really was.

Love . His love is so vivid, I don’t know how I ever missed it.

It was there in Findias, and after—there when he kissed me in the training room—here every time Hunter looked at me, saved me. Even when the queen created that game for the immunity.

Another problem we need to deal with. “What will we do about your mother, the Queen?”

“Technically, you will be queen one day,” he points out and I blanch as his low chuckle wraps around me.

“We’ll stay away from her until the trials are complete and then I’ll deal with her,” he promises.

I try to slow my racing heart, pushing the thought of me ever being queen to the back of my mind. “What happens after?”

He raises a brow. “After?”

“All of this.” I glance around. “ After the trials.”

“You mean when you make it through the last trial gloriously?”

I smile and nod. “Yes. I want to see my family, my mother. I want to go back to my kingdom. At least for a while.”

His eyes soften. “You forget my line is the one that created those shields, and I have ways to come and go as I please.”

Elation rushes through me at the thought.

“After this is over, I’ll take you home. And when you’re ready I can show you the world. There are places that are untouched by the gods’ taint. Places I want to show you. To explore.”

A whole world opens up around me at his words. No longer caged.

I nod. Agreeing to everything and more. With him.

“But until then… we’ll have to do a different kind of exploration…” With a carnal smile, he crawls down my body and settles between my legs, gripping my thighs and spreading them wide.

“Now, my Queen , allow me to worship your body.”

R eturning to the tunnels beneath Túr Rí, I think of the conversation I had with Hael before coming down here.

News has apparently spread that Oryn may be the Godkiller. They say he killed the snake, and he seems to be playing along. And even though I know the truth, I didn’t come here to win some title or glory.

Oryn did, but for a cause. He wants to find his sister, Leora. Something I also want. Maybe Lord Cain will hold up his end of the deal and find her. But should he not, Oryn hopefully will.

Walking into the hall of mirrors, I avert my gaze as I pass straight out into the opening before the start of the three hallways.

Three hallways… three choices.

“Which one will I find the green stone in?” I mumble to myself before giving up. I close my eyes and point

As I take a step toward it, boots sound behind me and I whip around to see who is following me.

“Veles.” I smile.

“I’m a little hurt. I thought we were partners,” he says with a frown.

I raise a brow at him and stay silent.

He exaggerates a sigh. “Fine. Give me a hug and make it up to me.”

I shake my head with a smile but step forward into his open arms.

“I smell something a little different,” he says.

I step back and catch the wide smile that spreads across his face.

“Well… it’s about time. Welcome to the family,” he teases with a laugh.

I clear my throat and look anywhere but him only making him laugh harder.

“Now. Which of these are we searching first?” He looks at me expectantly and I point toward the middle one and we walk into it, heading into the long hallway to find dozens of doors on each side.

We can’t even split up because Veles doesn’t know what I’m looking for and I can’t exactly tell him.

He doesn’t seem deterred and tilts his head toward the first one on the left. A room that ends up having a broken desk and shelves that are like the ones in the library.

“How are they still intact?” I ask.

Veles glances around before he starts opening the drawers in the desk. “Magic. There’s power all over these ruins. Some just keep the lights on.” He dips his head toward the round orb that seems to light up anytime we walk into one of the rooms. “Some seem to contain what was once here. Like the library and throne room. They should have disintegrated long ago.”

We move on to the next room and work our way down before coming back up the opposite side, but room after room has nothing but old furniture and dust. It takes us hours to search the one hallway, with some of the rooms leading off into others but neither of us give up until we search every single one.

When we’re finally done, we agree to check one more hallway before heading back up, randomly picking the last one on the right while leaving the left one for tomorrow.

Heading down the second hall, we both share a look and sigh in relief when we only spot one door down the end. Though opening it seems to be a challenge.

We manage to push open the stubborn door only to step inside and find a quarter of the floor remaining and a huge opening where the rest of the room should be.

Veles looks down to the open pit. “It looks like this one collapsed somewhere along the way.”

There’s only one other hall that we haven’t looked at yet. But what if this is the room Brigid was pointing at. Technically it could be.

It’s just… somewhere down there.

Damn it.

“I’ll check it out,” he says and my head whips to his with a look telling him I think he’s gone crazy.

“Absolutely not. We don’t know how far down this goes or what’s down there.”

“Worried about me?” he teases but I answer immediately.

“Yes.”

Happiness radiates from his eyes before he narrows them playfully.

I spin around when Veles starts stripping. “Warn a girl,” I tell him as he chuckles.

“I would have thought seeing Kestral in all his glory would make you less… nervous.”

“I’m not nervous , I—” A cloud of dark smoke seeps up from the pit, spreading out around us, and the door slams shut behind us.

I run and pull on the handle with no luck. Veles tries and yanks the handle off with a wince. “Well…

A huge black beast similar to a wolf but with a flatter snout steps through the smoke. Its two long sharp teeth curve down over its mouth, glinting off the orb light above as it takes a clawed step forward.

It walks along the dark smoke as if it’s solid, slowly moving closer to me.

Unsheathing my sword, I step back to the door, my eyes not leaving the beast. But another beast jumps in front of me, making the dark beast pause.

Veles.

They quickly move around the edge of the room, tearing into one another. I dive to the left as Veles lunges, rolling the dark creature onto its back and ripping into it with his massive teeth

The small dark smoke starts to break away and head for me, swirling around me and reaching out a long claw.

I slash my sword cutting it off, but it joins the smoke once more. But when I glance back up another appears, taking its place trying to grab and claw at me.

I begin slashing, cutting, and slicing every dark hand but more and more appear, grabbing my cloak and pulling, dragging me toward the open pit.

Slicing off half of my cloak, I move to free myself and gain some footing, but they quickly follow me, surrounding me.

Veles doesn’t seem to be fairing too well either with the beast gaining the upper hand.

Glancing around, I try to figure a way out of here as I slice another hand in half when an angry wind rips through the room, shoving the dark claws and beast back. Once they’re on the other side of the room, they burst into flames and disappear with a hollow shriek.

I turn to find Kestral standing in the hole that was once a door with a face full of fury.

He rushes over to me and checks me for any injuries, not satisfied until I promise him I’m fine.

“How did you find us?” I ask as we move back through the hallway and out to the open area as Veles shifts back and hunts for his clothes.

“The bond,” he replies. “I’ll be able to find you anywhere now. No matter where you are in the world.”

“Anywhere?” I ask, thinking about the underground prison. He must see the fear on my face as he draws me closer and looks me straight in the eye, unflinching and with complete conviction when he replies.

“ Anywhere ,” he vows, and I nod. I didn’t realize I was still worried about the underground prison but knowing he will be able to find me fills me with instant relief.

Veles must have found his clothes as he walks back to us.

“Any update?” Kestral asks him.

“Update? What update?” I glance between them both and quickly realize where the guilty expression they’re sharing is coming from.

“You sent him to spy on me?” I accuse Kestral.

“ Watch over ,” Veles grounds out with a frown. “My family means everything to me.” He gives me a pointed look. “And I take their safety extremely seriously.”

My eyes soften when I realize that he means every word. And after what happened to his sister…

Kestral pulls me closer to him. “Don’t be mad. I couldn’t be around you all the time. I needed to make sure you were okay.”

Veles smiles at me but quickly covers it with a frown when Kestral glances over at him.

“I don’t think she’s mad,” Veles starts. “But…” His gaze finds mine and a mischievous smile spreads across his face. “You should make him work for it. Let him grovel for a bit, preferably on his knees.”

My cheeks burn at what he’s implying.

Kestral dips down to my ear. “Anytime. Anywhere ,” he whispers.

“I can hear you,” Veles sings, reminding us loudly of his presence.

I shove Kestral back as he chuckles, but he quickly finds his place beside me once more as if he can’t bear to be too far away.

“Now for the bad news.” Veles sighs, his playful expression quickly dropping as he gives Kestral a look.

“Seren needs to find a green stone.” He looks at me when my eyes widen. “We knew you were looking for something, but it wasn’t until you mumbled it earlier when I arrived, did I know what.” He glances to Kestral, furious and stiffening beside me.

“I also figured out that you’re on a time limit. I’m guessing the end of the trials.” He doesn’t wait for me to answer, already knowing I can’t, but the look on my face must reveal it as he nods and continues. “You were sent here to find that green stone under the guise of the trials. Meaning we need to find it by the end of the final trial or…”

“ Or what?” Kestral grits out, his arms tightening around me.

Veles looks to me with nothing but sadness in his eyes. “Or she dies…”