Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“And here I was, thinking you were smart. All of that can be accomplished if I simply keep her with me, monster. Now—”
“You’re missing the point.”
“Am I?” Eros laughs. “Then enlighten me.”
“You’re a liar. You’re a cheat. You kidnap little girls and abandon them in foreign worlds. You’re selfish, and self-centered, and evil. Because love is the most powerful emotion and you use it like a weapon.”
Eros is still chuckling. “You say that like this is a bad thing.”
“Which means I don’t trust you.”
“Nor I you. So what was the point, exactly?”
“I have a power as well.”
“Do you now?”
“And if you force Pie to stay here with you, I might have to use it to just… wipe the world clean and leave it at that.”
Oh. Shit. He’s talking about his voice.
“I might just be a monster. And I might only be a godling. But you know what I can do.”
“But the question is, will you?”
“That certainly is the question.”
“You won’t.”
“I will. You see, Eros, if you’re going to double-cross me, what’s the point?” Pell throws up his hands. “Why work so hard to get my happily ever after if you can’t be trusted? Why not just… end it all right now? I could do it. You know I can.”
And these last few words come out with so much power, his voice so loud and commanding, that the floor splits open underneath the eros and he goes tumbling to his knees, his great, black wings flying up to catch him before he actually falls through the hole in the floor.
Eros hovers there, mid-air, so angry at Pell, it’s coming off him like heat.
“Mine.” Pell says this with the same power. And suddenly, there is a chasm between us and the eros. An endless pit of darkness ringing the center of the room, with Eros right in the middle of it.
A threat.
For a moment, no one dares to say anything, or move, or even make a face.
Then the eros disappears, making the room dark again. A flame of fire rises up from the newly opened chasm, making a shadow on the wall.
Not a man, not a god, but just a voice dancing in the flames…
“Revenge is sick but oh so sweet.
Burning hate makes me complete.
I have no love for men or gods
I use it to enslave their bonds.
Spin the wheel, truth or dare
And all your lives will be spared.
If you follow all the rules
And deliver me the beastly fool.
Upend the world, make me the king.
Tarq and Pie, a new godling.
And I will leave you all behind,
And be myself with my own kind.”
Then he unleashes an arrow and next thing I know, it hits me in the chest! I stumble backward. Then there’s another bright flash, more darkness, and… he’s gone.
And we are standing in the truth-or-dare room again, looking at each other with confusion.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - PELL
“He cursed us,” Tomas says. “That was a curse, right?”
“Did he just bind me to Tarq?” Pie asks, looking down at her chest where the arrow should be, but isn’t.
“Spin the wheel?” I’m looking at her when I say this. “Did you catch that part of the spelling? We’re supposed to play truth or dare?”
Pie lets out a groan. “What the fuck is wrong with these people? Why do they have to talk in riddles? And I swear to God, if I’m in love with Tarq, I’m gonna be fuckin’ pissed!”
“Well, at least the two of you are playing the game,” Tomas groans. “I’m irrelevant. How am I supposed to serve the doorknob gods and save my Madeline if I’m irrelevant?”
Pie and I both look at him. “What?”
“The doorknob gods.”
“Tomas.” I’m growling at him again. He really gets on my nerves sometimes. “We don’t have time for your petty problems. Our whole world is precarious right now. We have to figure this out.”
“Figure what out? Go get Tarq and take him to Eros. Pie has one baby—she can manage that, right, Pie? Simple. Done. Your curses are over. Meanwhile, my Madeline is changing into a dragon and will be sentenced to thousands of years of distressing turmoil and self-loathing. I think my problem takes precedence here. Don’t you, Pie?”
We both look at Pie, who has a strange look on her face.
I recognize this look. “Pie—”
She immediately puts up a hand. “Just hear me out! We can’t just give him Tarq.”
“Why not?” Tomas asks.
And I’m in agreement. “I thought you hated Tarq?”
“I do. Well”—Pie bobs her head a little—“I don’t hate him. That’s a strong word. I just never trusted him.”
“Wait.” I point at her. “Are you in love with Tarq? I mean, I was hoping he would try that, but do you have real feelings for him?”
Pie snaps at me. “What?”
“You were hoping for this?” Tomas asks.
“Well, he needed a reason to let her come with us, Tomas. I wish it had been me, but he wasn’t going to just hand her to me. He needed insurance. So I planted a seed about a love arrow.”