Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“I’d fix it if you’d let me out of this hellhole,” I grumble. “Lift my punishment.”
“I can’t do that either,” she says, and I have to resist the urge to throw my glass across the room. “It was a unanimous decision to punish you in that way, and I cannot rescind it or make an exception.”
“Then let me talk to all the gods and request it.”
Hope surges in me when she doesn’t immediately deny my suggestion, as she’s shot down everything else I’ve asked for.
“It’s Circe you’d need to convince,” Zora finally says.
My brows furrow, and I forget about the bourbon. Stepping toward Zora, I ask, “Why Circe?”
“Because you fucked up the plans she had for you,” Zora says. “And she’s pissed. But if you appeal to her, maybe she’ll convince the others.”
“Wait a minute,” I say, raising my hand. “What plans of Circe’s did I fuck up?”
“It was her idea to throw you and Nyssa together.”
That piece of information slams into me like a wrecking ball, and I stumble back a step. “What?”
Circe is the god of Fate. She’s the ultimate meddler, so this shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. She’s never shown any interest in the workings of the Underworld.
“Circe put Vince on a collision course with Nyssa. Knew she’d kill him and that would earn her the ticket to your bridge.”
My head spins with this revelation, and I’m having a hard time buying it. “And she just happened to make Nyssa walk right in front of a bus?”
“No,” Zora says. “But Circe has a way of knowing what people will and won’t do. What their limits are. If she didn’t come to you then, she would have come at some other time.”
“Why?” I mutter. “Circe doesn’t know me. I have no importance to the gods.”
It’s very subtle, and I almost miss it, but Zora actually blushes a little.
I pounce. “Wait… it wasn’t just Circe. You were involved too.”
Zora lifts her chin, her face imperious. “Yes. Fine. I wanted you to be happy, and I might have bemoaned that to Circe, and then she came up with this plan.”
“The crystal,” I say, pointing my finger at her in accusation. “Another ploy to get me to fall for Nyssa. You wanted me to see her life.”
“I want you to be happy,” Zora says softly, reiterating her original intent. Then her expression hardens. “And, of course, you fucked it up by sending her away.”
“It was a horrible decision. I was operating on emotion, and I was so angry that she came so close to permanent death.”
“Bullshit,” Zora says with a laugh. “You were scared how much she made you feel when you almost lost her. So you took the easy way out and sent her away.”
“Fine… yes. I was scared, angry, whatever. I don’t care what you call it, I just want to fix it. She said things to me… I said things to her that weren’t true. Please, tell me how I can make this right and convince her to come back.”
Zora doesn’t answer right away, her eyes studying me for some deeper truth I haven’t revealed yet. But I’ve withheld nothing. It’s obvious I’m miserable without Nyssa, and I need to get her back.
“I’ll talk to Circe, but you need to prepare yourself that Nyssa might not want to return here.”
I nod, relief surging within me that she’ll at least try to get me to the First Dimension. “If that’s the case, I’ll have to be happy knowing she’s happy there. But I have to see it for myself.”
“Okay.”
“There’s something else,” I blurt as an idea strikes me.
Zora tilts her head, awaiting my request.
“Is it possible to turn an immortal, mortal?”
Her eyes widen. “You mean… could you be turned mortal and stay in the First Dimension with Nyssa?”
I nod, tamping down the surge of nausea that comes with such an idea. It would mean giving up my life, essentially. For someone as old as me, a mortal life of another forty to fifty years is a mere blink of an eye.
And yet, if that’s all I could have with Nyssa, I’d give up everything for it.
“I don’t know,” Zora says, and I can tell she’s perplexed by the idea. “But even if it could be done, I’m not sure I could give you up. You’re too important to the Underworld.”
“Then be glad I’m not actually asking that of you right now. But anything you can do to give me a small reprieve to visit her would be appreciated.”
“Not appreciated,” Zora says with a smirk. “You will owe me big-time.”
“Gladly,” I reply.
I’d give anything for just a few minutes with Nyssa.
CHAPTER 26
Nyssa
I’d like to say it took me a long time to get used to small-town living, but it didn’t. Having actually slept on big-city streets, the quiet, slow ease of a tight community has been a balm. Of course, the security of having a home with a roof overhead and food in the fridge helps too.