Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
I’ve got the Queen of Vinca, for fuck’s sake. Plus all that comes with her bloodline.
I’ve got a small army of monsters and wood nymphs.
I’ve got some semi-human descendants—one of which is a fuckin’ dragon.
I’ve got Batty. Darrel, whatever. And if I remember correctly, he was some kind of chimera dissident leader back in the ancient times.
In addition to all that I have Tomas, the god of happy endings. He’s probably warded from me these days, but not heavily. I could find him if I wanted to. And he could find Pressia. I know he could. He was kinda hinting at that the last time we spoke.
So perhaps my sense of unsettlement is more about how I’m unable, or unwilling, to use all this power and all these resources to bust myself out of this fuckin’ curse?
Alternatively, perhaps I just need to get laid a little more. With a woman who actually appreciates me.
But this town has few choices. Which is why I sleep with Callistina every night.
Or, as it turns out. Not every night.
Where did that crazy queen go?
I should find her. Because it is not Tarq who is my path back to the gods. Not Pressia, either. Though I hate her, and would end her given the chance, she is but a side quest at the moment.
It’s Callistina I need to figure out.
I get caught up in my thoughts for a while, the past running through my head. Whirling around. Spinning and turning. Inside out and upside down. I’m trying to fit all these pieces into some kind of order.
A plan begins to form too. Nothing spectacular, but all the bits and pieces of past events and choices suddenly start adding up to something.
A former queen.
The House of Fire.
Royal beasts.
Might I be able to whip up a little quid pro quo?
I finally find Callistina tucked away in the abandoned bookstore. She is sleeping—naked—on a blue velvet divan in a corner, lying on her side with her hands tucked under her cheeks. Her face is calm and sweet and there are no antlers on her head or wooden blocks on her feet to mess up the illusion.
The person who used to run this store left the fog a couple weeks ago and never returned. Probably got lost. It’s a risk they take.
But anyway, after checking every single fucking store, here Callistina is.
I clear my throat. Then wait for her to stir.
She doesn’t. So I clear it again and say, “Callistina,” in a commanding voice.
This time she groggily opens her eyes. It takes another moment for her to focus on me and then she spits, “You shall call me queen!”
“Come on. I know you’re faking it. Just knock it off already.”
She glares at me, then gets up, standing mere inches away from me… naked. Which, not gonna lie here, is putting me off my game. She sets her jaw and through gritted teeth she hisses, “You. Shall call. Me queen.”
“Fine. You’re the fuckin’ queen. Why are you sleeping in the bookstore? Is this where you were last night?”
“You—”
“My queen! My fuckin’ queen!” I pan my arms wide and turn in a circle. “Did you sleep in here last night?”
She picks up that ugly blue dress off the floor and slides it over her head. It’s like ten sizes too big. And then, without saying another word or giving me another glance, she walks away.
“Callistina!”
She growls, but doesn’t even so much look over her shoulder. Just hits the front door and exits.
What the hell?
I go after her and by the time I get outside, she’s already down the road.
For a moment I consider giving up. But then I have a little pep talk with myself. “If becoming the god of gods was so damn easy, Eros, then everyone would be the god of gods, wouldn’t they?”
This is true. Big rewards require big effort.
I have a feeling about Callistina’s nightmare. Specifically, that it might not be a nightmare, but a glimmer. A hole in the fabric of time, if time even exists. Which is questionable.
But anyway, I would like to find out more about her glimmer, if that’s what it is, because I could find a good use for a glimmer. Foresight and all that. It’s useful when making big plans.
So. Right. I let out a sigh and continue after her as she disappears inside the bar.
When I get inside the bar, she’s already heading up the stairs to our apartment. There are a few people in the bar now, helping themselves to whatever whiskey we’ve got on the shelves, but I ignore them as I pursue Callistina upstairs.
Inside the apartment she has hastily pulled her crazy self together. Already wearing the mangy coat and her wooden blocks, she is standing in front of a dirty mirror positioning her antlers when I arrive and sigh. Because I’m tired of her little game.