“I just need a click. Give me one. Damn. Click.”
I sounded pretty angry, and the reality was, parts of me were. My soul was off playing happy family with five gods, which left me broken and with almost no will against them.
“You pushed her too far,” I heard Siret say, his voice holding a bite of annoyance.
A crash startled me, and I looked up to find Rome striding off, and a wall nearby looking a little shaky. There weren’t any fist-shaped holes, but I was pretty sure the entire building was shaking. The other four remained around me, their backs half-turned in my direction. At first I couldn’t figure out what they were doing, until I realised that there were a few sols lingering close by.
They were blocking me while I fell apart.
Making sure that my half-naked ass wasn’t on show for the world to see.
Why did they do that? One click they were assholes and I was so mad at them that I was mentally devising a plan to cut my souls from their bodies while they slept, and the next click they were doing something so perfect that I had to love their stupid faces all over again. It wasn’t fair. I wanted them to be consistent.
As Rome disappeared and my senses kicked back into gear, I was calm enough to stand and suck in a few deep breaths. My anger had now faded out to a pale shade of what it was. Half of me still wanted to go after Rome, but instead I gathered up the threads of independence left to me, and pushed through the remaining Abcurses, heading toward their rooms. I expected my show of defiance to cause me pain, but my chest remained at the same standard throb as when they were close, but not touching. I turned back and was shocked enough to see that all of them were following a short distance behind me—so shocked that my feet tangled up and I tripped over flat ground, tumbling down again.
Well, almost tumbling down. I crashed against a big body, and then we both fell together. I was confused for a moment, because the Abcurses rarely fell, and they rescued me all the time. I was pressed against his chest, so I couldn’t see who had me … but he smelled different. Less spice, more like the soap nuts that the dwellers used to wash the clothes of the special sols. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell, but it wasn’t an Abcurse.
Not an Abcurse. Oh crap. I tried to roll away, but my arms and legs were pinned down by his massive body. Holy crap, I really needed to get away from him before all hell broke loose.
“Well, well, dweller.”
I stilled momentarily at the familiar voice, before continuing to wiggle free. Once I managed to get my arms free, I used his chest to leverage myself up. It was the giant sol. Mountain Man. Was he stalking me? Or was I somehow stalking him? Because he seemed to be everywhere I was lately.
His eyes twinkled as he grinned at me, and being this close to him, I noticed that his eyes were a deep, rich chocolate brown around the pupils, lightening up to something more caramel at the edges.
Pretty, but still not an Abcurse.
“We really have to stop meeting like this,” I blurted out, my legs finally getting traction as I scrambled to stand.
Mountain Man, who was still flat on his back, lifted the top half of his oversized body and let his eyes lazily assess me. “You know, it’s kind of growing on me. Think I’m starting to see what the Abcurses find so fascinating about you.” He stood then, towering over every sol in the hall.
I felt the heat rush up from my toes, spreading out across my body. “I’m usually wearing clothes,” I blurted out, trying to halt my mortification.
Not only did I keep crawling on top of this guy, but this sun-cycle’s attempt had been in a mostly-naked state.
“Actually, she rarely has clothes on, but that’s not really your concern. Is it?” The question was asked casually, almost a throw away inquiry.
Yael, who had asked the question, stepped up to my right. Siret on my left. Aros and Coen finished off our wall of five. For the first time, Mountain Man looked a little worried, his gaze brushing across the fierce men at my sides. A part of me was flattered. Who would have ever thought that clumsy Willa Knight would ever attract such attention?
It didn’t take that flattery long to filter into annoyance.
The Abcurses had made a pact; so why were they now in this hallway, branding their ownership on me? It made me angry enough to step forward from the line. To distance myself just enough to make my point clear.
“I’m Willa,” I said to Mountain Man. “I’ll see you around.”
Then I turned and marched off, catching a glimpse of three dark, angry gazes—and one slightly amused, but still kind of pissed-off Siret.
“I’m Dru,” Mountain Man shouted after me. “Be seeing you, Willa!”
I threw my right hand over my head in a farewell of sorts, but didn’t look back. Well, not until the crashing got loud enough that I was forced to see what chaos I had left behind me. I caught a glimpse of tangled legs and what might have been the red spray of blood, before a god who was very good at impersonating a wall blocked my view. Yael.
He didn’t say anything. He simply pointed his finger in the direction I had been heading, as if to say keep walking. The only problem was that I was done blindly taking orders from them. My stand was probably getting a bit out of hand, but now that I had started this act of defiance and independence, I was finding it hard to stop.
With both hands on my hips, I raised my eyebrows and tried my best not to blink.
Yael just shook his head at me, and a sliver of softness crept into his stunning eyes. We had a silent eye conversation and I could swear that he was pleading with me. Our stare-off lasted for a few long clicks, until finally I caved. I’d never been that good at holding on to anger or grudges. It always seemed like a lot of effort, and I never knew when my next accident was going to be my last. I didn’t want to go out with horrible emotions locked inside of me.
So I let it go.
Yael must have seen me softening because he threw both arms out and swept me up, holding me close to his body. A body which was rigid and slightly trembling. “You’ve been sent here to test us, Willa. It’s a test I’m not sure any of us will survive.”
His husky words were cryptic. They could be taken two ways, but I felt his need. Maybe it was our mental-link, or maybe I just knew him by now, but the need vibrated out of him, trembling in his arms as he held me. He needed to hold me close. It was an unnatural urge that I’d had to battle with often since my soul had splintered up, so I understood. I decided not to think too hard on the test them part of what he had said, and just allow myself to go limp against him.