I snorted. “So I’ve been told.”
“And to answer your question: you are carrying a curse from a god. Rau designed that to hit one of Abil’s offspring. It didn’t. You got in the way. I’m sure you do that often. As a dweller, you do not have the power to sustain the energy this curse is leeching from you, which is why you formed a soul-link with Abil’s sons. Their powers were keeping you alive, which is why you had to stay close to them. Too much distance and the curse fed from your life-force.” Well, that explained the pain. “I could see those threads linking you together, so I cut them and drew them to myself instead. It had to be done, otherwise you would have died. They were not yet in Topia. The curse was killing you.”
My hand rubbed absently at my chest, the memories of the tearing and fissuring inside of me still strong. “So basically what you’re saying is that I have to be linked to a powerful god or I will die. No exceptions.”
Cyrus nodded. “Yes. Rau asked me to cut the soul-link so that he could take you into his power. I’ll be handing you over to him as soon as we are released from here. I’m not planning on keeping this connection open—I do not need a leech attached to me at all times.”
“If you are Neutral, then why the hell are you working for Rau? Isn’t he one of the people who wanted to end your balance thing?” I was starting to raise my voice, the panic inside of me bubbling over.
I couldn’t be tied to that crazy ass Chaos god. No way, not ever. I would die first. I would let the curse rip me to shreds. Even Neutral Asshole was preferable to Rau.
“I owed him a favour,” Cyrus muttered. “We are now even.”
He said no more, choosing instead to study the crackling fire, which had at some point begun crackling again. Meanwhile, I was fuming that once again my life was spiralling out of control.
“You need to eat and drink, correct?”
His question took me by surprise, reminding me of another god who had said something similar. “Yes, I require food and water.” Weariness leaked into my murmured words. The fight was quickly draining out of me, especially if I wasn’t going to be able to escape. I was ready to just curl up into a ball and succumb to unconsciousness. “But I want nothing from you. I’ll just sleep until we can leave.”
Cyrus was on his feet, something crossed over those hard features as he stared down at me. “You can take my bed,” he finally said, waving his hand in that direction. “I do not require much rest.”
I pulled myself gracelessly to my feet. “Wake me when it’s time to leave.”
“What happened to your face? Who put those marks on you?”
I had been turning away when his questions froze me in place, my head swivelling back to see him. Reaching up, I let my hands drift across my lips and cheekbones.
“You’re almost healed,” Cyrus added, “but I can see the faint remnants.”
“It was Rau.” I dropped my hand. “He has a nasty temper when he doesn’t get his own way.”
Before Cyrus could comment again I turned again and entered the bedroom, wishing there was a door that I could shut between us. The room had been lit up when I entered, but that light dimmed as I crossed to the huge bed. It was the biggest bed I’d ever seen, at least five times the size of my rock mattress back at Blesswood. Kicking off my shoes, I crawled across and snuggled down under the covers.
It was so soft, so massive, so comfortable. But none of my Abcurses were there.
The ache in my chest kicked into gear, but this time it had nothing to do with the curse and everything to do with my heart. I missed my guys, and I knew they would be tearing Topia apart trying to find me. They would be punished for being here again, they would fight Rau, and it would all be my fault.
Probably they would—and should—just ditch me now that they realised they were free of me. Still, deep down, I hoped that wasn’t the case. I had come to think of them as family, as a family I couldn’t live without, and I was praying they felt the same way. Guess I was going to find out now. Now that Cyrus had screwed us all over.
I shouldn’t have felt comfortable enough to sleep, what with Neutral Asshole in the next room, but for some reason I still didn’t really fear him as much as I probably should have. So when I closed my eyes and tried to empty my mind, I had no trouble drifting off to sleep.
Sixteen
All too soon, consciousness filtered back in, and with it came the memories. My soul wasn’t living inside the Abcurses anymore—not that it had ever been in the first place, if Cyrus was to be believed. But I wasn’t connected to them anymore. I was stuck in Cyrus’s home.
And …
Rau!
I would not be linked to him; I refused to even consider it, which meant that I had to stop Cyrus before he took me to him. There was nothing around to judge time by, but I felt only semi-rested, which probably meant that I’d been asleep for six or so rotations. That still left a few rotations in the sun-cycle until we could leave.
Cyrus had said that there were securities, that no one could easily leave or enter, but maybe those securities were designed for gods. It would make sense, since they were the only beings who could be a threat to him. I wasn’t a god though—something which had been pointed out to me on more than one occasion. It was always said as an insult, but I didn’t think of it in that way. I didn’t want to be a god. The only benefit to godhood was being able to stay with the Abcurses after their punishment was lifted.
As silently as possible, I eased off the bed, dropping lightly to the stone floor. It felt cooler now, as though the fire had died off again. It was also dark, though thankfully there was still enough light for me to easily move about. I had a feeling that Cyrus was either resting, or he had disappeared.
Maybe he had decided to use his secret way out. Maybe I would use this time to try and escape myself. I left my shoes, since it was much quieter with bare feet, and tiptoed out of the bedroom and through the large living area. It was silent in the stone rooms: no movement and no sign of Neutral Asshole. I knew I couldn’t get too far from him, assuming the soul-link worked the same way with him as it had with the Abcurses … but if I could just get through his securities then maybe someone would find me.
Even without our link, the guys would never let Rau take me.