Seduction (Curse of the Gods #3)

“Yes,” I repeated, a little exasperated. I wished that they had listened the first time around, but they were probably preoccupied with the fact that I had managed to take control of their brother’s body and mind.

“Why would he be causing chaos?” Siret sounded both angry and thoughtful, and he was pacing back and forth, his eyes snapping back to Rome every few moments. “That’s not in his interests at all.”

“Have you seen him since he gave me the semanight stone?” I asked.

“No.” Yael was the one to answer me, a deep frown taking over his striking features. “But we can’t leave this platform. They assigned us a server, Phineas, and he’s the only one we’re allowed to have contact with.”

“Can you send him to Cyrus’s cave?”

“You can be sure that Cyrus has fortified his defences since we were there last,” Siret answered. “So there’s a good chance that Phin will die trying to get in there. If we lose the server, we lose all contact with the people outside of this platform. Until they decide to pay us a visit, of course.”

“Don’t worry.” Coen’s voice had gone cold. Hard, almost. “We will find a way to connect with Cyrus. You need to tell us exactly where you are and exactly what’s happening before Rome gets control of himself again.”

“I’m with a flock of panteras, and I’m currently in Rome’s head, so I have no idea where they are.”

“She’s … with a flock of panteras,” Siret repeated numbly. “Because why not?”

“It’s a long story,” I started, but Rome wasn’t saying the words.

I tried again, but this time the faces before me began to blur, and I realised that I was losing my grip on whatever mind-link I had managed to form. Darkness swam into my head, and I slipped into sleep, as though the whole scene had been just a colourful dream.





Wake up. Lucille’s voice flooded my nerves, jolting my eyes open and kick-starting my body into action. We have arrived.

I tried to sit up, but my back was stiff and cold, so it took me a few moments. The cloak that I had stolen from my guardian-victim had blown up around my shoulders, tangling about my neck. I pushed it away and winced against the feeling of the blood rushing back into my limbs, as though I had been crushed under a weight for a long period of time, and it had only just lifted.

I began to try and swing my leg around Lucille to jump to the ground when something had me pausing.

I was surrounded by pantera—not just the pantera that had escaped from the abandoned lands, but many, many more. We must have been somewhere in Topia, because even the air tasted better than it did on Minatsol. We were in a clearing with a high mountain on one side, and a small brook twisting through the trees on our other, forming a little island of sorts. I slipped carefully off Lucille’s back, my feet landing in the soft grass, and I quickly untied the guardian’s cloak, dropping it onto the ground. I was still barefoot and dressed only in my underwear, but I doubted that they would care. They weren’t wearing any clothes either.

The panteras were surrounding me, all staring with their too-intelligent eyes. There didn’t seem to be any hierarchy amongst them, that I could see—not one of them had stepped forward from the others to examine or address me. They were simply watching.

Waiting.

“I’m sorry about what was being done—” I began, but one of them cut me off.

You set us free.

It was a voice different to Lucille’s, but just as calming. I didn’t know what to say to that … because technically, Cyrus had set them free. So I said nothing.

How can we repay you? This time, it was Lucille’s voice, and I turned sideways to look at her.

“My friends are somewhere here, in Topia. I need to get to them.”

Not yet, Lucille answered, but soon. When you are ready, we will take you to them.

“Ready for what?” I glanced around at the other panteras nervously.

You need to be taught the beauty in Chaos, Lucille answered. The gifts of the gods are not good or bad—they are only gifts, shaped from the very forces of the world. It is the person who makes them good or bad.

I paused once again, my eyes scanning the numerous sets of eyes all trained unflinchingly on me. It is the person who makes them good or bad. I repeated the words inside my head.

What did that say about me?

I had set a building on fire—no. Cyrus had set a building on fire. But I had set the room on fire when Coen and Aros had kissed me. In fact, so far my Chaos only seemed to be manifesting as fire, which wasn’t a great sign. Of all the ways that it could manifest, fire was probably the worst. Lucille was right. I needed to learn about this power before it destroyed me, or someone else.

Come with us, we will show you.

Another pantera this time, I didn’t know which one, it was just a lower toned trilling of words in my head. But there was a small group of four dark-furred males that broke away from the main group and started walking toward the stream. I followed, since it seemed I wasn’t getting out of there until they decided I was ready.

The four paused at the edge, staring down into the water that trickled past, almost lazily.

Drink from the stream.

Those words were not a request. They held a note of command, which immediately had me on the offensive.

“Why?”

Large, soulful brown eyes met my gaze, and I found myself almost uncomfortable under that penetrating stare. You need to understand.

I needed to … seriously? Riddles were so not my thing. Emmy, on the other hand, was great at reading between the lines. It was probably easier for me to just obey.

Dropping to my knees, I leaned forward and placed my hands in the crystal-clear water. It was shallow here: I could see all the way to the stone and sand-lined bottom. My hands were covered in red dust from the guardians’ lands still, so I let them trail through the sparkling water until they were clean enough to drink from. Cupping up some of the water, I brought it to my lips, and as the first trickle slid down my throat, I let out a breathy sigh.

Firstly, I had not realised how thirsty I was; and secondly, the water tasted nothing like the water in Minatsol. It was sweet almost, with a hint of fizz that danced across my tongue. I let the rest spill into my mouth, needing to taste more of it, and immediately my head went a little fuzzy.

I stumbled to my feet, my wet hands falling to my sides, and I tried to glare at the twelve dark-furred panteras. Twelve … when did the others come across? The one closest to me shifted, before coming back into focus. Oh crap. I had been seeing three copies of the original four that led me to the water.

“You drugged me,” I slurred, before swiping out with both arms, in an attempt to keep them away from me.

Your mind is now opening to the magic. You need to stop fighting it.

One of my flailing fists hit a small trunk that had been rooted close to the edge of the creek. I let out a shriek, hopping away. That hurt so much more than when I was in Rome’s head.