“I guess it’s a good thing Your Majesty is such a pretty thing as well,” Adrian teased.
A bowl of fire nearest Adrian flared suddenly and the guard yelped, jumping away from it. Caelan chuckled and Drayce grabbed his arm.
“Did you do that?” his lover demanded.
Caelan shook his head. “No. It proves that she’s listening.” He dropped his head back, turning it toward Adrian. “Better watch your tongue.”
“Got it,” Adrian quickly agreed, sounding shaken.
It was interesting. That was the first time he’d ever seen proof that the gods were listening prior to him bonding with them. The first three gods had been utterly silent.
She’s impatient. She’s been waiting too long, Nyx groaned.
Waiting too long for me? Or for you?
The Dead God’s response was only a shudder.
Then I guess we shouldn’t keep her waiting any longer.
Caelan stopped in front of the godstone as it hovered above the ground. The stone itself was a vibrant orange as if forged from the very heart of flames. The various facets caught and reflected the dancing firelight, bouncing it about the room, making the crystal look as if it weren’t quite solid. No, it was almost molten.
His heart picked up its pace and his palms grew sweaty. The last time he’d touched a godstone, he’d died. While not particularly painful, it wasn’t an experience he wanted to repeat.
But then, unlike the Dead God, Caelan could very much feel the Goddess of Fire. Her energy poured out of the stone and filled the room in crackling, hot waves. She was the summer sun. She was their campfire in the Ordas, gathering them close and protecting them from the deadly creatures.
He started to reach for the stone, but Rayne’s voice stopped him.
“Cael? Have you made a decision?”
With a smile, he reached out his left hand toward Drayce and his lover grabbed it with both of his. “In the end, it’s not my decision, but I can ask the goddess to bless Drayce with the bond rather than me.”
Drayce flashed him a crooked grin. “Hopefully she doesn’t mind me being a wingless dragon.”
Caelan shrugged. “Her other choice is a half-breed.”
“She’ll love you. Just like I do.”
Caelan’s heart skipped a beat as his right hand pressed to the warm godstone, Drayce’s words gliding easily with him from the hall with his friends to a brighter, warmer hall.
The goddess wasted no time in touching his mind. He blinked and looked around to find that the godstone was gone along with his companions. The hall appeared roughly the same except it was much brighter, as if bathed in late-afternoon sunlight.
He turned slowly, taking in the rich red curtains that hung from the walls and pooled like magma in piles on the black marble floors. A bird sat perched on a gold stand in a corner. Its red and orange feathers swept down and curled inches from the floor. It sang a soft and lonely song.
His eyes tripped over the goddess herself watching him with a secret smile. She was a stunning woman sitting on a gold throne. Wrapped in an ornate red-and-gold robe, she appeared to be slender and delicate, but she radiated strength. In her hand, she held a red fan that she lazily waved. Each little breeze caused her hair to billow and cascade along her back like thick, black smoke. Her eyes flared from black to a glow of orange, embers stoked by the breeze.
Caelan bowed low to her. “Great Goddess of Fire.”
“That silly man was right. You are pretty,” she purred. Her voice was low and smoky, curling through his mind like a haunting incense.
Caelan straightened and watched wordlessly as she pushed to her feet and walked toward him. Her motions were so very smooth and completely inhuman. It was terrifying and yet hypnotic. He couldn’t have torn his eyes away from her if he’d wanted to.
“I know we have important business to take care of,” she continued when she was a few feet away. “But there’s something a bit more pressing that I need to take care of first.” This last part sounded as though she’d said it between clenched teeth.
Her hand shot out to his head like a snake and Caelan flinched, but her touch never landed. There was a sharp, yanking feeling and he screamed. The sound was oddly echoed, but different. Deeper. He swayed and blinked, his gaze focusing on the unexpected sight of the Dead God as he stumbled across the room and landed on a black couch exactly like the one he’d been seated on when he met Caelan for the first time.
Nyx held up both hands, his face twisted in panic. “Darling! My smoldering ember, please. Wait a second!”
“Don’t you ‘smoldering ember’ me!” Caris snapped as she stalked across the room to the cowering god. “You led me on quite the merry chase for thousands of years, leaving little breadcrumbs so that I could always find you but never catch you.”