Page 27 of A Sword of Shadow and Deceit

“Stop playing with me, Kalix,” Theos snaps. “Fight like you fucking mean it!”

“I always mean it, brother,” I reply easily as his sword clashes with mine. More sparks dance before my eyes as the jarring weight of his assault forces me back a step. “I just happen to be in a wonderful mood and you are a fucking grouch.”

Along the side of the sparring grounds, Ruen looks up, his cool eyes roving over me, assessing as always. It doesn’t bother me. He can look and scrutinize me as much or as long as he wishes. Even though he’s been doing it for years, he has yet to figure out the inner workings of my mind the way he seems to have done for everyone else. Even I can’t tell him what is missing. Sometimes, I’m caught up in the wave of euphoria that life has to offer—with all of the sex and pain a man could want—and sometimes, it evaporates, dropping me into the worst of nightmares.

It all depends on the day.

“What has gotten you into this mood of yours?” Theos asks as he parries the next thrust of my blade and then delivers his own attack. “Enlighten us—and give me a hint as to how I can take you down.”

I skid out of the way of the next slash of his sword, my booted feet sliding sideways through the dirt as I narrowly miss being cut. “The new Terra have gone through their orientations,” I answer. “Ours will appear in the morning.”

Theos' face twists. “Don’t break this one,” he warns before stabbing at me with the end of his blade.

I laugh as it slices across my bicep just as I dodge and round towards his back. It’s never my intention to break the little humans. I only wish to play with them. It’s not necessarily my fault, either, that they get wounded so damn easily. Theos doesn’t give me a chance to say as much, though, as he dives headfirst into a series of attacks that I’m forced to ward off.

Back and forth, the two of us move. Our blades clash, metal scraping against metal. Unlike playing with the other Tiers, sparring with my brothers is always a game of chance. Sometimes, I win. Sometimes, they do. And sometimes, like today it seems, we’re drawn into a deadlock and neither of us can claim victory. They truly are the only ones who keep me guessing.

“Alright,” Theos says nearly an hour later as he stands back. “I’ve had enough. It’s a draw.”

Wiping the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, my chest rises and falls with the heaviness of my breathing. All over I can feel the tingles of my skin working to fix and heal the wounds I sustained while fighting with him. I lick my lips, my tongue coming back tasting of salt and blood.

“It was a good session,” Ruen comments.

“I want our Terra now,” I say distractedly as I look to where the old one used to stand. “I’m too excited to wait.” Will they be male? Female? The Gods have only given us males for the last couple of years—they seem to last longer, if only marginally. Doesn’t bother me, though. The males have tight holes ready for fucking just as much as the females.

Theos and Ruen exchange a look—one I recognize. It’s taken several years, but I’ve finally come to understand what the raised brows and pursed lips mean. Exasperation and concern. Sometimes irritation when I really press them. I wait, curious to know if they’ll deny me my fun and I’ll have to sneak in on my own or if they’ll help.

“Do you promise not to do anything to the new one?” Theos asks as he strides to the side and tosses his sword into the pile that will be later collected by Terra and cleaned before being returned the next morning.

“I just want to greet them,” I say, following him and doing the same. It isn’t a lie per se. My greetings are still greetings after all.

Out of the corner of my eye, a male Terra appears carrying an armful of towels. He marches right towards us with strong confident strides, but the second he spots our faces I see the way he pauses and ducks his head. I bet he’s wishing he’d have checked which Mortal Gods were using this training courtyard before he came here.

He’s a cute little thing with big eyes that flicker up at me as I reach out and take a towel from his hands before he recalls his place and looks back down. A fresh hunger awakens, and within my trousers, I can feel my cock stiffen.

It’s amusing to watch how he trembles ever so slightly the longer I remain near him, patting the sweat and blood from my already healed wounds with the towel. I have no doubt he would scuttle away and back into the building if it weren’t for the fact that he hasn’t been dismissed. Without a word from any of us, he’s incapable of leaving on his own and I do so love to watch the humans fight their instincts. Fear. Nervousness. Curiosity. That last one always gets them, and eventually, me too.

The Terra is a skinny little creature with narrow shoulders that look as if they belong on a girl. I know he’s of age, though. Only adult servants are allowed within the Academy. Too many ‘accidents’ and too many wandering eyes and hands—from Mortal Gods and Gods alike. Neither I nor my brothers would be here if that wasn’t the case. Normally, I’d prefer someone with a bit more confidence—though there was a tiny bit of it before he realized which Mortal Gods he was serving. I’d never had one, not with the way the mortals worship our kind, but I imagine I’d truly enjoy a human that bites back, giving me just enough pain to relish in the agony of the battle between us.

To fuck or be fucked—that is the question. The answer lies in this male’s downward gaze. Oh yes, he would like to be fucked.

Ruen sighs as he stands. “We are not calling them just yet,” he says. “You can wait until tomorrow to meet the new Terra.”

With a grin, I finish mopping up my blood and sweat from my face, neck, and chest. “You are ruining my fun,” I say.

Noticing my interest in the human, Theos and Ruen both move towards me. Theos hands the now used towel to the servant who dips his head once more and thanks him. “I’m sure you can find another way to entertain yourself,” Ruen replies, arching a brow my way. “We’ll be in the rooms when you’re done.”

“Perhaps you could find some entertainment yourself!” I call after them. “Or at least someone to pull that sword from your ass.”

Theos chuckles, but Ruen doesn’t reply. Instead, the two of them exit the sparring ring and private courtyard, leaving no one else but me and the servant.

“Sir?” The male’s head tips back as I graze the bunched towel in my fist over my bare chest and abdomen.

I hum in the back of my throat. “What is your name, human?” I ask.

“A-Adam, sir.”

He stutters. How precious. I drop the towel to the ground between us and without hesitation, he bends to pick it up. My hand drops on his head and he freezes. My groin tightens further before the words even escape my lips.

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