Page 45 of A Sword of Shadow and Deceit

Looking back at the stone edge of the bubbling fountain and then down further where the spider’s fuzzy brown head peeks out, I debate my options. Perhaps, I can just…

Go. I try. Pushing the order into the spider’s mind now that we’re connected, I send a general layout of the route back to my room in the north tower. It’s a chance. The spider isn’t technically contracted yet. It doesn’t necessarily have to see me as its master and it could scramble away, disappearing forever.

Niall tugs on my arm once more, distracting me enough to look back at him. “Hold on…” I say, pushing the repeated order back into the spider’s mind to get a move on. The spider doesn’t yet move and I curse internally. Stubborn damn creature. So willful. Why do I even like them? Perhaps because they remind me of myself.

I turn back to Niall with a sigh. I really have to get him out of here. For a brief moment, Niall’s face clears and turns hopeful when I meet his eyes. I cup my hand over one of his shoulders. “Niall,” I say, settling my gaze on his, “they’re just people. Sure, they might have abilities and powers that mortals don’t, but you forget, they’re half mortal too. If you’re truly that worried, then please get out of here. I’ll finish … erm. I was just—I mean—” A believable excuse escapes me. I sigh again and tighten my grip on his shoulders, leveling him with a serious look. “I’ll leave soon, I promise.”

Before Niall can summon a response, his pinched face practically squinting at me as he fights back tears, a gust of ice-cold air slams into my side a split second before water does. It covers both of us, drenching our bodies down past our clothes. My hand falls away from Niall’s shoulder as the suddenness of the attack sends the two of us to the ground in a heap. Niall gasps and fumbles, coughing up water onto the grass and dirt.

For a single moment, I’m frozen. Both enraged and shocked that I’d been so focused on Niall, I hadn’t been paying attention to our surroundings. A bloody stupid mistake on my part. Jerking up to my knees, I press against the ground and clamber back to my feet. Red-hot anger pounds through me, and slowly—with searing intention—I turn towards the sudden onslaught of water. There, standing across the courtyard with a scowl on her face and a rather large hovering bulb of water over her hand, is the same Mortal God I’d seen at the fighting classes two weeks previously.

Double. Fucking. Shit.

As if it senses what’s about to come next, the spider I’d tried to command scurries away, and as much as I want to dive for it and keep it here, I can’t give away what I’d been doing. If it’s going to escape, then so be it. Right now, I have more important things to face—such as the bitter fury of the Mortal God coming closer to both Niall and me.

Her black hair is free and flutters around her face and down to her shoulders, but the look of disgust and rage remains. At this point, I wonder if it’s just the way her face is rather than genuine emotion. Her blue eyes flash and I recognize the note of glee behind them. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that she’s more than happy to have caught me here in a Mortal God only courtyard. This must be the girl Niall had been trying to warn me about.

I feel his hands lock onto the fabric of my wet pants legs as he crawls back to standing, using me as his prop. “Are you alright?” I ask without looking back.

“I-I—” He coughs again and latches onto the back of my shirt so hard I can feel him trembling.

“If you know what’s good for you,” the girl begins, her voice ripe with revulsion, “you’ll get on your knees and beg for forgiveness.”

Niall immediately releases me and gets to his knees. “I-I’m so sorry, Miss Rahela,” he stutters out.

It takes only a moment to debate following his example. I don’t want this to turn into a problem, but it’s clear from her eyes that no matter what I do, there will be no forgiveness. What would be the point in begging now? To keep up the facade. That’s all it is.

My fingers clench into fists as I direct my gaze to the dirt and grass before us. I can feel my heartbeat pulse in my throat. Each beat is a reminder—of where I am and what I’m meant to be and do. Even if I don’t want to, even if I’d rather flay my own skin off of my bones than bow to this bitch, I am—for all intents and purposes—beneath her here. So, with gritted teeth, I go onto bended knee. Just one.

“I apologize for any offense, Miss Rahela,” I say, repeating the name Niall had called her. My words are halting, and as much as it heats my blood further, I do my best to ensure my voice sounds monotone, hiding my anger. Air wafts over my soaked shoulders and dripping face.

A beat of silence passes and at my side, Niall’s chattering teeth and trembling limbs make my own body wind tighter and tighter in anticipation of her response. Her footsteps are soft as she approaches, slow but steady. A shadow falls over where I kneel on the hard ground. She doesn’t speak for the longest time and the stretch of silence passes until I have the distinct impression that she’s waiting for me.

Tilting my face up, I meet stone-cold eyes. Her lips twist into a smirk and she leans down, closer and closer, as the water she commands hovers over her fingertips. “Apology. Rejected.”

I inhale sharply and a moment later, I’m thankful I did because a ball of water comes careening towards me. The force of her Divine ability slams into me, lifting my body from the ground and surrounding me in the liquid. I bite down, grinding my teeth as a curse threatens to spill out. I resist, keeping the air in my lungs.

The prison of water bites into my flesh, swaying me this way and that. I’m completely off-balance and I know the only way out would be to use my own Divinity. The back of my neck heats again. I close my eyes. I can’t. Even if she’s trying to kill me, revealing my abilities puts more than me at risk. I peer through the murky water as Niall’s head jerks up and through the warped liquid, I can make out his expression of horror.

Fuck. He really is too kind. Worried about me when he should realize that this girl has lost her mind and he could be next. My head turns back to her. Rahela’s face splits into a huge grin as she throws her head back and laughs at the sight of me. She waves her hand through the air, and the water swirls, spinning me around, head over ass until I almost release the breath trapped inside as vomit threatens to come up.

She has complete control over both gravity and the water as she suspends me above the courtyard, carrying me up and over the fountain. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I fight through the water, waving my arms as I try to swim to the edge. As soon as I get there, however, the annoyingly grating sound of Rahela’s laughter follows and the water bubble turns, tipping me over and over again. I cup my hand over my lips, forcing the air to stay in.

Though I know it’s not the spider’s fault, I can’t help but silently curse the creature as well. Had he only followed my commands then perhaps Niall and I could’ve left the courtyard with no one else the wiser. Now, though, that’s obviously not going to happen. I lift my head and glare at my assailant. I had made a rather arrogant mistake, I admit if only to myself. I should’ve waited until after dark, perhaps even hidden my face in case I was discovered. But no, I’d been too excited at the prospect of gaining a King Arachnid as a familiar.

Behind Rahela, Niall’s horrified expression wavers through the water bubbles that float around me as he gets to his feet and stumbles back. Go! I practically beg him with my eyes. I don’t necessarily consider him a friend, but that doesn’t mean I want to see him hurt either, and there’s no doubt in my mind that once Rahela is finished with me, he’ll be her next target. If he remains, then there’s even less I can do.

Rahela doesn’t seem that concerned with Niall. The entirety of her focus is on me, something I manage to be thankful for as he stumbles back another step and another and another until his head turns as if he hears something. Without another backward glance, Niall finally spins around completely and flees the courtyard. If I could breathe, I’d sigh in relief the moment I see the back of his head disappear around the corner.

Now, it’s just her and me.

Chapter 20

Kiera

Kicking my legs, I try to force my body in any direction, but the water follows me, keeping me securely confined. A rather powerful ability. No wonder she’s considered a First Tier.

Despite my treatment over the past few weeks, I’d forgotten one key element of differences from this position versus any one I’d had before: Mortal Gods don’t care if they kill out in the open like this. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in one place for a mission for so long—going on a few weeks now at least—nor have I been subjected to being so close to so many Divine Beings and their offspring, but I hadn’t expected this level of animosity.

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