Page 36 of The Blood of Gods and Monsters

I unravel one and lay it out along the cushions. “Getting ready for bed,” I answer her absently. “It’s been a long damn day and I’m exhausted.”

“Yes, but…” She drifts off as I take the second and shake it out. I bunch the blanket up at the makeshift foot of the settee and turn to face her.

She’s peering at me with her brow creased as she looks beyond me to the window settee and then to the bed. “Why aren’t you sleeping here?” she asks, gesturing to the mattress beneath where she’s half turned in my direction.

“You’re sleeping there,” I say with an arched brow. Did she think I would sleep next to her? With the way my cock seems to seek her out against my own wishes? I shake my head. No, that won’t happen. If I let myself sleep near her then there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll wake up to find my body moved against her, pinning her to the sheets with a knee between her pale thighs, and my lips devouring the skin of her throat as my hands move over her breasts.

As if encouraged by my mind’s supply of that image, my cock throbs against the inside placket of my trousers. If I could punch the thing into submission, I would. Unfortunately, I truly am exhausted and I have no wish to remain awake on what promises to be a too small settee sore from my cock and back.

I turn away from Kiera and climb onto the settee, reclining against it with both arms folding behind my head. One side is pushed against the cold glass of the window and the other just barely manages to keep from hanging off.

“Go to sleep, Kiera. We will talk in the morning.” I say the words, knowing that they’re a partial lie. Yes, we’ll talk again, but I have the feeling that without the storm and the darkness, the light of day will bring back my sense of propriety and—hopefully—dampen my desire to strip her bare and sink my cock into her hot depths.

I grit my teeth and shut my eyes against those thoughts, though doing so doesn’t cure me of them. A beat passes and though I listen to the soft shuffling sounds Kiera makes as she climbs back into the bed and under the sheets, I don’t sleep. Seconds tick into undetermined minutes, hours, and an eternity passes before I sense the soft breaths of slumber coming from her. Only then do I, too, allow myself to fall into oblivion and dreams of the woman who lies not but a short distance away.

Chapter 15

Kiera

The back of my head burns with awareness. There are more than a dozen eyes on me. Mortal Gods, Gods, and Terra alike all stare as I pass them through the corridors. Gone is the dark mark of my unique Terra uniform, and in its place are the long dusky skirts of a royal blue gown, one of Maeryn’s.

Why Maeryn’s? Because I don’t really have anything of my own and the Darkhavens decided that the pathetic excuse of a clothes collection I do own is unacceptable. For some reason, wearing this dress makes me feel more like their servant now than when I actually was.

“I’m surprised I don’t have to tell you to keep your eyes forward,” Ruen comments from my left.

I bite down on my lip and don’t respond immediately. When I woke up that morning, he was gone from the settee. I must have been truly exhausted if he managed to sneak out without waking me—or perhaps, my energy is still drained from the recent brimstone removal. There’s no telling, but I ignore the small voice in my mind that suggests maybe I don’t see Ruen as the betrayer he once was. That maybe … somewhere, deep down, I might trust him.

After a beat, I finally give him a response. “Why would you have to tell me that?” I ask without looking at him.

The answer to my question comes from my right. “Because everyone is staring at you and he expected you to glower back at them,” Theos says with a hint of amusement.

My response is a low hum in the back of my throat, but I do pause as we come to the mouth of a corridor and the open doorway of a familiar classroom. Divine History—one of the handful of classes I’d been informed I’d be required to attend on top of extra tutoring to help catch me up to the same level of education as the other Mortal Gods. The tutoring, however, has yet to start and I can only hope that Caedmon will be placed in charge of that as well.

“Where’s Kalix?” I ask curiously as the three of us enter the classroom to more open stares. It almost reminds me of one of the many auctions in the Underworld that Ophelia had brought Regis and me to in an effort to warn us what would happen if we disobeyed her—beyond torture, maiming, and death.

A blood servant who doesn’t listen to their master ends up at those horrible places. A shudder works through me at the memory, and it doesn’t take much effort to shove it back into its little dark box in the back of my mind and refocus on the present.

I sense rather than see the look Ruen and Theos exchange. I don’t know how—maybe being around them so much for the last few months has given me some sort of extra Darkhaven sense. They are a language and culture to themselves and understanding the way they work leaves me feeling like I’m learning a whole new species of Mortal God.

“He has another class,” Theos says as one of his hands finds the small of my back and he directs me up the steps to seats toward the back of the classroom.

“No, he doesn’t,” I reply evenly, repressing a snort.

The flash of golden white hair whips past my periphery as Theos turns his head sharply in my direction. “Yes, he—” Ruen begins, ready to back up his brother.

I glare at Ruen before cutting him off. “I’ve spent the last several months as your servant—trailing you to every class,” I remind him. “I think you forget that Terra aren’t actually invisible. Just because you didn’t acknowledge me but to order me around doesn’t mean I wasn’t there. I’ve got your schedules memorized by now and I know damn well, the three of you share this class.”

Ruen frowns. “I wasn’t ignoring you,” he says quietly.

“Yes, you were.” Or rather, I suspect, he was trying to even if it was a poor showing.

Ruen opens his mouth but whatever he’s about to say is silenced as Theos steps between us. “Kiera, don’t start this here. Let’s just take our seats and get you through your first day.”

I want to argue. The desire pounds at me, a strange need to unleash all of the sensations of the sudden upheaval of my life out on the man behind Theos. I don’t know why him of all people. Perhaps it’s because I’m still reminded of what he did—of the humiliation of being dragged before the entire school and whipped, something they all seem to have forgotten, thankfully. Or perhaps it’s because our conversation from the night before, and the odd sensations he brings to life within me, are still lingering, keeping me on edge and off kilter.

Instead of unleashing that frustration, though, I inhale a long breath and turn, striding up the steps to the very back of the classroom. At the very least, I’m hoping it’ll keep the stares to a minimum since I’m sure no God will appreciate attention anywhere else but on them. Gods are vain creatures after all and so fragile in their egos—just like the Darkhaven brothers.

I reach the final row of chairs and take a seat, soon followed by Ruen and Theos, who take up residence on either side of me. I grit my teeth and shuffle forward as Theos scoots behind me to take his seat as more students and their Terra enter the room.

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