Page 37 of Obsession

After a certain point, I can’t watch anymore and go to leave, but that’s when Aris stands from his seat.

“Mary,” he says, beckoning with a raised hand before I make it two steps from my pew.

His followers turn to look at me in unison, and I shift in discomfort. I hate how they crowd around him and hang onto his every word and movement—not just because it’s creepy, but because it’s me he’s always moving around and talking to. I’ve never liked being the center of attention.

“Leave,” he says to them suddenly. For a second, I worry that he’s read my mind, until I remember that he knows me and my fears, intimately.

The stragglers’ shoulders droop, but they don’t question him. Reluctantly, joined by Silva, they file out, the doors shutting behind them with a thud.

Now, it’s just the two of us.

I should be shrinking under his gaze and the power within it, but I’m just irritated. “What the hell was that?” I demand.

“Mass,” he says. Annoyingly, he isn’t surprised by my reaction, which reinforces my belief that it was a performance. The only thing is, I’m not sure if it was for me, or his followers.

“Oh, I get it.” I cross my arms. “You want them to rely on you.”

“So cynical, Mary. Maybe I am merely repaying them. They have treated me well, as you can see.”

I scoff. “Like you care about their devotion.”

He doesn’t respond, just studies me with those otherworldly black eyes—eyes that pull me in like a riptide, and soon, I can’t take the pressure. I head for the doors again but come to a sudden stop when the air grows heavy, electric.

That’s how I know that he’s angry; I’m about to suffocate on his power.

“Do not walk away from me.”

I pause, halfway down the aisle already. My back is still to him. “What was the point of all of that?” I say. “The truth, this time.”

He pauses long enough that I finally turn around, and nearly jump out of my skin to see he’s right behind me. Before I manage to step back and gather my thoughts, his hand shoots out to grab my shoulder, rooting me in place. Even through the layers of fabric, I feel tingly from his hold.

“The point is to show you what I’ve been doing,” he says, hand flexing. “Isn’t it prudent for you to learn, as my advisor?”

I nod slowly. “All right… so you’ve been holding mass.”

“Yes.” His hand travels, touching the lace of my short-sleeved gown. The tips of his fingers meet my skin. “But that isn’t all I’ve been doing.”

I watch where he’s stroking me, distracted by the feel. “Hmm?”

“Surely, you wondered where Ryan is.”

I look back at his face, the length of his grin making my stomach sink, and I realize two things. One: the performance is not over. Two: while I slept, he had all night to prepare the best ways to toy with me.

“Are you ready?”

“For what?” I ask. Already suspecting. Dreading.

Where is Jaegen now, to prepare me for this?

As Aris pulls me close, smelling of the night itself, the other god remains notably absent.

It’s just us.

Though my face is buried in his blazer, I know we’ve moved somewhere; I feel the change of temperature, the coarseness of the air. Sure enough, when Aris pulls back, we’re no longer at the estate, but standing on an overlook, miles from a desert city.

Mosques and sand-colored turrets make me think he’s taken me somewhere in the Middle East. But where? I look for more details and find that what I first thought was a city we’re overlooking is actually just one, humongous estate. It could be a parliament or even a palace, and the large structure is surrounded by tall stone walls. There is a vast number of personnel guarding the wall, clutching weapons that probably weigh half of what I do.

Ryan is here, too, his massive form coming in handy by shielding me from the sun that has already started to make my skin sticky. My lace dress has a thick skirt and is definitely more suited to the cold halls of the mansion than desert travel.

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