Page 105 of A Rising Hope

“What?” She gaped at me.

“I agreed to it. I had been poisoned and was already dying, so instead of suffering through the venom, my uncle stabbed me in the stomach with his sword. Not a pleasant death, I must say. But four days later, I woke up yet again—alive and well.” I paused, distracted by her beauty, as my thoughts drifted away to the memory of the taste of her on my lips.

“Continue,” she prompted after a moment, and I did.

“There were a few more times after that. After one particularly gruesome death, I didn’t wake up for a week. During that time, unbeknownst how, I managed to summon Death. When she bowed, it dawned on me that perhaps there was areason for my miraculous immortality. But once I woke up, I also understood that the more I conversed with Death, the longer I stayed dead. And the longer I was away, the longer my mortal body slowly deteriorated each hour it was separated from my soul. At that point, the Lord of Death title gained a whole different meaning to me. When I came back, I dove into anything I could find about godhood creation. As you can imagine, I did not find much. I searched for my lineage. I searched for my blood magic origins. But after years of not getting any answers, I accepted the truths of what I did know and didn’t know. I was a Justice Wielder and a damn good one, might I add.” An arrogant smile stretched on my face as I winked at her. “I was also the only heir to the Destroyer Empire. At that point, I had already found Xentar and knew that it was in my power to restore the True Order. Especially considering I would be quite triumphant in my quest, considering I was somewhat immortal. Though a part of me never knew if my next death would be the last. Whatever, whoever I was, was beyond my understanding. Add to that the thought of knowing there was a Soulbond with raw fire waiting for me to spend eternity together, and I wasn’t quite rushing to cross the veil to try to learn more.”

“So, you just continued dying and coming back?”

“Not quite. Once my rebellion plans were in full force, I avoided dying. As much as I appreciate my gift of resurrection, it doesn’t protect me from the agony of death and the excruciating recovery after. The older I got, the more agonizing the process became. As I matured, I figured dying was not an interest I wanted to pursue, so I tried to stay alive. Though I must say, knowing that there was always a strong likelihood of me surviving no matter what did attribute to my overly confident attitude towards life.” I tickled her heel, and she squirmed, making me chuckle.

“That explains a lot.” Finnleah gave me a snide smirk, painfully kicking my thigh with her heel for tickling her.

“The next time I died was near the Cursed Forest, when you shot me and poisoned me. I made that bet with you, not knowing if I would wake up again. But I fucking hoped with everything I had that I would.”

“You truly died that day?” she asked, appalled at the revelation.

“You shot a giant poisoned Basalt Glass arrow nicking my heart, then shot me a few more times after that for a good measure, injecting me with enough poison to kill a giant beast, and though no doubt I am one”—I winked at her, grinning with a boyish smile—”I did unfortunately die. But seeing you absolutely infatuated with me, I had no choice but to come back.”

“You are a fool.” She rolled her eyes at me, giving me a disparaging look.

The playful little thing knew exactly what her snarky glances would do to me. But what she didn’t know was that each minute I spent in her presence made me feel more alive than I had ever been before. Her floral scent, her mocking smirks, the feel of her skin at my fingertips, called upon the forces that no pain or agony could stifle. I looked at her again, silently daring her. She didn’t back down. Still holding on to her legs, I pulled her body fully next to mine, until my hands were pinning her thighs. I hovered over her, my eyes piercing hers, surrounded by the light from the lonely candle.

“I am in love with you, Finnleah. My body, mind, and soul are enslaved by you. If that makes me a fool, then so be it. It’s a title I’ll proudly wear.”

She straightened her elbows, rising until her nose was almost touching mine. Her fingers traced the outline of my jaw as she met my craving stare, my body withering at her gentle touch, longing for more.

“So . . . God of Triumph, ” she started, her eyes filled with carnal desire, one that would break me and put me back together at the same time, one I’d crawl for, begging for more and more every fucking moment of my life. “How?—”

Priya barged into the room without knocking, disappointed to see me alive.

“Your dragons are eating the villagers, Freckles. And apparently nobody’s got the balls to tell you, so I somehow turned into the fucking messenger boy. Truthfully, for all I care, I’d let those beasts devour the obnoxious peasants, but their constant screaming is keeping me from falling asleep. And I amreallyfucking tired. So you fix it, orIam going to fix it,” she sneered.

“Shit, I am going.” Finnleah held the bridge of her nose. The flaming desire within her dwindling right in front of my eyes.

“We could feed the Truth Teller to the dragons. That could fix both of our problems,” I whispered against her lips, still not letting go of her perfect legs.

“You need rest, Gideon,” she murmured.

“I can promise you rest is the very last thing I need right now,” I rose my brow suggestively.

“Learn how to walk first, then we can talk.” She landed a kiss on the tip of my nose, before she moved her legs away from me, but not without making sure her fingers seamlessly brushed over my aroused cock, content with how hot and bothered she got me with just her sinful little looks. She laced up her too small boots, making me grind my teeth at the sight.

Finnleah rushed towards the door where the hateful Truth Teller impatiently waited for her.

Priya glared at me, not hiding her repulsion at my existence. I returned the look myself, very much reciprocating the sentiment. A part of me considered if I could write off Priya suddenly combusting as a freak fire accident, too.

“Eventually, you two will have to learn how to get along.” Finnleah clicked her tongue, noticing the silent threats thrown around.

“I’d rather die the slowest death first.” Priya glowered.

“If that’s all it takes, why wait? I can help with that right now.” I let the flames spark in my eyes, matching my sharp frown.

“Oh my gods, calm down, you two,” Finnleah commanded both of us, glaring at Priya and her drawn daggers. She growled, but slid them back into their sheaths under Finn’s piercing look. A wickedly smug look painted on my face, but not for long as Finnleah paused in the doorway, giving me a glance over her shoulder.

“Our conversation is far from over, you still have a lot to answer for, so get some rest,husband.” She threw a perfect smile at me, and like a dog starving for a bone, I ate it up. She stepped out of the room. “Oh, and by the way, I stabbed your brother,” she blurted out before completely shutting the door and bolting away.

“You did what?” My brows shot up, but she was already gone, leaving me in the empty room, starving for her presence once more.

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