Page 144 of Immortal Sun

“I must,” I whisper. “Before I can’t.”

“And here I thought I was going to get worshiped.” She makes it sound like she’s getting rejected, when this is all new. “What’s the point of Ken guarding the island if you’re just going to abandon me the night before my impending death?”

I want to roar. Instead, I calmly take off my mask and set it on a nearby table. “To keep any other immortal from having what’s mine, that’s the point.”

A grimace briefly mars her loveliness. Then, “You had me for fifteen seconds, Cyrus, that’s hardly a claiming.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Why do you care?”

“It was longer than fifteen seconds!” I stomp over to where she’s sitting and jerk her to her feet. “And it wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place.”

“Because you’re Ra?”

“Because I am going to destroy you!” I shove her away. “Do you really want to create with me tonight only to look into my eyes tomorrow while I tie you to The Tree of the Underworld? Do you even know the pain I’ll experience? You’ll experience?”

Something’s wrong with me. I don’t know what it is, but power’s surging through my body at an alarming rate. It’s difficult to control, like I’ve been drugged in the best of ways, and the more she talks the harder it gets, the harder I get.

We can’t do more than we’ve done. There’s a reason I was a virgin deity, a reason I haven’t been with a human and I’ve never realized how important that reason was until this very moment as my body pulses with the power only the female twin can give.

Twin lights.

Fate.

One full of godliness, one full of evil.

I want them both.

“Knew that tree was different.” She sighs, distracting me. “Didn’t realize I’d be going out next to the grumpy squirrel or mean cow and descending to the underworld itself.”

“They have to worship you as well, and can we please stop discussing the sacrifice?” I grit my teeth in an attempt to stop saying more. The sacrifice is everything, it means everything, and no matter my own personal feelings if it doesn’t happen the exact way it’s supposed to…

We’re all screwed. I’m screwed.

My patience and self-control are wearing thin. Her lower lip starts to tremble. This is why I should have walked away and never looked back despite what my heart and body are telling me.

I sigh and sit down on the bed pulling her into my lap in the process. “I had Kratos freeze my heart.”

Her head jerks up. “Why would you do something so stupid?”

I smile down at her. “A lot of good it did me with Enki mixing drinks.”

Understanding dawns on her face. “Oh, I see, so, back on the island you were basically drugged. Okay, and now I’m extremely embarrassed. I think I’ll just go look into the water now and meet my fate—” She gets up.

I grab her by the wrist and tug her backward then lift her so she’s straddling me, her legs dangle on either side of my tunic, the small bell around her ankle gives a little jingle, reminding me and her yet again of what’s to come and who truly owns her.

“Go ahead then, if you want to stare into the water, stare into the one who heats it,” I whisper. “And I wasn’t drugged. Enki simply thawed what Kratos had done.”

“And did you do this for each sacrifice? To make it easier?”

“I’ve never had to in my entire existence,” I admit. “Until you.”

“I’m nothing special.”

“You’re right,” I agree.

Her eyes narrow. “I’m just another sacrifice.”

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