Page 20 of As Darkness Fall
“It must be highly confusing,” I said. “All this ‘feeling’ stuff.”
“A little,” Vir admitted.
I almost apologized. Almost told him that I was sorry for the way I’d treated him since our last visit to this chamber. He deserved it, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. My anger at the situation was too strong, I think.
Or perhaps I’m just too shallow. I don’t know.
However, the one thing Ididknow was that I hated the feeling of my future not being in my control. That someone else was choosing not only who I would become but also whom I would do itwith. And whether Vir had done so intentionally or not, he’d bound himself to me, and that made me angry.
“What do we do next?” Vir asked quietly.
Next. Next. Why does everyone keep looking tomefor what’s next? You’re the god here, dude. Don’t you know?
Except Vir didn’t. He’d not been to Earth in forever, and besides, he was a god among mortals. He wouldn’t know what to do. He was mostly along for the ride. And as Aaron had made clear, I’d hired him. Which made me in charge.
“Next,” I said quietly. “I don’t know, Vir.”
I looked around the chamber, remembering the swirling energy, the power running through me. The pain.
“Why is it so different? No power. No energy. No call from this place. Why?”
“I don’t know,” Vir said. “I have been asking myself the same question, but I have yet to come up with a good answer.”
I turned to look at him as one of the memories in particular flooded my mind. “Tell me. How is it that you were able to use the energy? Instead of being harmed by it?”
“Because,” Vir said quietly, “I was born of it.”
“Of it?” I asked.
“Of Amunlea,” he elaborated. She created me, her champion. That energy was hers.”
“But I thought you said she was dead. How the hell didIuse it, then?”
“I don’t know,” Vir said, a familiar phrase for him lately. “But I think we need to find out.”
Before I could respond, footsteps sounded at the entrance. I turned to see Aaron. He looked…excited. Which meant that a strand of hair was out of place and his clothing had a wrinkle.
“I think we might have found something,” he said, his eyes darting to Vir before returning to me with an unreadable emotion in them. “Come look at this.”
Chapter Eleven
Aaron led us back out onto the Field of Gods and then made a beeline straight for another carved statue.
“I got bored and wanted to let the men rest a little longer,” he explained. “So, I decided to start exploring myself. Made sense to start with the other temples. They’re closest and all. Well, lo and behold, the first one showed signs of activity.”
Beside me, Vir grunted in some inscrutable way. I looked over at him, but he was staring straight at the temple entrance.
“Vir?” I asked as we strode toward the statue that stood opposite himself, flanking the other side of the temple of Amunlea. “Who’s temple is this?”
“That would be my brother,” he said tautly. “Irr.”
“The Shifter God of Death,” I muttered. “Great. Just great. What the hell was Lars rooting around for in here? Pardon the pun.”
“Hell is a human construct,” Vir said. “Not shifter.”
I glared at him. “I’m half-human, Vir. I grew up in a human world, even if my tiny corner of it was populated entirely by wolves. Every bit of media I consumed was human-relevant. That includes my turn of phrases. So, please,please, don’t get all uppity-immortal on me because of the words I choose, okay?”
“Got it,” he said.
