Page 71 of Godsbane
I am a god.
Dark clouds block out the sun, thunder booming in the charged air. My chest heaves in short, gasping breaths as the burning power in my blood cools. Magic, now assuaged, settles like viscous paste, filling the cracks of my fractured body and fusing me into something new. A being transformed.
I am no longer the poisonous heir or the unwanted governor. The outspokenness that carefully concealed a delicate fear is gone. Bestial rage merges with unfathomable power in a deadly cocktail. The mixture alone is enough to shatter the realm if left unchecked, unbalanced.
And I will make them all pay.
The Lord General who mocked me, dehumanized me, and destroyed my home. The people who spread his lies and made me a pariah when all I ever wanted was what is just and fair. The gods who cursed me and abandoned me.
They underestimated me, but now they will fear me.
I rise to my feet and strip off the remnants of who I used to be. Soaked clothing too heavy, too restricting for my new body. Steam wafts off my bare skin, the rain dousing the fire that has consumed me. It purges every inch of me, cleansing me to my bones.
Callan Murphy kneels before me in worshipping adoration. My feet move without a thought, stepping towards him until I’m so close that he has to lift his face towards the heavens to look at me. The adulation in his ashen eyes turns to animalistic lust, a depraved sinner at my altar.
“Goddess.”
A single whispered word drowned out by roaring thunder. Cal stands, his mouth crashing into mine with a hurried frenzy. With every press of his lips and sweep of his tongue, his magic melds further with mine until we’re entangled so thoroughly that I cannot tell where mine ends and his begins. Our fused power is so charged it manifests in the sky as blinding, forked lightning.
Cal pulls back slightly, his forehead still pressed to mine as he speaks, “Rein it back in before you flood all of Corinth.”
I step away from him, hoping the distance will help, but the rain doesn’t relent. I close my eyes, focusing inward until I can visualize the viridian mass of our joined magic. I try to untangle the threads but I don’t know how.
“Help me,” I plead.
Cal’s eyes go black again and I feel him inside of me, delicately unweaving the strands until a single blue one tugs free. An icy wind blasts through clearing, sending my wet, naked body into violent shivers. But the physical shock works. As the last bits of Cal’s magic release, the storm comes to an abrupt end.
He rushes towards me, unclasping his cloak and wrapping it around my shaking body. Placing an arm under my knees, Cal sweeps me up into his arms and carries me into the tent. He places me on the ground like I’m made of porcelain. He disappears and reappears seconds later. Hastily, he rifles through the bags to locate a blanket to help stop the convulsing.
Cal removes his wet shirt and slides up behind me, tucking me tightly against his skin and covering us with the blanket. My blood warms immediately at his contact, the shivering finally ceasing in his hold. Heat radiates out from his chest as the leviathan inked across it sears into the scar on my back again.
He leans his head down, lips caressing my ear as he whispers. “Do you want to try it again? Using my magic?”
“Will you help me if I can’t let go?”
“Always.”
The single word, spoken into my hair, is equal parts heavy and calming. Terrifying and reassuring at the same time. I nod, slowly reaching out until I can grasp the threads of Cal’s power. The urge to blend the bands with mine is tenacious, but I force myself to keep them separate.
“Water has always come easiest to me. Try that one first,” he directs.
Tugging on the cerulean threads, I focus on the elements of life, the hydrogen and oxygen that are present in all living things. I let a single band of my power mix with Cal’s until a small orb of water hovers just above my palm.
“Good girl,” he praises against the nape of my neck. “Now try fire.”
The liquid ball evaporates as I shift my focus from hydrogen to carbon. My hands tremble but no fire blazes. Cal traces circles with his tongue along the sides of my neck. Slow, agonizing swirls spark the magical kindling I’ve gathered. White flames ignite from my hand, the fire dancing between my fingertips as I wiggle them.
“Holy shit,” I gasp in disbelief.
“Holyyou,” Cal corrects.
I clear my head until my only thought is oxygen—pure, clean air. But instead of the fire disappearing, the flames flare brighter. Again and again I try to summon the air, but nothing comes. Frustrated, I drop my hold on Cal’s magic. A single tear leaks from my eye in defeat.
Cal’s arms tighten around me in silent recognition. “You’ve kept your power subdued for years. You’ll master it, princess. It just takes practice.”
One question ricochets in my head, an answer that I need more than I need my next breath. I test the latch on the iron-cladbox to make sure it’s secure and steel myself for another piece of the puzzle that my brain is blindly assembling.
“Cal.” His name is a whispered plea on my lips, a breathy appeal for the truth. “What are we?”
