Page 124 of Kingdom of Today
“A few hours.”
Goodness. I would have guessed days or weeks or years had come and gone.
“You have much more to learn, and now your true training can begin.” Domino took the spot at my side, standing shoulder to shoulder with me. “You’re soon to see things you never dreamed possible. Do things that will baffle you even years later and discover a truth you will need eons to comprehend.”
“You aren’t helping ease the turbulence of my transition,” I muttered, tracing my fingertips over a circle with smaller circles inside it.
“Perhaps this will. Your first assignment will be recruiting Mykal Ellison.”
Truly? “Consider it done.”
He smiled at me. “I thought you’d like that. Now, then. You’ll be based inside the library, but you’ll be responsible for your domain in Theirland. You can access both worlds through any section of the Rock at any time, but your light will only grow brighter to feeders, and there will be no hiding it. You’ll be a lure for them, and they will want only to eat you. Among other things.”
“Wait. Back up. My domain?”
“The area adjoining your portion of the Rock.” He waved his hand, and the wall became a screen, peering out at the field in Theirland, where I’d offered my life for a cause greater than myself.
I saw both in the physical realm and the spiritual, the perimeter line of “my domain” highlighted by a soft golden glow. That border circled the entire structure and ten feet of flat, barren field.
Guess I’d have to figure out how I felt about all this. What did my responsibilities entail, exactly?
Domino nudged my shoulder with his own. “No worries. I’ll help and train you.”
“Thank you,” I rasped. He was a good man. Wonderful in more ways than I could list. And honestly? I was beginning to see him as an extension of myself, just like my sword. “For everything.”
He nodded to acknowledge my words. “When next you fight Cyrus, you’ll be ready. I vow it.”
Another battle with Cyrus. I flinched. He was my ex, now the emperor, king, and leader of CURED, Ourland, and Theirland. Once my dream, now my nightmare. Worse, he might be Lolli’s husband.
I curled my hands into fists. Cyrus was a god and my greatest enemy. Would I ever really be ready to go head-to-head with him?
“For now,” Domino said, stalking toward the exit, “I’ll let you say goodbye to your past.”
He vanished through the doorway, and an approaching presence caught my notice. But the intruder didn’t come into the room. My attention zeroed in on the Rock.
Cyrus stood just outside my domain in Theirland. He was shirtless and shoeless, clad only in a pair of black leathers. He peered at me, but also not at me, because I somehow occupied every square inch of the Rock. Slowly walking from one end to the other, he examined every inch of the structure—of me.
“Looks like we have ourselves a dilemma, sweetness,” he said, and the huskiness of his voice rippled all over me. “You have something that’s mine.”
I cringed inwardly, seeing him in a way I never had. The shadows he’d absorbed to host Astan filled his veins, a slight tracery visible beneath his skin. And his eyes ... A wild glint dominated his irises. Greed clung to him. Evil—there was no other word for it—seeped from his pores.
This wasn’t my Cyrus. I’d comprehended that, but I really understood it now.
“The war is only beginning, you know,” he said. “Briar Rose will choose another host. The other gods are already rising. Humans are ill prepared for what’s coming. They’ll crumple as I enforce my rule, and Soal will follow.”
Persuasion saturated his tone. He was utterly convinced of his own words.
I admit, his words roused anger. He spoke of murdering my friends, my allies, and those I intended to help. “What part do you expect me to play in this?” My voice imbued every inch of my domain, a whisper and a bellow rolled into one.
“There you are.” He stopped in the center and smiled. “Hello, Lady Pink.”
“Hello, Cyrus.”
“Not sugar bear?”
“Not at this time.” Head high, I stepped from the stone, and it felt like walking from the middle of a wave. My robe refit itself to my body, hardening into armor. It happened in an instant and automatically, with no conscious thought on my part. Like a computer running in the background.
The picture of indulgence, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “The Rock becomes you, but you’ll look even better wrapped in me.”
