Page 65 of Marked

Twenty-one

Seth’s cackle comes through the speaker, jarring me from my shock. “Well, the jackal is out of the bag, isn’t it? When you’re ready to come to me and make the right choice, you know where to find me. Taylor and I will be waiting, Val!” He has the balls to make a kissing sound before hanging up.

The sudden silence is suffocating.

My knees finally give out from the overload of emotional turmoil. Ja—Anubis reaches for me but stops when I manage to make a protesting grunt in response and lets me sink to the floor with my gun loosely cradled in my lap.

A fucking god. My eyes widen. Holy shit, I fucked a god.

Two of them, according to Seth.

And then I shot one.

At my choked wail, Anubis takes a tentative step forward. “Valkyrie?”

“I shot a god,” I mumble. When I hear his soft chuckle, I look up at him. No wonder his grey eyes remind me of the river of souls. Doesn’t Anubis judge souls? Deem them worthy of the afterlife? “I shot Anubis.”

“I don’t know whether to be concerned or amused that that is what you decided to fixate on.” There’s a soft humor in his voice, but his brow is still furrowed with uncertainty.

“I shot you,” I repeat more firmly, staring at the bloody hole in his shoulder. “With a gun.”

“You did,” he agrees. “And it hurt.”

My cheeks flush when he kneels in front of me, a protest on my lips. “Don’t. I mean, a god shouldn’t kneel?”

He gives me a forced, strained smile. “Many gods wouldn’t.”

“Then why?” I ask, sucking in a breath when he touches my cheek and cradles it.

“Because I want to. Because I can.” His voice gentles. “Because I don’t want you to treat me any differently, Valkyrie. The man you know would kneel before you without question if you freaked out. I am still that Jack.”

“Jack,” I say and then slap my hand to my forehead. “Short for jackal.”

He pulls my hand from my face and gives me a sheepish grin. “I thought it was clever.”

“You’re an asshole,” I snap my mouth shut with a clack of teeth, realizing I probably shouldn’t be insulting a god, but when I look at him, his grin has widened.

“There’s my girl,” he rumbles approvingly.

I hate how both my heart and core clench at that. “No.” Knocking his hand from my face, I lift a finger in warning. “No. You don’t get to use your sexy god voice on me.” His lips tilt up in a smirk, but I pretend not to notice. “Not after you lied and led me on for your own gain.”

The smile abruptly vanishes. “I did not use you,” he argues, seemingly affronted by the idea. “Nor did I lie.”

“Omitting the truth and withholding information is still lying, Ja—Anubis—fuck!” I shout in frustration and rub hard at my face with the heel of my hand.

“You can still call me Jack.” I let him take the gun from me when he tries to ease it out of my grip. What good will it do against a god anyways? He takes my hands into his and holds them firmly when I try to tug them away. “I tried to tell you, Valkyrie. So many times. But we either got interrupted or it wasn’t the right timing.”

I stare down at our hands, his tan skin a stark contrast to my paleness. “Any of the times I bled my heart out to you would have been the right time,” I murmur.

He takes in a slow breath. “Perhaps,” he begins. “But in the beginning, we both had reservations about telling each other what we are. When you told me, I was going to tell you in return, but you were so happy to finally kiss someone that I didn’t want to ruin that moment for you. You deserve to be happy.”

I bite my lip, recalling how he had tried to say something before I slammed my mouth against his for the second time. “And after?”

“Then Taylor went missing,” Jack reminds me in a gentle tone. “And then there was our fight, and the fiasco about the goblet.”

“Taylor,” I repeat, the image of her battered body flashing before my eyes again. I forcefully pull my hands out of his and climb unsteadily to my feet. Once again, I ignore the rush of dizziness that comes with standing. “I need to get her.”

Jack fluidly rises with me. “Seth has her.”

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