Page 1 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

It’s All in the Wording

Dusk paints the sky over the Valley a golden hue and I twist the egg pendant at my throat. Pinpricks of energy tingle between my skin and the metal.

This is what I wanted…

The Power and the responsibility—the freedom—that goes along with it.

Maybe I’m greedy.

Who could have guessed I’d want more?

It’s been a long month since I returned to the tower, to this world I’m now caretaker of.

And somehow… even surrounded by people, loneliness aches in my bones.

The Valley is quiet tonight.

From the balcony atop my tower, the bright lights of the city—my city—twinkle along the Valley’s length, beckoning me toward the white spire in the distance.

Below, people run about their nightly tasks. Or maybe they sit in their homes surrounded by their families. Wherever they are, they whisper.

I’ve heard them call me a goddess.

An ascendant deity.

If any of them understood what the actual gods were like… they might not think it a compliment.

Then again, some of them already know it isn’t.

I shiver, and it’s not from the breeze fluttering across my shoulders. The days creep nearer to summer and the heat steadily climbs.

Thirty metres below, a trio of children beat on a broken air con unit.

It’s too old to be worth repairing, but with a flick of my wrist, I give it a few more days of life and can’t help but smile as three cheers erupt from below.

They rush inside, no doubt thinking mechanical brutality got their desired result.

“Are you going to fix the city’s problems one piece of faulty equipment at a time?”

The soft voice that comes from behind me is bright, a happy respite from the growing concerns piling at my feet.

Jamus had ruled the Valley with neglect and disdain. Cleaning up his messes—so far—was easy for the Power, less so for my peace of mind.

“If I could solve them all with a single wave of my hand, I’d gladly do it.”

Ari leans on the balcony railing beside me, her eyes on the same spire I can’t look away from for long.

But she doesn’t linger on the old gods. “Anything else you need me to do today, boss?”

Her unnaturally white-blonde hair seems perpetually windblown. Falling around her shoulders like a waterfall, it reminds me of spun gold in this light, reflecting the dying day. She’s the kind of beautiful that’s disarming. Maybe that’s why I didn’t ask too many questions the day she showed up at my door and offered to help.

“I don’t think so.” Forcing myself to turn away from the spire, I look her in the eyes. They’re a blue that’s too pale to be the colour she was born with.

Everything about her feels like it should be cold, but she’s not.

There are plenty of people in my Valley who’ve encountered their own gods. Most of them come out the other side with some change or another. And Ari hasn’t yet told me about her time in their realm.

It isn’t hard to guess that it didn’t end well.

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