Page 13 of Tempted
Big, beautifulgiants.
Giantsare real. Giants arereal?
How many times can my brain materialize the word “giants” before I pass out from shock?
Who are these sexy giants? Why are they wearing… Loin cloths? More importantly, why are they looking at me like I’m the long lost love of their lives?
Before I can think too much harder on that, my world goes black.
Chapter Eight
Tanda
Theacheinmychest has been growing all night. There’s a restlessness in my soul that cannot be deterred. The call of my brothers is strong, growing stronger every day that I’m back on this goddess forsaken island—their energy lingering here being both a blessing and a curse. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss them, but at the same time, the black mark staining me with its inky darkness like a toxic poison will never cease to exist. And as long as it’s there, so will be the parts of me that keep me from being enough for anyone.
The jealousy.
The rage.
The all-consuming need for power.
It all lives in that cursed black filth that mars all the good parts of who I used to be.
It’s been too long since I heeded the call to come home, never once able to bring myself back to the lands where I lost it all—my woman, my brothers, my family, myhome. That is, I couldn’t come home until the moment I felt her, until the moment I couldn’tnotcome home.
And I know it’s all my fault. I know I’m the problem. I always was. I’ve never once been good enough, never deserving of the blessings bestowed upon me, and being back here is all the greatest reminder of all that. It hurts almost more than I can bear while also healing a part of me that I long thought had died—keeping me buoyed between the good and evil that lives within me.
When I left this island, I’d been the odd man out. The seer with so much darkness in his heart that he could never be loved by his one and only. She’s all I’ve ever wanted in this life. I grew up knowing she’d one day be mine. I saw it to be true. And yet, here I’ve been, a lifetime cursed with loneliness because I’d so selfishly sought power that hadn’t belonged to me.
One cursed night was to my detriment. It was my ultimate downfall.
I thought I could claim it all—love, power, prestige, respect—only to lose her and my brothers all in one fell swoop after not having heeded the words of our grandmother goddess. My plans had gone awry in the worst of ways, leaving me broken and near powerless.
My sight had been weakened, my magic nearly drained, and it’s stayed that way all these hundreds and hundreds of years since. I think that’s why I haven’t been able to reclaim what’s always been mine, even without the distraction of my brothers.
The damage runs too deep. I’m too broken.
Why hadn’t I simply taken our goddess’ words at face value? Why is there a darkness in me that makes me different from the others? I’d been loved by them all once upon a time, only to have ruined it all in the name of spite and greed, so desperate to be loved more than that of those who’d always had my back.
I can hear Toci’s words now, filtering through my mind as if I’d heard them the day they’d been spoken, even though I had yet to be born. Those words were law and I’d desecrated them in all ways.
I warn you now, should any of you attempt to obtain more power than you’re given, all will be doomed. Work together selflessly and faithfully. For that is where you’ll find your truest blessing of all. And remember to trust in your blessing, even if it doesn’t look the same as thy neighbors.
How could I have been so irresponsible? So stupid to think that if I could just become more powerful, then I could have her all to myself? I know she loved me, my beautiful goddess blessed Zii. There are no others in this life or any other that could compare. And now that she’s back, I’ve fucked it all up again, letting past hurts get the better of me, along with a healthy dose of disbelief and the same stubborn pride that got me into this mess in the first place.
Upon initially seeing her, I’d been angry and resentful of all the years I’ve been stuck in this life without her, thinking that it couldn’t have really been her. Maybe just a descendant of one of her surviving relatives and I’d wanted to punish her for looking and sounding so much like the love of my goddess forsaken life. And I had… in my own ways. Denying her orgasms was a shit thing to do, but I’d been so blinded by my own hurt feelings and longing for the woman who’d been long since gone.
Pathetic.
Idiot.
Despicable.
Useless.
There’s no denying that I am everything my father claims me to be—a hopeless failure who’s unworthy of love or power anyway.
Only once I noticed the way my magic lit up, coming back to me slowly, was I able to see her for who she truly is. When she blocked my power with her own, it cemented the truth for me and I knew I had to keep her away from our original home. I had to keep her away from the ruins where everything went wrong and we’d lost each other for all this time—where we’d lost the other five of us that made us whole.
