Page 40 of Death God

My spirit friends had to be close to me, so they were now hiding on the other side of the garden.

“Impressive, Pip Ophelia.” Spartoi smirked. “Even with the cuffs, you can still put up a fight. Your power has grown, my darling. It’s wonderful to watch you start to become your own person.”

“I’ve always been my own person,” I said. “I just never had a chance before since I was held captive and tormented and experimented on, and you know by who.”

“But trials build character, don’t they?” he said. “After you were forged in fire and prevailed, you turned to the purest gold.”

“I’d love to help you build your character,” I said. “I want more than anything to do that and let you burn in the hottest fires of Hell, so you can utterly enjoy your trials as well.”

“I was forged in Heavenly fire before I was sent to Earth,” he said. “I still go through the trial of fire every day. No one could understand an iota of what I’ve gone through. You think you suffered, but what you suffered pales against what I went through. The only being who might understand is your father, but he is gone.”

“You murdered him,” I said.

“I freed him.” Then he sighed, a look of nostalgia filling his purple eyes. Probably to expel an inconvenient feeling, he lit his cigar, watching its end spark. Taking his time, he took slow pulls and blew out a perfect smoke ring.

“Keeping lying to yourself and see how far you can go,” I said. I was so fed up with this fucking horseman, yet I still needed to collect intel and find his weakness.

“As I told you many times, I did what I had to do to defend what was left of Earth,” he said, putting his cigar aside. “Earth has so much to offer. I consider it my home, and I’ll defend my home at all costs. Earth is your home as well. Even though you’re Thanatos’s daughter, you don’t belong to Heaven. They’ve done nothing for you, have they? But at some point, Heaven will try to get you or stake its claim, and I can protect you from the Heavenly hosts as well.”

I restrained myself from picking up his cigar and stubbing the lighted end out on his fucking face. He’d for sure retaliate and could easily overpower me. I’d tried many times now, but my prank magic didn’t work on him.

When he gave me an orgy reception to throw me off balance, I’d tried to make him impotent while the witches gave him fierce blowjobs. If it’d worked, he’d have been epically humiliated. And if I could make his junk go soft, he’d never be able to force me to form a mating bond with him.

I’d tried small things on him as well, such as making him grow D-cup man boobs or go bald. I even tried to make his nose grow since he was a fucking liar, but my prank magic never manifested on him.

If none of my magic worked on him, I’d have to escape him before he raped me.

“Let’s not speculate, although theatrics seem to be your forte,” I said. “Let’s stick to facts.”

“I like facts, little Pip,” he purred. “And you said you wanted to know more about me. Shoot away with your questions.”

Motherfucker made me want to puke, and he was really bad at flirting. I kept a blank mask in place to show him that he had no effect on me.

“Fact number one,” I said. “You should’ve gone home, wherever that is, after you accomplished your mission, which was to wreak havoc on Earth by bringing global war to this planet. And congratulations, Earth’s defender, you destroyed its civilizations.”

“Hold on, Pip,” he said, raising a finger. “You got tons of things wrong. I don’t blame you though, since you’ve never been properly educated. You don’t understand complex world affairs—politics, global culture, and warfare. You’re probably only parroting what your companions told you. And they’ve been lying to you. While I don’t blame you, I blame them for being a bad influence on you.”

I let out a mocking chuckle. “I might be lacking in your eyes, but no one can make me feel inferior. A lot of beings have tried and failed, and they got a kick in their butts. I might not be an expert at everything, but I have just enough power to make up for it.”

“Got cocky, didn’t you?” He smiled. “The vampires might have pampered you, but don’t be naïve, little Pip. The bloodsuckers are the most cunning creatures, and their king is the worst. They only want to use you.”

“Whatever,” I said in a dismissive tone. There was no pointing arguing with evil and crazy, especially when he was talking shit. But I needed to understand further what made this evil tick.

“My point is that you refused to leave Earth, even after you were recalled by your big boss. You risked everything to stay on Earth, including being stripped of power and form.” I swept a hand toward him. “I bet no one remembers your old horseman of war’s form now. Was it nice?” A muscle twitched on his chin, and I chuckled lowly. “Of course you finally acquired a vessel that can hold you long enough after two centuries. Is it worth it? What’s your end game? What do you really want, Spartoi?”

He regarded me, his eyes vindictive. “You know, any other being would die a thousand deaths if they ever talked to me like that. However, when it’s you, it’s quite refreshing, and it surprises me that I love you challenging me. You ground me. However, I can’t say the same thing about the bad company you used to keep. They filled your mind with all sorts of fancy ideas and far-fetched lies and stories. For that, they’ll suffer my wrath.”

“Let’s be slow to issue empty threats, shall we?” I asked. “I’ve died more than a thousand deaths by your hands already, only I came back every time.”

“Trials of fire,” he said without a hint of remorse. “I forged the new you. Now you’re full of fire, Pip Ophelia. You’ve transformed. You’re the true phoenix who rose from the ashes.”

Only I was actually half-dragon.

“Let’s assume you get my power and rule the world; then what?”

“Don’t be a Negative Nancy.” He winked at me. “I’ve just got a taste of this wonderful world.”

“You said the world was a dark, twisted, dangerous place a few minutes ago.”

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