Chapter 0545

“He cannot kill me,” the God says, laughing darkly as I come closer. Suddenly a hand lashes out, hitting Jesse hard in the chest and sending him sprawling down on the ground next to Rafe. But even as he falls away, Jesse’s shadows stay tight around the god before us, winding around him. “Even if this is merely a shard of my power, do you think a gift of magic to a mortal would be enough to kill a God?”

“Ariel!” Rafe shouts, and behind me I can hear him working hard to scramble to his feet. “Get away from him!”

I ignore my brother.

“I think it’s enough to weaken a God,” I say, my voice shaking with my rage as I take another step towards the God of Darkness, looking up into his face now. “Or else you would have killed us by now.”

“Kill you,” the God says, laughing down at me, almost as if he’s entertained. “Dear heart,” he snarls, “I don’t want to kill you. You’re far too interesting to me.” He raises a hand, reaching to cup my cheek, but one of Jesse’s shadows whips out and the God gasps as his wrist is yanked down.

“And you in particular,” the God purrs, leaning closer to me after sending a dark glare Jesse’s way, “are so like your grandmother – the woman she was tens of thousands of years ago – when we first began our reign. So fiery. So…delicious.” He smirks as his eyes drop to my body, as I feel again the perverse lick of his tongue up my neck, my cheek. I slap my hand to my cheek, trying to wipe the sensation away – but of course I can’t. He’s using his magic, even though it feels… so real, so vivid.