“You won’t kill me, then?” he asked in a voice laced with both hate and desperation, his fingers tightening around the bars of his cage.
My heart pounded as I tried to steady my voice, but it trembled slightly as I replied, “I didn’t say that either.”
I clenched my jaw, my grip tightening on the hilt of my sword. His words wrapped around my mind, twining my fears with my doubts. The power lashing at me added ten tons of weight to my mind and body. The invisible force seemed to crush me from all sides, pressing ever closer, until it felt as if I was surrounded by a sea of darkness. It was like drowning without even being in water.
The god’s eyes bored into mine, and I felt like he was peering directly into my soul. The power around him danced like the northern lights, giving me a headache and causing my stomach to churn. It was out of control and…wrong.
“Tell her, Grim, tell her to run that sword right through me,” he spat out the words with a maniacal cackle that made my skin crawl. Was he daring me to kill him or begging me to end his torment? I couldn’t tell.
This time, I took a step back. His eyes may be the only grounding place to look, but in them, I found madness, chaos, and power.
When Grim spoke, he sounded weary and bitter. “I cannot tell her to do anything, Xander. She is the keeper of the blade. She was entrusted with the weapon, and she decides how it is to be used. But I did bring her here, so you could ask.”
Ask?
I hesitated. “Wait, you want me to kill you?”
Xander commanded, “Leave us,” with sudden force.
My heart leapt into my throat, but I tried to remain calm and composed. Grim hesitated, and I found the strength to tear my gaze away from Xander to look at him. For a moment, I didn’t want Grim to go. He could protect me if I needed it, but as soon as the thought surfaced, I drowned it. I was the keeper of the blade; it was my responsibility. This was my business, and I could conduct it on my own. I gave Grim a curt nod.
“I’ll just be. . .” Grim pointed up, and I gathered he’d be in the lobby or his penthouse.
My chest tightened as he started to walk away. Grim murmured as he passed by me, “Don’t get too close,” then added, “if you can help it.”
The elevator dinged shut, and with that, any safety I felt in the room fled. But no, that wasn’t true. This god was behind bars, I told myself.
“Why do you want me to kill you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. My tone was both incredulous and skeptical. This whole thing felt like a bad setup, though I was sure the gods didn’t go for candid camera gags. Or. . . I wasprettysure.
“Yes,” Xander hissed, eyes glowing supernaturally. He shut them tight, his body curved back from the bars while still keeping a grip on them, as if he were trying to regain control. Twisting his head to the side, he looked as if it pained him to push down whatever was trying to force its way up from inside him. When his gaze returned to me, some of his feral had ebbed and it was a little easier to stand so close. A metallic taste filled the air, like an electrical conduit had a short and a surge of electricity passed through.
I tried to lick away the buzzing sensation from the sensitive skin of my lips. “I need to hear you say it.”
There was something new in his eyes now. Pain. Deep, endless pain. As if he’d been a man tortured past his limits.
“Why do you want me to kill you?” I asked, raising my chin.
His glare was sharp, but I refused to retreat. I shifted my weight to one leg, adopting a more relaxed, in control stance. I wouldn’t budge until I could assess the situation for myself. The ability to exterminate any being was not a light undertaking, and I’d been chosen to be judge, jury, and executioner.
Xander remained silent, choosing to glower at me.
“I know we just met,” I began, forcing a calm I didn’t feel into my voice, “but let me explain something to you. I don’t kill indiscriminately. I have killed before, and I can again if need be. So you called me down here, interrupting my evening, to demand I kill you. Explain why.”
It was far from a perfect night. But he didn’t need to know that. A smirk twitched at the corner of the god’s perfect lips, and my stomach suddenly swam up and down like I was weightless on a powerful ocean wave. That small twitch proved he was exactly like the other gods in one respect, as he was downright gorgeous under all the layers of chaotic power. And that scared me more than anything else. I refused to examine why.
“Bubble bath?” My breath hitched as his lips curved into a predatory smirk. I pressed my hand to my stomach, trying to quell the strange fluttering sensation that was suddenly there.
“How did you become the keeper of the blade?” Xander asked, his fingers caressing the bars in a far too suggestive manner.
Was he…was heflirting?
Ignoring the strange jolt of heat that his words sparked, I squared my shoulders. “Does that information matter to you?”
He shook his head, dropping the topic and whatever sensual web he had started to weave around me. “No, I suppose not.”
As if it took great effort, the god released the bars of his cage. “I have lived down here for millennia, and I cannot die. The only key to oblivion and my release is in your hand right there. And I’m asking that you help set me free.”
Xander’s eyes traced the blade as it glinted in the dim light of the chamber. The weight of the weapon felt heavier than usual in my hand, as if it too was hesitant to be used in such a way.
