But right now, I was beginning to think control was overrated.
“We're chasing shadows,” I grumbled, scanning the rooftops. Sheshem could be anywhere, watching us with those big, feline eyes and mocking our efforts. “Maybe you should go home.”
Miranda shot me a look. “This is my responsibility, Xander. I can't turn away from this.”
I scoffed. “That’s only because the other gods are putting pressure on you, letting a mortal do their dirty work.”
She stopped, turning to face me. “I’mthe one who made this mess. I take full responsibility and will deal with the consequences.”
I turned on her, fury filling me up like a kettle beginning to boil. “You shouldn’t have to deal with the consequences. You're a human.”
Even as I said it, Timothy’s words reared up and slapped me in the face. I did my best to squash his reservations back down into the dark recesses of my mind. The details of our future could be figured out later. Right now I was trying to win her back.
Though right now she was looking at me like she wouldn’t deign to spit on me even if I was the last being on earth and fully on fire.
“Stop underestimating me.”
I could practically hear her grinding her teeth.
"Fine.” I stepped closer, my nostrils flaring as I breathed in her heady scent. “You think you can take on the gods. Let's see what you got.”
I lunged at her. Miranda reacted instantly, her blade flashing. But I was faster, a blur of motion, godly speed at my disposal. I dodged her strike, my hand closing around her wrist, pulling her close.
Our eyes locked, inches apart, and the heat radiating off her body drilled into mine. Her heart raced, her breath quick and shallow. The air was charged with something more than just the tension of the hunt—something deeper, primal.
I released her hand, stepping back. “You're too slow. You need to anticipate, react faster.”
Miranda's eyes flashed with frustration, and she attacked again, her movements fluid and calculated. But again, I was faster, evading her strikes with ease.
We danced around each other, a deadly ballet in the empty alleyway. Every touch, every near miss, sent a jolt of electricity through me. I could see it in Miranda's eyes too, that fire, that undeniable spark.
“You're holding back,” she accused, panting.
I grinned, adrenaline pumping through my veins. The irritation had given way to excitement as we sparred. “Wouldn't want to hurt you, sweetheart.”
Something flashed in her eyes at the pet name I gave her when she’d visited my cell nightly to kill me. It rolled off my tongue like sugar, and I could almost taste her even now.
She growled, lunging again, and this time I let her get close, close enough that our bodies almost touched. Our gazes met, and for a heartbeat, the world stood still.
“You can’t win this, Miranda,” I said in a low husky tone, even as my focus drifted down to her lips. For a minute, even I wasn’t sure if I was talking about her suicidal hunt for the gods, or this thing between us.
She shook her head. “This isn’t one of your games, Xander. It’s not about winning, it’s about doing what’s right.”
“Is it right if you get killed trying to track down immortals? What happens if you come face to face with… him?” My guts wrenched up into a tight ball, heat gathering in my forehead as flashes of her burning up under his powers slammed into my temple.
I watched Miranda’s throat swallow hard as if something thick was stuck in there. “Then I’ll deal with that too.”
“Over my dead body,” I snarled, before lunging at her again. She quickened her pace.
Aten was as vicious as he was cruel. He would take her apart piece by piece with zero remorse. It’s what he did to me. Aten flayed me alive, sending me back to the cradle of life. I emerged from the cradle thousands of years too soon, corrupted with too much uncontrolled power where I remained in a living hell until my mistress of death came along.
Aten had wreaked havoc on me for the past five millennia, and I was a god. Miranda was mortal. I wouldn’t let him anywhere near her.
“That’s how we got here, isn’t it?” she threw at me.
A wry smile pulled at my lips. At least she could joke about what happened. After all, she’d been around my dead body quite a bit.
With that, I gained a couple inches closer to her inner defenses without being shot down.
