My throat constricted as I imagined the fate of Grim, Vivien, and Xander—all imprisoned by Aten and trapped in this hellish realm. The thought alone was enough to make me physically ill.
The realization hit me like a punch to the gut—I was truly alone. No allies, no backup, just me and the cruel god who held all my loved ones captive. The weight of isolation pressed down on me.
“Perhaps in time they will see the wisdom in accepting me as the god of gods, setting a good example for the rest. But Miranda, the more of them I kill, the more I send back to the cradle, the more that will rise again over time and try to defy me again and again. I need your assistance in a more permanent solution.”
“The Blade of Bane. That’s what you really want.” He can’t take Bob from me, not without my allowing it.
“No, Miranda, I needyou. Help me,” he urged. “And there will be a place for you, in this new world order. A world without chaos, without needless defiance. A world under one god and his right hand.” He held his out to me, an offer.
His plan came into focus. Aten thought he could move in next door and make me fall in love with him. Then I’d either gladly hand over the blade or do his bidding willingly. Except he was a god playing human the way children play with Barbies. He had no true conception of what it was to be a mortal or how to connect with others. In his eyes a human dressed in a suit, went to work, engaged in activities like working out at the gym.Sprinkle in some pleasantries and everything would just fall in line.
What an absolute simpleton. But this simpleton had an insane amount of power at his disposal, which made him even more dangerous.
Xander had been so far removed from the world and yet he had more emotional intelligence in his pinky than this dude had in his entire being.
“And if I refuse?” I asked, already knowing this game had no winner.
Aten's smile turned predatory. “Then I suppose we'll have to see how hot the sun can really get.”
I weighed my options, none of them good. Outright defiance wasn't going to cut it, not with Jamal and Mama Jean in the balance. I needed a plan, and I needed it fast. “Give me time to think about it,” I said, stalling.
“Time is a luxury, Miranda. But for you, I'll make an exception. You have until tomorrow’s sunrise.”
Sunrise. How fitting for the sun god to set a deadline.
As Aten vanished as quickly as he had appeared, leaving a trail of warmth in his wake, I exhaled slowly. I had until this evening to come up with a miracle. Or, failing that, a really good plan B.
“Bob? How did you kill Aten the last time?”
He hesitated. “The gods and fae put their differences aside and worked together. Many lives were lost, but there was an opening and my fae wielder took it.”
“Well that sounds like a plan to me,” I said, realizing exactly what I needed to do next.
Chapter 31
The Beast
“Didn’t take any time to redecorate, did it?” I asked.
The god I’d feared and despised for thousands of years sat on a golden throne. In fact, the entire level now sitting atop the Illusion hotel was bright yellow with gold embellishments. Art of him was everywhere—friezes, paintings, even statues filled the room until my eyes were bursting with the image of Aten.
Even the chains holding me to the wall were a golden hue, but they were made of far stronger materials. Materials that wouldn’t melt before my flesh did.
The irony wasn’t lost on me—a creature of water, now a prisoner of flames.
Aten cast a look around as if noticing for the first time. “Yes, well I missed that ‘at home’ feeling and thought some nesting might make me feel more in my element.”
“Yeah, it’s gaudy and an absolute masturbatory ode to you. Did you put a big picture of your face on the exterior of the hotel as well?”
Aten calmly surveyed his nails.
“I was right?” I couldn’t help but break into snorting laughter. “You are such an egocentric asshole, you know that?”
Aten rose from his throne in a sweep of robes. He lifted a hand and my already blackened fingertips lit on fire for the countless time.
Heat blasted my body like a sandstorm from hell. I gritted my teeth and cried out as the searing pain engulfed me.
Even as the flames licked higher, scorching flesh from bone, I clung desperately to my humanity. Because to give in, to let the monster out, would be to lose the very thing that made life worth living—Miranda's love and her acceptance of me not just as a god, but as the flawed man who loved her beyond reason.
