No, that’s not true. I could see Aoiki’s heartbreak had cost her. It had turned parts of her hard, parts that might never turn soft again.
“Yeah, I’m more spiritual than religious,” I said to Sunny. Then I realized. “He made a church?”
“The wonders of the internet,” Xander croaked from where he leaned against the wall. My heart still swelled at the sight of him. He’d been broken, burned, and bleeding, but was still alive.
Echo and I hadn’t been able to locate where Aten had restrained the other gods, but he had Xander on display in a makeshift throne room at the Illusion hotel he’d commandeered as his own and had been torturing him. It’s almost as if he wanted Xander’s pain to be on display, as if it were a piece of art for his own sick amusement.
It was hard not to go to Xander even now—to touch him, feel his heartbeat, make sure he was okay.
“It’s how he’s become so strong and was able to overpower the rest of us,” Xander explained. “He’d been eliciting humans to worship him again, and based off the power I’ve seen, the church must have gained quite a following.”
“The church of Aten is great.” Sunny tipped her head and closed her eyes as if she were bathing in his presence right there.
“If I’d known you were such a religious zealot, I would have dumped your ass decades ago,” Aoiki snarled. “I should have known you were trash when you kept saying my father didn’t know how to brew a proper pot of tea.”
She saidwhatabout Ryuki?
Well, now I wanted to slap her face right off her head.
Aoiki’s father was precious beyond all measure and should be protected at all costs. That man was always there with a cup of tea and a kind word.
God, I hoped Jamal could spot the red flags before he ended up with a nightmare of a partner like Sunny.
Whoa Miranda, one trauma at a time.
Sunny straightened, meeting the angry stare from Aoiki. “It wasn’t all a lie. You too can join me, Aoiki. We can be together, in his divine light. His love can strengthen ours.”
A crazed, almost goggle of her eyes had me wondering if she’d been taking any drugs.
Aoiki's face twisted into a sneer as she crossed her arms tightly across her chest, her fingers digging into her biceps. It was clear she was trying to restrain herself from slapping Sunny across the face.
A dark look passed over Sunny’s face, a malevolent spark of darkness in her eyes. “You can’t deny him. He will take his place as the rightful god of this realm and remove all false gods.” Her hate-filled glare turned on Xander. “And there is nothing you can do to stop him.”
I lunged forward and grasped her wrists tightly, the ropes cutting into my palms. I leaned in close, my face inches from hers, effectively blocking her view of Xander. “We’ll see about that. Because Aten won’t get his hands on Xander again, and hesure as hell isn’t going to make melovehim.” I filled that last remark with as much disgust as I could.
“I love when she gets all territorial over me,” Xander tossed lightly to Aoiki.
Instead of wanting to deny or punt his remark, I easily let it stand now. I knew he felt the same for me, and though we may not have our shit figured out, neither Xander nor I would let anyone hurt the other.
With that, I turned on my heel and walked out, Aoiki and Xander behind me.
Back in the warehouse, Ryuki was just setting down a fresh pot of tea and beautiful Japanese tea cups. Echo sat on the floral couch, flanked by her rabbit familiars who were snuggled in.
“Think she’ll do it?” Echo asked.
“Oh, she’ll do it,” I affirmed.
“Do what?” Xander asked, slowly lumbering behind us.
I walked over to a backpack I left on the ground. I pulled out a brand new teal Hawaiin shirt and handed it to him.
“While you were sleeping, we made a plan.”
I couldn’t tell if he was more shocked by that news or the flowery garment he held between his fingers now.
“What do you mean, a plan?” His expression darkened as he stepped closer. “You should get as far away from him as possible, Miranda. He’s coming for you. We need to get your family to safety.”
I nodded, keeping myself from running my hands along his carved chest. “I know. Javier took Jamal and Mama Jean out of harm’s way.” Heinz was with them too. I’d trust my old army buddy with my life, and my family was my life. “But that’s why we need to take care of this now.”
