Jasper scoffed, looking between Calia and the man who claimed to be a god and her father. “Are those our only options? Listen to whatever bullshit you have prepared, or you’ll leave us to our own devices?” He took a step closer, putting our guests on alert. While Castor reached for whatever weapon he had concealed, Elios did not. He simply stared, assessing every move as though he could discern our thoughts.
Perhaps he could. I had never met a god before.
“Jasper,” Calia began, turning to face him. Though her feelings toward me were yet to be untangled, her crestfallenexpression showed she held no reservations as far as Jasper was concerned. “Please, just listen?—”
“No,” he said, turning a deadly glare toward her. My blood ran cold as she shrunk in on herself under his ire. “You waltz in here after days of us mourning your loss—thinking you are rotting in a fucking grave six feet under the ground—and believe everything can be as it was? Do you know the guilt he has been facing? How many times I’ve had to pick him up off the floor because his grief was insurmountable?”
Jasper pointed in my direction, drawing the attention of every person in the room. I averted my gaze, calling my friend's name softly. “Jasper now is not the time?—”
He turned his ire on me. “I think now is the perfect time. It’s all too easy for her to point the fingers and blame you for keeping secrets, but what abouther? What about the knowledge she has kept from you? Should she not be held accountable?”
I noticed Calia’s wilted posture from the corner of my eye. She would take his verbal lashing without interruption because that was how she was raised. Lucius, the man who raised her, never spoke with comfort, only malice. I had witnessed his callous nature toward her firsthand, so had Jasper, and his actions at her funeral further proved he had never truly cared about her.
But I would not allow her to feel like that again. Not inourhouse.
Regardless of the complicated nature of our relationship, and even if she chose to never see me again once my mother was apprehended and our business was concluded, I would always guard her. It would drive her mad, especially since she did not need me to do so, I knew that, but my protective instincts could not be overridden—not when it came to her.
I rose from my chair, wrapping my hand around Jasper’s throat and pushing him back onto the couch. My teeth werebared, fangs elongated, as I leaned toward his face. It would not take any effort to sink them into his flesh and rip out his throat. “You do not get to take your anger out on her. You do not get to make her feel small simply because you want answers to your questions,” I growled.
“Don’t you want those answers, too?” he shot back, struggling against my hold. Rowena and Sloane had stepped away, realizing the danger filling the space as he and I wrestled for dominance.
“Of course I do!” I snarled. “More than anything, but you will not talk to my fucking wife like that. Not here. Not ever. Are we clear,brother?”
His eyes were filled with fury, and the erratic rhythm of his pulse thrummed under my fingers. I refused to break our stalemate, letting him see that no matter who he was to me, she was my purpose for being. Nothing could compete with that.
“Are. We. Clear?”
He shifted under my hold, and for a moment, it seemed he was preparing to fight, but I felt the tension between us dissipate. “Fine,” he gritted out, relaxing his posture a touch.
I stood back, releasing my hold and waiting for the words he knew he should utter. Despite his acquiescence, they never came. “Apologize,” I hissed, my eyes never leaving his. “Now.”
His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath before turning toward my wife. “I’m sorry, Calia. I let my anger get the best of me, and it was unfair to turn that on you.”
I had not noticed the hand she placed over her chest or the tear that slid down her cheek. “It’s okay, really. That wasn’t necessary.”
“It was,” I said, returning to my seat. “You will not be disrespected in this house, ever.”
She dipped her head. Whether in gratitude or embarrassment, I did not know. Our bond was silent. No matterhow gently I attempted to coax her mind to let me in, her barriers were up. No cracks to be found.
On the other hand, Jaspers was blaring questions, insults, and vague threats at full volume, knowing how difficult it was to shut him out. Somehow, even with his mouth shut, he managed to make his unwanted opinions abundantly clear.
“Now that I have your attention,” Elios said, drawing us back. “I take it you are willing to listen to what I have to say?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Elios adjusted the collar of his impeccably tailored suit before taking a seat, placing an ankle over his knee. “To understand thenow, you must understand the past. There was a time before your kind when gods ruled over the land.” He closed his eyes and raised his hands. “Do not panic,” he said softly.
With a thunderous boom, he brought his palms together and my sight darkened momentarily before I was thrust into a vision of Elios’ making. Cut off from my surroundings, I was immersed in a world of opulence. Around me, a myriad of gods and goddesses paraded around cities built from marble and gold while faceted crystals sparkled beneath the firelight. Wine flowed freely from fountains as courtesans danced naked in gilded halls to soft, harp-strung melodies. Love and lust danced hand in hand with curiosity and abandon as these beings of unbridled power indulged in the pleasures of the flesh.
Elios’ voice resonated in my mind as I watched the creation of Kallistos occurring before my eyes. “Everything you know and love was created by the gods—the tall pine trees that pepper this very isle, the earthy scent of petrichor that accompanies the rainfall. Even you were created by our hands, which is how yourpowers came to be. All of it came from the mind of a being who had the ability to will whatever they desired into existence.”
Centuries passed by in the blink of an eye, the past imprinting itself in my mind as though I had lived it. I clutched the arm of my chair to keep myself from wandering too far into the vision, to remind myself that no matter how real Elios’ magic felt, it was nothing more than an illusion.
“In the beginning, the gods had a purpose—they answered the call of their patrons and favored, exercising their creative freedom to explore new inventions, but as time went on, mortals became less dependent on their makers. Societies blossomed into self-sufficient empires, prayers became redundant, and with most beings having access to their power, gods were called on less with each passing day.” Elios paused, transforming the focus of his images to the gods.
Seven deities sat in a circular courtyard in grand thrones, each boasting elements from their respective dominion. A near-translucent, shimmering barrier stretched above their heads, allowing unfettered access to the sky above.
“An idle god begs for trouble. They were not designed in the way mortals are. Their power must be exercised, or they become overzealous and meddlesome creatures. Because of this, it was collectively decided that they no longer had a role to play in this civilization. However, it could not be left unattended, and they did not want their work to be undone, so they elected an individual from each region to rule in their stead.”
