He clutched the key tightly, tears collecting in his eyes. “Thank you, so incredibly much. I swear I'll behave, I swear!”
“If you ever go behind my back again, the same rules apply. Whether you like it or not, I am the God of this Realm, and your loyalty lies with me, not some scum from Chandler.” I was doing my best to keep my tone strict, but he saw through me and realized how scared I was.
“I will tell you immediately should something happen.”
“If only you’d done so the first time I wouldn’t have had to fuck him to get what I wanted,” I sniffed crudely.
“As if you didn’t enjoy letting your hair down,” he teased lightly.
I spun on my heel immediately, and my glare made him wince. “I do not enjoy betraying my wife. Unlike you, I am faithful to the woman I married. I do not indulge in sexual acts outside of our marriage without her consent and her involvement. This whole thing makes me stomach sick.”
“You’re a very valiant partner,” he complimented as he stretched his aching body.
“Doesn't feel like it these days...” I sighed as I made my exit.
Chapter fourteen
Drifting Through the Fog
Nicodemus
Ipaced back and forth in front of the Death Elemental arena, my boots making sizeable dents in the dirt. I was moving so fast that Akira grew dizzy from chasing me and spun in a circle before flopping on the ground with a huff. I paused my pacing to laugh at him, and in return, he nipped my hand and shook his tail at me. I went back to pacing after this, clouds of dust kicking up around me from how rapidly I moved.
Odysseus jogged through the entrance, dressed handsomely in khakis, a grey pullover, and a pair of canvas sneakers. He raised an eyebrow at Akira before gesturing to me. “My love? What exactly are you doing?”
“Panicking,” I squeaked back.
“Ah heh. Pray tell, what are you panicking about?”
“My Elementals.”
“What about them?”
“About how they’re going to do today, ding dong!” I roared, throwing my arms up as if to say, ‘come on, Odysseus, get with the program!’.
He came over to take my shoulders and shake me once. “Love, everything will be fine. They've been preparing for this for weeks. Have some faith in them, would you?”
“I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of you...” I whined in shame.
He tapped my chin so I would look up at him, then leaned in and kissed me sweetly. I melted under his lips automatically, sighing to myself over the fact that he could break me down so easily. He went to pull away, but I jerked him forward for another hungry round, making him chuckle behind our lips and comply.
“Ooooh!” Elektra and Calvin exclaimed as they snuck into the arena, giggling wildly when I broke our kiss to shoot them a playful glare.
“I know, how scandalous of me to kiss my fiancé,” I mocked before brushing him away sassily and moving to great my Elites. “Are you two ready for today?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Calvin tried with a light shrug.
“Is it true that you’re going to cut us down to the final two after this challenge?” Elektra peeped, gnawing her pierced lip.
I rubbed her shoulder to cheer her up. “Admittedly, yes, but try not to think about that. All of you, regardless of what spot you end up in, will work for me in the near future. The responsibility is huge regardless of what number you land as.”
“No one wants to be second, third, or fiftieth best,” Calvin reminded me.
“Maybe so. That doesn’t mean I value any of you any less.”
“Besides,” Odysseus joined the conversation, “You only have to compete with twenty-three other candidates. Remember thatDeath Elementals are split twenty-five to twenty-five as Reapers and Demon Hunters.”
“Which means Nick is only picking one of us from the Reaper side!” Elektra stammered.
