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It was definitely messing with my ability to practice moving in and out of the godly realm though. Ever since I had realized that I could transport to the godly realm without using a portal like most magic users had to, I’d been working on honing my skills.
Practicing.
Testing the limits of my power.
I wanted to show up in a specific location, and I wanted to bring the guys with me. But unfortunately, I was having a hard time managing to do either of those things—as evidenced by the fact that I’d shown up in a random part of the forest outside the city of the gods, and none of my three men were anywhere to be seen.
Fuck and a half. Guess I’ll have to try again.
The shouts in the distance grew a little louder, letting me know the guards were heading my way. “Of course, here comes the brigade.”
I sighed and closed my eyes, imagining myself traveling back to where I’d come from. Nothing about my transportation to the godly realm had been easy, but the return trip was usually a bit easier. I was getting better at controlling where I ended up in the earthly plane, at least.
When I opened my eyes, my feet were touching down on the ground in the living room of the rental house in Boston. I stumbled a little, my stomach feeling like it was about two seconds behind my body.
A hand gripped my arm, steadying me, and I glanced over to see Merrick watching me with concern.
Leading me over to the couch, he chuckled, though the worry didn’t leave his amber eyes. “You alright? You’re getting better at it. This time you didn’t throw up or fall down.”
I looked up at Lachlan. The burly Irishman was sitting in the chair across from me, his red-brown hair a little darker than normal. Little droplets of water clung to the ends of it, making me think he must’ve just gotten out of the shower. He lifted an eyebrow and nodded. “Yeah. I appreciate the not pukin’ thing.”
Wrinkling my nose and hissing through my teeth, I settled onto the slightly lumpy couch, letting my body relax against the cushions. “Sorry about that. I tried to warn you.”
Trace poked his head out of the kitchen, his dark
hair gleaming in the light. He was shirtless, and the half-formed tattoos on his torso shifted as he walked toward me. Some of them had been partially destroyed by the burns he’d gotten during our first Gods’ Challenge, but they still looked hot as hell.
“Here you go, champ. Drink up.” He handed me a glass of water before sinking onto the couch next to me. “And I’m not surprised you didn’t hurl this time. It’s not like you’ve eaten anything the last couple days. You’ve been so focused on perfecting this travel thing.”
Shrugging, I gulped down the water, feeling it slosh a little in my empty stomach. Yeah, I really did need to eat. “But it hasn’t been working. I just dropped myself into the woods, literally on the back of a giant purple monster. It bucked me off, and then we had to fight.”
Trace looked like he was holding back a smile. “And I’m assuming you won?”
“I did, but this time I didn’t have to kill it,” I replied, feeling a little flare of pride. “I put it to sleep, and it will be that way for a couple days, I think. I just really thought that I would have this by now. It shouldn’t be this fucking hard, should it? Not if I have the powers I’m supposed to.” My chest tightened, and I ran a hand through my dark hair. “I dunno. I’m starting to think you guys were wrong. I’m not a god. Besides, we were wrong about everything else—everything we thought we knew about Magic Blessed. There’s nothing definitive about any of this. None of it makes fucking sense.”
Trace put his hand on my leg, his thumb rubbing gentle circles over my knee. It was a comforting gesture that still sent a flare of heat running through me. I wasn’t sure my body would ever not react that way to these men’s touch.
“We were wrong about a lot of things, sure,” he conceded. “But I seriously don’t think you’d be able to travel between the godly realm and the human one on your own if you didn’t have at least some kind of godly power. Even the magic users who live in the gods’ realm and worship them, the most powerful humans there are, have to use portals to travel between earth and the godly plane. But you don’t.”
“He’s right,” Merrick put in. “On top of that, your powers are growing. They’ve been growing ever since that first challenge, and they keep getting stronger every time you go back to the godly realm. It’s like you’re drawing power from that place or something. Like its power is meant to be yours.”
Lachlan smirked at me, running a hand over his square jaw. “Aye. He’s right, Aria. I bet ye did some kind of crazy trick and picked that enormous monster up in the air with yer magic, didn’t ye?”
My gaze shifted toward him as I took another drink of water. “Not exactly. But I was able to flip it on its back like a little bitch.”
He chuckled, seeming both impressed and turned on. “That’s my girl.”
Merrick shook his head. “That’s what I’m talking about. You’re stronger than any of us could be. You’ve got to get yourself back together, dust yourself off, and keep trying. We believe in you, and we know losing hope won’t do anything for you.”
“Yeah. We just want you to be safe and careful, Snow,” Trace added, his hand tightening on my leg.
I gave him a small smile, resting my hand over his as my gaze swept all three men. I could tell they were on edge, worried about me and frustrated that they couldn’t have my back in the godly realm. But at the same time, they were trying to stay optimistic for my sake.
The two times we’d gone to the godly realm for the challenges, it’d been a team effort. As we’d struggled to stay alive in that deadly landscape, we had all used what we had, what we were good at, to work together. But this was different. Getting us to the godly plane was all on me. I was the only one who could do it.
The guys felt helpless, and I felt helpless—although for very different reasons.
They wanted to help me in the godly realm, and I wanted to be able to bring them with me when I transported there.
