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Chapter 5
Anver
While the others talked about how to help the gods, I found myself watching Nari. I did that too much lately, but I was drawn to her. I always had been, I just hadn't been able to understand why. My attraction to her wasn't physical, and it certainly had nothing to do with sex like everyone else. And yet, I was still in love with her in my own way.
She had her elbows braced on the table and was picking at her lower lip. It was cute, proving she was deep in thought. Helping save the gods was something she took seriously, and it looked good on her. It actually made her look powerful in a very casual way.
"So what if the other gods mark them all the way Savi did?" Nari asked. "Inside the right wrist. That would make it easy for us to see, because I'm not undressing all of them."
"I can pass that along," Zeal agreed.
I saw one main problem though. "It doesn't really help the other gods unless you can teach these priests how to truly believe, Nari."
She just nodded. "Yeah, but that seems to be easier than I expected. The downside is that I'll have to tell their chosen one how weak they are."
"Will won't like that," Zeal said, looking a little too happy at the idea. "Do it."
"He's still your brother," Talin reminded the god.
"And?" Zeal asked. "Tath is yours. Remind me how much you care about hurting him?"
"Enough to not kill him when I should have," Talin countered. "Zeal, don't pick a fight with Ambition over a kiss."
Zeal slammed his fist on the table. "For us, a kiss is not a kiss! Don't you see that? Entering someone's body allows us to touch their soul. A kiss is a way to gain control. Sex? It blurs the lines between mortal and divine. You know what it's like when I borrow your skin - now just imagine if that had been yoursoulI'd ridden instead!"
"Sounds like fun," Ela joked.
Zeal whipped his gaze over to look at Ela. "It shatters minds. People get a glimpse of our reality and they lose their grasp on this one. A kiss is the smallest part of that. It's notnothing.It's powerful, allowing us to not simply nudge your minds but haul them around, insert thoughts that you never would've had on your own, and turn you into puppets!"
Ela just leaned a little further toward the god. "Yeah, it's the same thing I do in my sessions. And?"
"And my brother did that to Nariana," Zeal said.
Ela paused, thought about that for a second, and then nodded. "Next time you see him, hit the bastard for me, would ya?"
I huffed out a laugh, but thankfully, no one noticed. Ela had probably meant that, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if Zeal actually hit the god of Ambition for him. It seemed like those two had an understanding. Ela treated Zeal like he was normal; Zeal liked it, and so he treated Ela as if he was nearly divine. There was a strange sort of balance there that I could almost understand.
After spending so much time alone with Zeal, I'd gotten used to his quirks. The man's anger came quickly and burned fast. His forgiveness was impressive. This? It was as if he thrived on the lack of awe these four gave him. Oddly, that looked good on him. Divine in a way I hadn't expected.
Because our god was nothing like I'd imagined as a child. We were taught that gods were powerful, perfect, and so different from us. In truth, they had the power and perfection part, but they werejustlike us. If anything, their emotions were more powerful, and they definitely changed faster, but that was about it. Zeal was a man. He thought and acted like a man - especially when it came to his woman - which brought me right back to the discussion at hand.
"I have a feeling that the last thing Nari needs is to have Ambition toying with her mind," I told the guys. "If Zeal pisses him off, Will would do that just to remind his brother that they're all supposed to be equal. Wild guess, since I don't know Will, but he's Ambition. It seems like something he'd be driven by."
"Anver's right," Zeal said. "I also made my point, and Will promised to leave my lover alone."
"Speaking of lovers, I want to know more about fucking a god," Ela said, smiling at Zeal. "Is this a fantasy I should just get out of my head?"
"Not fucking you," Wraythe said before Zeal could answer. "That's all them."
"I'm with you, Wraythe," I joked. "God dicks do nothing for me."
"Or normal ones either," Wraythe teased. "Pretty sure Ela would risk his sanity for a chance to jump on that, though."
"I so would," Ela moaned playfully. "Talk about a good way to go."
"No," Talin said, waving down Ela. "I'm actually curious about the answer. We know Nari's related to the first priestess, so she has some built-in protections. What about the rest of us?"
"The closer we can bring you to accepting the divine," Zeal explained, "the more prepared you are for the experience. It also takes a strong mind..." His eyes jumped from face to face, looking at each of us. "But I chose all of you because I think you are strong. I need that to help us."
