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My gaze wandered to the god on her right. Above his head, engraved on his throne, was the name Heldon. He had long white hair, pointy ears, porcelain white skin, and bright blue eyes. And he smelled like a fae.
On Hekate’s left was a goddess who was half goat. The name Ignata was engraved on the throne above her head. Her legs were crossed, the left over the right, allowing me to see that her hooves were painted gold. She had to be the creator of the satyr species.
I wasn't familiar yet with the names of the gods and goddesses worshiped by other species, but I’d planned to learn. After all, in my new job as an agent at the Spirit Recovery Facility, I’d come across new souls from all species.
But after the events of the last hour, I had a feeling that knowing which god created which species would be the least of my worries.
"Can you explain to us what happened with the werewolf you just encountered?" a god with hair tangled like Medusa’s and dazzling green eyes asked. The name Damnir was marked above his head.
"I think it would be wise for her to be tested first," Ignata said.
Hekate nodded and stood up.
Of course I'd be questioned about what had just happened. But I had some questions of my own. Was that werewolf the only soul who had been infected so far? The gods kept a close eye on everything that happened in the realm, although they often didn't mingle among the souls.
Although there was a rivalry between them as to which god could gain the most followers, I had to commend them for the peaceful paradise they'd created. Only this realm wasn’t so peaceful anymore.
So far, they hadn’t shared any information about what was happening, but that would have to change. If souls could be infected, everyone needed to be aware of the danger.
Hekate stepped down from her throne, and the snake wrapped its lower half around her waist. I didn’t move as she walked towards me, her steps slow, her eyes unblinking.
Witches were impressive supernaturals, it was no surprise their creator oozed power.
She held her hand out to me—a black symbol drawn in the center of her palm. I placed my left hand in hers nonetheless, and she bent forward.
When she passed her other hand over my forearm, I could see the tendons and muscles beneath my skin. Her hand moved up my arm to my head, down my throat to my chest, and then she stepped back.
"She's not infected," she announced to the other gods.
I let out a sigh of relief. Whatever that thing was that left the she-wolf and attacked me, it had to be the cause of the she-wolf’s mental breakdown, her craving to kill. So why hadn’t I been infected? Had I just imagined it slipping into my body? No, there was no way my mind could’ve conjured up something as weird as that. So did that mean I was immune? Could a person be immune?
Well, whether I was immune or just lucky, it seemed like I was fine now. At this point, I'd take the win. I certainly wasn’t anxious to have the gods poke at me any further.
"What did you think I was infected with?" I asked. When there was nothing but silence, I continued, "I don't mean to speak so casually, but…”
“Then don’t!” Zeus’s voice thundered around us. “We only need to know what happened tonight. Once you leave this room, you are forbidden to speak of what is said here. This doesn’t concern you. It isn’t like that vampire war on Earth. Do you understand?”
I might be just a soul, an Enchanted, but I'd just faced death—again! And Zeus, sitting up there on his throne, wasn’t doing a damn thing about it.
Hekate sighed audibly and stepped between us, blocking my view of Zeus. I hadn't realized until then that I'd been holding his gaze.
“Please, tell us what happened,” she said.
I nodded and took a deep breath. Best to get this over with. "I was leaving the S.R.F. when I heard screaming. When I went to investigate, I found a werewolf attacking a new soul, a human." I looked down at the tile, watching as the gold patterns moved like snakes in sand. "The wolf ripped the human’s throat out. When she looked up and saw me, I noticed that her eyes were as red as the florkin’s that had attacked during the werewolf festival.”
“That was the creature you’d mind-linked with, yes?" Heldon inquired, leaning forward.
I nodded. “I did,” I answered, not surprised they knew about that. “I was trying to help it.”
“What did you see in its mind?” Hekate asked.
I took another deep breath and thought back on that night. I’d never seen so many werewolf packs together—on Earth or in this realm. It had been an incredible experience… until a florkin, a sizable native creature, had barreled through it.
I'd reached out to its mind on an impulse, unsure whether I could create a connection given that it was an animal and not a person. But it worked.
"I felt its need to kill. Its anger was like a living thing, a separate entity within the animal, corrupting its mind."
When I looked up from the tiles, Hekate had turned to the other gods. I frowned as her snake hissed loudly, disgruntled all of a sudden. The gods looked at each other, and I made a face when it became obvious a telepathic conversation was going on between them.
