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Crumbs sprayed from Tempest’s mouth as she coughed. “What?! The goddess of the heavens is missing? Who’s running things right now?”
“Soleil and Aloysius, for the most part.” Verity shrugged. “Who knew the gods of war and the sun would imprison Kirata? Wait, let me rephrase that—who knewSoleilwould do this? Aloysius really isn’t much of a surprise. He quite literally is the god of this sort of thing. No one knows where Kirata is or how they did it, though; just that suddenly, she was gone.”
Aiden reached for a second cookie. “No wonder Soleil was able to keep the sun at its apex for days. There’s no one to stop her.”
Tempest thought for a moment. “That’s not entirely true. Vesper is the god of the stars. He is her balance. Why isn’t he doing anything about this?”
Verity shook his head. “No one knows. Your friend has always been a bit of a recluse. I haven’t seen or heard anything from him or the god of the dead.”
Tempest’s eyes darted to Aiden and then back to the cup of tea in her hand. “I’ve heard from the god of the dead recently. He can’t help.”
“Oh?” Verity leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
She smirked and raised a hand to halt him. “I’m not going there.” Turning to Aiden, she said, “I suggest after we finish here, we visit Vesper and see what’s going on.”
He nodded in agreement, his mouth full of cookie.
Tempest knocked a fourth time on the entrance to Vesper’s home and received no response. After a quick look to make sure the coast was clear, she motioned for Aiden to come over. “Give me a boost,” she whispered.
“You can’t be serious, Tempest,” Aiden whispered back.
“Since when did you start questioning a god?”
“When that god started making bad choices. We are not breaking into another god’s home. Especially the god of time!”
“He’s a big softie,” Tempest scoffed, “and he won’t mind if we’re the ones breaking in.”
“What do you mean ‘we’? He doesn’t know me.”
She shaded her eyes and looked up at the top of the wall. “Nothing, just a common way of speaking.” Tempest cleared her throat. “Hurry up and help me.”
Locking his fingers together and opening his hands, Aiden supported Tempest as she stepped into his hands and pulled herself to the top of the wall. Straddling it, she dropped her hand and waved it for Aiden to grasp.
“You can’t be serious.”
Footsteps echoed off the walls from around the corner.
“You’re more likely to be caught out here without me than you are in here with me.”
Aiden took her hand, and with a grunt, she pulled him over the wall. His foot slipped on the marble, and both toppled off the wall inside the courtyard. Aiden was sprawled on top of Tempest, and their eyes locked. Shock and need zipped through her connection from him, and she froze. They lay there as the footsteps walked past Vesper’s door and disappeared.
Tempest gently moved her hands between them and pushed him off, breaking the tension.
Aiden looked down at her. “That was close,” he said, his voice rough.
Tempest nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel the attraction between them, the electric pull that made her want to close the space between them and kiss him. But she didn’t—she couldn’t. Aiden was off-limits, no matter how much her body wanted him. Although he was technically a god, he was still undergoing a mortal trial.
Aiden stood up and offered her a hand. Tempest cleared her throat and took it. Standing, she turned around and pointed towards the main entrance. She started walking, her heart still racing and her mind unable to process words just yet.
Inside, everything looked the same as the last time she was there—the statues, paintings, carvings, and even the tapestries that hung on the walls. Vesper’s home was as she remembered it, nothing out of place.
“Vesper?” she called, walking up the steps.
Aiden stopped in the entryway, his hands on his hips as his eyes took in the room.
Tempest walked on. A shiver ran down the back of her neck as her blood traveled from her limbs to her heart.
“There’s no one here,” Aiden said.
