Page 11 of The Ruin of Gods


Font Size:  

I hum low in my throat as if I’m not quite sure. “Just making conversation.”

Rune leans forward, baring his teeth. “When she died, I envisioned killing your precious sister over and over again. Every time she died, I laughed and laughed until my belly ached. And every tear that Carrick shed for her was a balm to my broken heart.”

That’s what I wanted to know. I had to hear it from him, but can I trust it?

“I don’t believe you have the ability to have a broken heart,” I say with a dismissive wave of my hand.

Rune slouches backward, strokes his beard. “You don’t believe a god can love?”

“I don’t know… you tell me.”

Please tell me the truth. Do I have the ability to truly love or will I lose what little humanity I might have?

“I was going to make her immortal, wasn’t I?” he demands.

I don’t answer but instead ask, “After the potion was destroyed, did you spend the rest of her days with her?”

Rune blinks at me in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Were you like Carrick, utterly devoted to a mortal woman even though she would die? Because Carrick was going to stay with Eireann—Finley—until she took her last breath.”

“That’s beside the point,” Rune mutters. “It’s enough I would give her immortality.”

My heart sinks. He didn’t love his woman.

“What was her name?” I ask softly.

Rune scoffs. “Who can remember things that long ago?”

I stare at him, willing him to give me one tiny glimpse of hope. He’s the only god out of the five that I know claimed to love someone.

Instead, his gaze drops away and he starts to pick at what might be a bit of food on his pants.

With a sigh, I prepare to leave, longing for the comfort of my small house in the Swiss Alps and the weight of furry dogs on my lap.

“You’ve got more things to worry about than love,” Rune says.

“Excuse me?” I step closer to the sphere, and the smelted streaks of power that contain him glow brighter. It causes his eyes to glitter with what looks to be madness.

“Big things on the horizon, sweet Zora.” His tone is secretive and taunting but sounds so assured. “Big things.”

“You’re going to get a new waste bucket?” I taunt.

“I’m going to kill all of you who have offended me,” he sneers, leaning forward again. He’s brought up short by the power of the sphere, and a line of spittle falls from his mouth. “Going to kill you all.”

I force myself to stand still, a mask of bland indifference on my face. He watches eagerly, wanting to know if he got to me.

“I imagine with all this time on your hands, you’ve built up quite the imagination. Good story, though.”

I don’t give him a chance to reply, flinging myself back through dimensions and distance to my home. I feel immediately better in my safe space, but my hands shake like leaves in a storm.

CHAPTER 4

Maddox

Inhaling deeply, Ihave to admit I’m impressed by the lack of decay and sulfur here in the Underworld. The last time I was here was with Carrick and Finley to mount a rescue operation for Zora, and the place was depressing.

Dark, dank, and it smelled of tortured souls.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like