AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s okay, Pan. Really. In another life, right?” I said in jest with a humorless laugh, but the look on his face suggested I’d just slapped him. I held my arms out, smoothing my scraps of clothing. “How do I look?”
“Stunning.”
I spun on my heel, taking the last few steps with Pan trailing behind me.
As I crested the top of the stairs, I saw a beautiful mosaic centered on the wall in front of me. Every vibrant and brilliant color I’d seen in the jungle for three days was represented. At its center was a temple raised up high, lording over all the meager people and villages depicted below it. Scripture was written to the sides in a language I didn’t speak, but somehow still understood. Words that I shouldn’t be able to read translated in my mind.The Temple ofKali,goddess of destruction.My fists tightened at my sides as my body shook. Above those damning words, brightly colored peacocks appeared to be in worship, circled around a single entity in the center ... a black peacock.
My stomach roiled. Three days’ worth of half-truths and lies sped through my mind. Pan’s words echoed in my mind.
No, you are the only black peacock to have ever lived.
No ...
“Pan?” I asked, but when I turned, he wouldn’t look at me. I said his name again and again. He kept his gaze down, ignoring the fact that I was practically screaming at him.
“It is about time, Pan, god-king of shifters.” A cold and monotone voice echoed in the cavern. I whirled around to see a woman in green robes, brown peahen feathers trailing behind her.
“Your demands are met. Give me back Flora and Fauna,” Pan said, his words coming out tense and trembling.
“Demands? You did as you were commanded by the fates to do, Pan. We demanded nothing except what isexpectedof you,” another scoffed. This one appeared exactly as the other did, identical in looks, but wearing gold robes.
“What are you talking about?” I whispered, turning to look at a third woman that had emerged from the shadows, her robes in shades of blue.
“It’s—” Pan began, but the newest zealot spoke.
“It’s his duty to bring you back to us. Those that held you in that world kept you from your becoming. For years now, this land has suffered for it. Suffered for his sins.”
I looked at Pan pleadingly. “Tell me it’s not true.”
When he couldn’t speak, another answered. “Every lifetime you’re reborn, Pan is charged with finding you and delivering you to us, your priestesses. This is the first he has delayed.”
The words echoed in my head, drowning out other sounds as the chatter between them became fuzzy.
Every lifetime?
Finding me. Delivering me.
The whole time, I’d spilled my guts about my insecurities and desire for family. My longing for a place in the world. To know where I came from. Every tender touch and moment he gazed at me. The way he kissed me like his life depended on it ... He’d led me on, bringing me here like a sacrificial lamb.
White-hot heat crept up my body, licking at my skin, kindling a flame inside me I’d never felt before. Rage unlike anything I’d ever known, fueled by unimaginable hurt.
“You tricked me,” I hissed through clenched teeth. Taking a step toward him, he didn’t move. He raised his chin in defiance.
“I didn’t.”
“It was all a lie.” The room shook with the timbre of my voice. I’d never moved mountains with my anger before, but there was a first time for everything.
“Not all of it.” He kept his gaze on me steady before his green eyes darkened, glancing at the priestesses behind me. “They are peacocks. They are your family. And they did want you back.”
“Fuck your semantics.”
“I’m sorry, Adora,” he said quietly. “You have no idea how sorry I am.”
“I don’t believe you. You had three days to tell me the truth, Pan. Three! And you didn’t. You can tell yourself whatever you want to feel better about it, but you carefully hid the truth from me. That’s called lying.”
“It is time, Kali,” the green priestess said.
“Give me back Flora and Fauna,” Pan shouted, his voice growing in strength and power. “I have returned her to you.”
