My conversation with Ash didn't last much longer. One of the servants entered to inform Ash about some urgent matter. He leaned over his master and said something quietly. Ash frowned in response, anger sharpening his features. A moment later, he stood up and apologized to me before striding out of the room. As soon as he did, another servant came to escort me back to my chamber. I guess the long list of questions I had would have to wait...The servant closed the door of my room behind him, and everything that Ash told me hit me with double the force. My anxieties returned. I felt trapped, and an odd, suffocating feeling started to overwhelm me. Standing in the middle of my new, spacious chamber, I became claustrophobic. I fought for breath, swallowing tiny, insufficient chunks of air. My ability to adapt could only take this much. Now I was on the verge of falling to pieces.Even though I had no friends or a bright future in the Mortal Realm, that was the world I knew. I knew how th
I yanked the door open and ran out into the corridor. I heard the light but fast pounding of someone's feet on the left side. I darted in that direction. A female servant flashed before my eyes and quickly disappeared behind the corner."Hey! Stop!" I shouted, but she ran downstairs into a dark, narrow passage. I followed her but couldn't keep up. "Please! I want to talk to you!" She didn't stop. She took turn after turn, and once I reached the end of the corridor, where it split into two, I finally lost her. "Damn it!" I looked right and left, but I could barely see anything in the space lit only by several faintly glowing lightbulbs.I returned to my room, surprising myself that I didn't get lost on the way. I grabbed the note I had previously left on the table and sat on the bed. I looked at the message closely. The letters were neat, written in curled strokes more typical of a woman's hand. That had to be this girl servant who wrote it, but what did she mean? Was she trying to tel
Hunter stepped between me and Metis, shielding me from the Prince. Metis glared at him and clicked his tongue. "Be careful, dog," he snarled, carefully correcting the lapels of his suit jacket. "You know very well that you cannot touch me. I'm the Prince. You try something I don't appreciate, you die." Hunter widened his stance, his large frame blocking Prince's view. "Try to touch her and you'll die first," he hissed. My heart began to hammer. I had already learned that Metis could easily avoid all punishment. I didn't assume that the same rule would apply to Hunter. "C-can we just… go?" I muttered, tugging the short sleeve of his tee. Hunter nodded and stepped to the side, pulling me behind him as he was about to pass Metis by. The Prince chuckled. "I didn't allow you to leave, slave!" he growled, tilting his head to the side to meet my eyes. "What do you want?" I strained through my teeth. He bared his fangs, his mouth twisting in rage. "You will name me Your Highness, bitch! B
I clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to restrain every sound that might have escaped me. I stood still debating whether to keep eavesdropping on the conversation or quietly tiptoe to my chamber, pretending I was never there. "So, what are you planning to do with Metis?" Calvel changed the subject. Ash sighed. "I can't do anything… not yet." The sound of something falling and smashing against the floor came from the end of the corridor. It might have been a sloppy servant dropping a glass, but the problem was, I wasn't the only one who heard the noise… "What was that?" A heartbeat passed since Calvel asked, and the door to Ash's office slammed open, exposing me while I stood in front of it like an absolute idiot. I froze. The blood drained from my face. Ash looked me up and down, his lips curving into a smirk. "Come in, Nala," he said. "Wouldn't it be easier to listen to our conversation from inside my office?" I gulped. "I… I didn't mean to. I heard voices on my way to the cha
I took another step back away from the window. Then everything within me stilled, paralyzing me from head to toe. I saw a reddish light heading toward me when suddenly a strong arm looped around my waist and hauled me to the side. A split second later, the window smashed into pieces, and the place where I had just stood was now marked by a burning arrow dug into the wooden floor. I stared at it with my mouth open. The arrow had a massive point and a three-foot-long shaft. The whole length of it was burning. The fire slowly spilled to the floor in a crawling motion."You're OK?" In all the panic rising within me, I barely recognized Hunter's voice. Fighting against the terror, I turned around to face him. I hadn't even heard when he stormed into my room. If it weren't for him, it would have been me, not the floor, which was now burning.I nodded, my heart thundering against my chest. "Yes, thank you.""We need to get you somewhere safe," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of
I vaguely heard Hunter talking to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders, his head leveling with mine, preventing me from looking at the dead body lying in the corridor. The blood pounded in my ears. I felt sick. My gaze slowly dropped to my hands. They looked normal, with no signs of wicked energy enveloping them."How?" I finally choked out, slowly raising my gaze to Hunter's."Nala," he muttered, his hand gently stroking my cheek. "I'm so sorry... I tried to get here sooner."I stared at him, ineptly trying to reboot my brain. "Is… is he dead?" I asked, half-denying the reality.Hunter nodded. "I'm not sure how, but you killed him."I swallowed the thick knot that formed in my throat. My head was spinning. My body trembled. My skin burned. "I killed…"My world turned black.***When my awareness slowly resurfaced, I heard low-speaking voices. My body was relaxed in the softness of familiar sheets, and I debated whether or not I should open my eyes."I wanted to rip Hunter to piece
Ash's thumb slid across my lips. Unknowingly, I parted them ever so slightly, welcoming his touch and wanting more. My heart pounded against my chest. My breath accelerated. I was ready for whatever would come from him. I wanted it. I craved it—I craved him.I looked into his onyx irises and saw the red flames lightening their color until there was nothing but the fire within them. His gaze slowly drifted down to my neck, my shoulders, and my cleavage, well-exposed in the silk nightgown. His fingers stilled on my jaw and lips, and the anticipation became unbearable. Did he want me as much as I wanted him? Was he hesitating? Didn't he sense my desire for him? I was quite certain that some of my reactions to him couldn't be more obvious.He moved his hand back, and I instantly missed his touch. "You…" He exhaled a ragged breath, shifting his gaze away from me. "You should get more sleep. It's still very early.""I'm not sleepy," I muttered, but he ignored me and headed toward the door.
Hunter's words swirled in my head while we walked to Ash's office. What he said sounded ridiculous and impossible. This legend could have been a made-up story, one merely passed from generation to generation. Someone like that deity could have never even existed, and yet my mind generated more and more what-ifs. Nonetheless, there was one huge problem with my godlike powers, as Hunter called them: I didn't know how to use or control them, and I seriously doubted that any goddess couldn't use her own celestial abilities. "Are you all right?" Hunter asked as he was about to open the door. I nodded, even though I was far from being fine. With everything that had happened recently—with my moment alone with Ash, with the strange powers I possessed, and with the legend Hunter told me about—there was no way I could be fine or calm. I took a deep breath as I entered Ash's office. Several people were already in the room. Ash was sitting at his desk, with Calvel and Nicor standing behind him