Goddess of Pain - Katie May Page 0,30

swagger forward and offer her a boyish grin. I’ve always been told I have a face and a presence that puts people instantly at ease. It’s ironic, really, that they see the God of Death as something angelic.

I’m the monster that makes angels weep.

“How long have you been watching us?” Emily’s voice is not accusatory, as I would’ve expected. Instead, it’s simply curious. She raises a manicured black brow and leans further into Desmond’s side.

Two months. Three weeks. Four days. Thirteen hours. Forty-six minutes. Five seconds.

But who’s counting?

“We haven’t really gotten the chance to talk since I came here,” I begin smoothly.

“So you, what? Decided to stalk us from the trees until she notices you?” Desmond quips, but it’s not malicious. If anything, he finds this entire situation humorous. I don’t understand him. At all.

If my sources are correct, he had Emily all to himself at one point, until he agreed to bring Helio in, making their relationship unconventional. Both men are loyal to her and only her. Why would he share her? Why not just keep her to himself?

“Well, we were having an argument,” Emily says, straightening out her crimson dress. It cinches around her waist before cascading outwards. And fuck, does she look radiant in it.

“An argument, eh? How can I help?” Almost instinctively, I find myself sitting on the other side of Emily. Helio stares at me intently, eyes almost assessing, but doesn’t comment. Instead, he nods once and continues to keep watch over his queen and lover.

I never did get to figure out what they were arguing about.

Before she can answer, a familiar, mousy figure hurries into the garden, panting.

Rebecca, Emily’s assistant and best friend, straightens with a severe scowl on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asks instantly, jumping to her feet. Desmond stands as well, all of the playful cheer from before diminishing from his face, and Helio takes a step closer, crowding in from behind. I find myself moving as well, reaching down to take her hand in mine. She seems shocked, body tensing, before she gives my hand a grateful squeeze.

“Athena,” Rebecca growls, face pinching. “She slaughtered twenty of our troops at the border.”

Athena is the goddess who resides to the east of Emily’s kingdom. According to my spies, Athena has an army of her own that is beginning to rival even Emily’s impressive force.

And Athena is also a massive bitch.

“Fuck,” Emily curses. She begins to stride after Rebecca, Desmond and Helio on her heels. I remain behind, knowing that I’m not needed for this debriefing.

Normally, it’s just Rebecca and Emily’s lovers. Sometimes she’ll invite her foreign diplomats.

But Emily surprises the shit out of me when she pauses abruptly, turning to stare at me over her shoulder. I momentarily lose my capability of speech, utterly enraptured by her penetrating gaze.

“Are you coming?” she demands, cocking her hip to the side. Desmond coughs to cover up his laugh, whispering something in her ear that makes her blush.

“Um…yeah.” With another wide grin, I hurry towards them.

I didn’t know it at the time, but when Emily called me, she also claimed me. Claimed me as hers.

Forever and always.

I glare down at Tate, mustering all of my rage into that one eloquent look. Honestly, I don’t know why I’m only mad at him. Sin tried to kill her too, and I know for a fact he hasn’t—and won’t—apologize.

But something about Tate has always rubbed me the wrong way. He treats her as if she’s dispensable—as if he can find himself a new lover if he ever so desired.

And yet, despite his crude and outright nasty behavior, he hasn’t strayed. He hasn’t so much as looked at another woman in all the years I’ve known him. A part of him hates Emily, but a larger part of him loves her.

“You don’t deserve her,” I hiss, spitting on the ground beside his mottled face. Shoving Helio’s hands off of me, I turn on my heel and stalk towards Emily’s room.

I need to be with her right now. I need to hold her in my arms and know innately that I’m allowed to. That she’s mine as surely as I am hers.

Just as I enter the hall, Tate’s voice reaches me, barely audible, “I never said I did.”

Ignoring him, I slip into Emily’s room, pull back the blanket, and slide in beside her. Immediately, her tiny body molds against my own until our two hearts beat as one.

I don’t know what the fuck happened to lead us here…

But I’ll be damned