Brilliance (Circle of the Stars #4) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,23

down farther, got very close. “You fear the power.”

I shook my head. “No, I fear that other people will want it. That would put me and my loved ones in even more danger. Too many people want my power now.” I shook my head again. “No. I don’t want any more power. Thank you, though. Truly. It’s a very generous offering.”

He straightened to his full height.

I tipped over backwards trying to keep him in sight. I lay on the ground. Uncaring that I was naked and that this original god was just standing there glaring down at me.

He snapped his fingers, the sound like the crack of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he was much smaller. Right around Finn’s height. He looked downright dainty.

I sat up, curled my knees up to my chest, wrapped my arms around them. “So…”

He chuckled. “I see the wisdom in your words. Humans are very petty about power and status.”

I snorted. “You might need to talk to your kids again. They’re even worse than humans.”

He raised one brow. His silver eyes calculating. “Is that so?”

I nodded. “I’ve got stories to tell, if you’ve got more water to share.”

He chuckled again. Waved that away. “Be that as it may, I have an offer for you.”

I waited in silence.

He looked at me in expectation.

I yawned.

He laughed. “You really are out of shock and awe.”

I nodded.

“What if I supply you with enough power to defeat Merlin? Then, when you have completed the task, you will revert back to your original” he winked at me, “state.”

I rolled my eyes at his bad pun. Even mine were better than that. “How will you know I’ve completed the task?”

His lips quirked. “I’ll know.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’ll be watching, is what you mean.”

He nodded. “Yes. But I will not interfere. Nor will I allow my children to interfere. You will have your current allies and any you might gain along your journey.”

“What about Ari?”

He nodded. “If you count her as an ally, then you may retain her. But I will keep my other children from mucking about in your quest.”

“Why?” I didn’t get it. Why would this guy even care?

“I have my own reasons. But rest assured, you will succeed or fail on your own merit. We Chaos gods don’t typically care about such matters.”

I snorted. “But yet here you are. Caring about such matters.”

He heaved a sigh. “And that is the only answer you will be receiving on the matter. Do you accept or not?”

“If I do not?”

He shrugged. “Then Merlin will be allowed to reign on earth as a god. He now has enough power to rip through the Valley and into the various planes and dimensions. Will you allow him this just because you grow weary of the games of gods?”

I jumped to my feet, pushed up into his face as much as possible. “Watch your fucking mouth, Chaos. I’ve done more to help this world than it seems you care to know. I will stop Merlin because he is evil. He slaughtered innocents.” I pointed out towards the standing stone circle.

Chaos laughed. “Those were not innocents. By your own logic, those men, women, and children knew the costs of their actions, yet they persisted in following through with them. Why do you weep for your enemies? Why do you allow your heart to be weighted by their deaths?”

“Because even though they were monsters to me, they didn’t deserve to die like that. To be cut down as if no more important than timber for a house. To be ripped apart like a doll by a child having a tantrum. They might have been monsters, but they were still human.”

“And Merlin is so far beyond monster and human. He is evil personified in his quest for power. He will stop at nothing to bring the world to its knees. To worship at his feet. He will attempt, again and again, to become something of which he is incapable of achieving.”

A truth slapped me in the face so fast, I had to catch my breath. “He’s trying to become one of you.”

Chaos nodded. “But no matter the amount of power he amasses, he never will. We are not born beings. We are not created. We simply are. He will rain down havoc and slaughter, sorrow and anguish all in a quest that will kill not only him, but every inhabitant on this world. That is to say nothing of the other worlds were he able to reach