with the Squad, trying to stop other gods from, well, wreaking havoc as we had. In his past life, Viper had been Atlantean and Atlantis was gone so there was no attachment there either. Or maybe he was like my children and had the roll-with-the-punches faith of those who knew that even if they failed, others were there to save the day.
Whatever it was, it annoyed me. I had to stop myself from smacking him and telling him to get off his lazy butt and do something useful—the freakin' world was in jeopardy, for gods' sake!
“Let's go outside.” I waved Torrent out of the library and onto the balcony, where a couple of chairs waited for anyone who wanted to enjoy the view. And for those of us who needed to get far away from our sort-of husbands before we smacked them upside their sleeping heads.
Outside, the land I had grown to love spread out before me. I hadn't been a fan of the African scenery when I'd first became Tima of the Intare. I was raised in Hawaii and loved a lush landscape. But when I was given the chance to change it, I couldn't bring myself to. The lioness in me was connected to this environment. She needed the swaying grass and delicate, lace-leafed trees. She craved the scent of rich soil, golden-green things, and prey. And her love had deviously seeped into my soul.
I'd once thought of the place as drab and dry but I was wrong. The golden grass had hints of green in it and was spotted by even more vibrant patches of emerald brush. The lake kept it from getting too arid and the mountains that ringed my territory had even more grandeur than the Ko'olau Range of my old home. They added a soft indigo to the palette of the Pride Lands and the numerous animals I'd created from territory magic added even more vibrancy. From Zebras and Antelope to the smaller creatures who scurried through the brush, there was a kaleidoscope of living color that transformed the view from minute to minute. In short, it was paradise.
We sat down and I looked encouragingly at Torrent.
“V, I... I don't think I have a soul,” Torrent whispered.
I blinked. That was unexpected.
“Why do you say that?”
“The Adroanzi didn't have souls,” he said. “And they were born, not created like me.”
“We don't really know for sure how they came to life. But you are not like the Adroanzi.”
“V, what if I am? What if I'm evil?”
“Excuse me?” I gaped at him.
“I can destroy magic,” he said. “But look at what happened with the fey magic. Instead of helping, I only made things worse. I just have this feeling that it's because I don't have a soul. And if I don't have a soul, that means I'm evil.”
“First off, things didn't go as expected but you were dealing with fey magic and even faeries have trouble with it sometimes. It doesn't mean that you're broken or soul-less, just fallible, like the rest of us. Second, no one really knows what a soul is or if its lack equates instantly to evil.”
“It's life. Real life. The Intare who died are still so real here. That's their souls. What will happen to me if I die? Will I just disappear?”
“No, you're not going to disappear.” I took his hand. “Torrent, all I have to do is look at you to know that you have real life inside you. You shine with it—more so than many people I've known.”
“But how could I have a soul?”
“When I was pregnant with Rian and Brevyn, they were only Rian at first, remember?”
Torrent nodded.
“Rian had fey essence from his father but I was also able to choose a soul for him. It was a piece of my soul and magic. I chose it for him because I was his mother and that was my right.”
Torrent frowned.
“Torr, your father made you from Internet magic but he also gave you some of his magic... his soul. His life. It's the same as the giving that happened inside me. That's what made him your father. It didn't matter that you weren't born from a woman's body, you are still his son. Part of Iktomi lives on inside you and you've taken that part and made it yours. You refused to follow his path but instead forged one of your own. That's what children do. They are of us and from us but they are not us. The