Goddess of Pain - Katie May Page 0,80

you can live without. But I can’t live without my men. It’s inconceivable that the universe would ever expect me to.

Was that…a vision of the future? Of what is to come?

Don’t be ridiculous, Emily. It was just a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare.

I count backwards from ten in my head as I attempt to get myself under control. Ever since I learned the truth about who and what I am, I’ve been plagued with the knowledge that…we’re mortal now. At least, sort of mortal. We can die much more easily here than we ever could in the Realm of the Gods.

Tate’s a cop, for fuck’s sake! What happens if he gets shot on one of his cases?

I can’t lose him. I can’t lose any of them.

I would sooner destroy this world and all of the humans in it than ever lose even one of my men.

Being careful not to disturb a snoring Helio or a murmuring Sin, I crawl out of bed and tiptoe down the hallway. My eyes latch on where I’d seen my men only moments before in my nightmare.

Tate’s face, normally creased in an irritated scowl, is smoothed over. His eyes are vacant as they stare up at the ceiling.

The upper half of Helio’s body is on the couch, as if he attempted to get up when the shooter arrived. His black hair and beard are coated in sticky blood, so dark it almost appears maroon.

Sin is naked, and he’s spread-eagled on the ornate rug my brothers got me when I first moved here. Blood smears the top of his chest with the beginnings of a word. I wonder if he was trying to write something before death eventually claimed him.

Desmond is tilted on his side, but even so, I’m able to see his wide, petrified eyes. I didn’t know it was possible for fear to emanate from his gaze even in death, but there’s no denying that’s the emotion glaring back at me.

And Avery, my best friend in this realm, is lying beside him. One of his arms is draped haphazardly across his chest. His sleep shorts hang dangerously low on his waist, revealing a trail of golden hair tinged pink with blood. The wound on his head seems bigger than the others, almost as if the person shot him from only a few inches away.

I shake my head forcefully to erase the pain these images evoke.

They’re alive. They’re safe. They’re here.

I repeat that in my head as I move expertly around the still dark kitchen, plugging in the Keurig machine and grabbing a mug from the cupboard. It’s only—I glance at the hanging clock—four in the morning, but I know I’m not going back to sleep. How can I when nightmares like that feast on my insides?

My phone buzzing nearly has me jumping out of my skin. I curse, spinning towards where I left it on the counter the night before, and swipe it open.

Unknown Number: Your house. Thirty minutes. Come alone.

The text is accompanied by a picture of my brothers. All three of them are standing in the kitchen, oblivious to the person taking the photo. Or, if they’re not oblivious, then unaware that she’s a conniving, evil, bitchy cunt.

Terror thrums through me, as potent as a sickly poison, with the realization that Rebecca has finally escalated. She threw down the rulebook to a game I haven’t even known we were playing. The message in the text is clear—come, or I’ll kill them.

I have no fucking choice. I can’t lose my brothers any more than I can lose my men. If the price for their survival is me…

I take a deep, fortifying breath before heading into Avery’s room and dressing in a pair of his smallest shorts and one of his ratty rock star t-shirts.

…so be it.

Chapter 26

I park the car on the side of the road, opposite my house. Through the dense shrubbery and twining tree branches lining the perimeter of the yard, I can see that every light in the house is off.

Unease skitters down my spine, and my stomach tightens like a nest of rats have taken up residence. I tap my fingers against the steering wheel as I stare at the unassuming farmhouse with narrowed eyes.

Somewhere inside, Rebecca is doing…God knows what to my brothers. My fear continues to grow and grow until it replaces the blood in my veins. I’m practically choking on it.

Shutting down the car, I slide out and very gently close the driver’s side door. Somewhere