Storm Gods - G. Bailey Page 0,20
not going to let you die,” he tells me firmly, “or end up as a slave. We’re going to get through this. Together.”
I smile sadly at him, reaching a hand up to caress his cheek; he covers my hand with his own, seeming to relish the feeling of my touch. “You always know how to cheer me up,” I tell him and mean it.
He grins that charming grin of his. “Consider it a special talent,” he replies before his face goes serious again. Sitting up, he runs a hand through his blond hair, looking first around the room and then back at me. “Do you remember the day we first met?” he asks suddenly, his brow furrowing.
I nod, laughing a little at the memory. “You guys raised hell in that bar. I was so close to getting away from you, too.”
“Damn right, we did,” Killian agrees. “But…I’m glad you didn’t, for whatever it’s worth. Just in case there was any doubt.”
I laugh. “You know, as weird as it is, so am I.” I turn to him. “I wasn’t too keen on you guys.”
Killian snorts. “That’s the understatement of the century.”
“Well, can you blame me?” I ask, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and standing up. “You guys arrested me. You tried to throw me in the gods’ prison and throw away the key.”
“Right,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck as I start clambering into my pants. “Sorry again for that. It’s been an adventure, though, hasn’t it?” He watches me for a long moment as I dress, keenly aware of his eyes on me, drinking me in. Normally it would make me uncomfortable, but not now. Not with him. “When I saw you in that bar, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen,” he admits, looking away from me.
“That’s the worst line I’ve ever heard,” I joke.
“It’s true, though,” he insists. “You were…I don’t know, radiant. Like this bat out of hell, with the attitude to match. I didn’t know what hit me. I thought I must have been dreaming.”
I feel a little guilty as I button up my jeans. “When I saw you in that bar, I thought you guys were going to kill me there and then.”
I see the justice god’s hands ball into fists at his sides. He looks almost ashamed, unable to meet my eyes, as if doing so will reveal some horrible truth that I’m not ready to see. “I would never have been able to,” he confesses. “It felt…wrong, what we were doing. Seth felt it too, I know he did. But you have to understand, when you’re in our line of work…”
“I know,” I finish for him, nodding as I slide my top off and work on getting my bra back on. “You do what you’re told. Don’t question too much. I…” I trail off, glancing down at my hand. It’s odd that ever since Neritous, I haven’t received a single name, not one target to deliver karma to. No more black writing, no more wondering what my latest target did to deserve what’s coming for them, nothing. Instead, it’s been replaced by the climbing vines and intricate leaves of the tattoos that snake up my arms, a cruel reminder that my life is no longer my own. It’s almost as if the universe itself knows that that’s no longer my life, that I’m no longer part of that world, as much as I might yearn for it. “I get it,” I finish lamely, and although I don’t say anything more, it’s clear from the look that Killian gives me that he can see the pain I’m in.
Wordlessly, he gets to his feet, coming to stand beside me, and I feel his hand brush against my arm for a fleeting second. He brings his palm up to cup my cheek before leaning in and kissing me gently enough to leave me weak in the knees. I cling to him like he’s my last lifeline, reluctant to let go until I need to breathe, and then just taking a moment to let him hold me. Neither of us says anything—there isn’t anything to be said—and together we get dressed in silence. Downstairs, I can hear the voices of the others. Storm and Seth seem to be back, which is good. I don’t like the idea of them wandering around without protection. Whether they know about my tryst with Killian, I have no idea, but at