Strength (Curse of the Gods #4)(41)

“Them, yes. Obviously. Whenever I say that ‘we’ can’t survive something, you can assume I mean every other person who is in the same situation but isn’t one of us.”

“So, you really mean ‘they’ every time you say ‘we’?”

“Yes, but I try to be sensitive about it.”

I laughed, snuggling closer to him. It was a sad time when your asshole gods became endearing by way of their massive, all-consuming egos.

“Here!” Aros called over his shoulder, slipping off down another narrow passageway. He brought us into a large room with a central meeting place and several half-concealed alcoves branching off from it.

“I think this one is taken,” I whispered, my eyes riveted to one of the alcoves.

I couldn’t see anything more than a female figure plastered up against a much taller, male figure, but I could see one of the male’s hands on the female’s ass, while the other was tangled in her wild blond hair … wild blond hair that had been neatly braided only five clicks ago.

The male made a sound, somewhere between a growl and a groan, and the female stepped back from him. His hands dropped as his face was revealed, and then his eyes flicked over to us in realisation.

Cyrus.

Emmy, on the other hand, hadn’t noticed us at all. She was re-braiding her hair with cool efficiency, her hands steady. “Don’t even bother telling me you don’t want me,” she remarked. “You just gave up your game, Neutral.”

She turned on her heel, and then paused, noticing us. I raised my hand in an awkward wave, but she barely even skipped a beat.

“Oh hey, Will,” she said, smiling calmly as she moved to the centre of the room.

There was a circular table set up there, with an open stack of scrolls and two stools pushed back. A lamp was burning near the scrolls, illuminating her face just enough for me to make out the red that was creeping up her cheeks.

“Did you have an appointment with the Neutral?” she asked, checking her scrolls and then looking back up again.

“She takes this fucking job too seriously,” Cyrus growled, stalking angrily to the table.

“Uh,” I managed. The others remained silent. “We were just, uh, looking for somewhere to have a meeting. All of us. This is the biggest room in the forest.”

“In the forest?” He grinned, but his eyes were avoiding mine. “Well, it’s the biggest room because it’s mine. And you need an appointment to see me.”

I scowled, turning to Emmy. “Can I have an appointment to see the Neutral?”

She glanced down at her scroll again. “He has made it clear that the majority of the rotations in the sun-cycle are to be reserved for his silent contemplation of wine. However, I think I can shuffle a few things around.”

The darker Cyrus’s expression got, the wider my smile grew.

“Excellent.” I rocked back onto the heels of my feet. “I’ll just wait here while you shuffle.”

“Ah!” Emmy fake-exclaimed. “I spot an opening in his schedule, seeing as everyone is too afraid of him to make any appointments. How does right now sound?”

“Right now sounds perfect!” I fake-exclaimed in return. “Thank you so much for your assistance.”

“Any time.” She smiled at me in a very professional way. “That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to assist. Now please make yourself comfortable. I will notify the Neutral that you have arrived for your appointment.”

She turned to face Cyrus as we filtered in, moving toward the furthest set of alcoves. They all opened into the common area of Cyrus’s room, and there were only partial walls separating them, raising up as far as the backs of the couches.

“Your appointment has arrived,” I could hear Emmy telling Cyrus.

“I am going to have you sentenced to eternal damnation,” Cyrus growled back. “Make them go away!”

“Is that really a thing?” Emmy asked, and I turned to watch as she pulled out another sheaf of parchment, running her finger down a list that only she could see. “Nope, it’s not a thing. It’s right here on the list of things you assured me weren’t real, right along with gods who have sex with dwellers—as I recall, it was impossible because they find dwellers repulsive—oh wait,” she paused dramatically, and then started scribbling on the list, “we can cross that one out, can’t we?”

Cyrus was digging into the pockets of his robes. He pulled out a flask, took a deep pull, and then strode toward us.

“Willa, come with me,” he barked. “I have your first assignment.”

“I can’t right now,” I quickly replied, before one of the guys could start a fight about it. “I have lessons this sun-cycle. For the whole champion thing? Remember?”

“You don’t have lessons.” He shook his head, taking another frustrated swig. “You don’t have a teacher. There’s no Chaos Beta.”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to teach myself. I mean there’s no harm, right? Staviti said the strongest sol in each power group, he didn’t say the strongest sol in each power group, minus the Chaos sols.”

“How do you know you’re the strongest Chaos sol at all?” he countered, as I felt one of the guys step up behind me protectively, another at my side.