Strength (Curse of the Gods #4)(56)

“She won’t adjust her thoughts,” Yael warned Crowe.

“She won’t need to,” Coen added, “because you will remove your presence from her mind. Now. It’s making us unhappy.”

When he said unhappy, the tree he was leaning against cracked, and I realised that uphappy was a minor understatement. The Abcurses were on edge, their powers starting to bleed out into the world. Crowe inclined his head slightly, and that digging sensation in my brain disappeared. I waited to see if the guys would relax after that, but none of them appeared to.

“You have something for Cyrus?” Yael brought the conversation back on track.

Fine lines appeared around Crowe’s eyes. “Cyrus? No. The panteras are the ones I have brought this gift for.” He lifted both of his hands up, palms flat, and closed his eyes for a fraction of a click. There was a pop, and then a set of chains appeared in his hands. The heavy bronze metal looked familiar, the cuffs thick and ornate with symbols carved into every available surface.

“Normally I would not hand a weapon with this level of power over to any beings—but the panteras are beyond the gods.” His swirling eyes focussed on the chains. “However, now that I’m here, I feel that … they’re meant for you.”

He took a step forward, ready to place the chains into Aros’s hands.

I let out a muffled cry. “No, don’t touch them!”

It was a trap. I had finally remembered where I’d seen that type of chain before. They were almost an exact replica of the chains that had bound Sienna, locking her into the imprisonment realm. Maybe the Abcurses had forgotten? Or maybe they thought they were too strong. But there was one thing I knew: “Those chains can kill a god,” I cried.

I dove forward then, snatching the chains right out of Crowe’s hands. I stumbled as I landed, but somehow kept my footing. “If you harm any of the Abcurses,” I snarled at the black-robed god, backing away as I tightened my grip on the shackles, “I will kill you.”

Crowe stared at me for an extended moment before he threw his head back and laughed. The sound rang out into the silence, because apparently everyone else was too shocked to speak.

“Willa,” Coen finally warned, his voice almost too low to hear over Crowe’s laughter. “You need to give me the chains.”

“No way,” I said, still furious.

“He wasn’t trying to kill us,” Siret tried to reason with me. “If Crowe wanted us dead, he wouldn’t attack when the five of us were together. He’d pick us off, one by one.”

The laughter died off then, and the God of Death was once again staring at the six of us. “He’s right, you know,” he told me conversationally. “I did not lie about bringing these chains to the panteras. I did not know I would meet any others here, but that is the risk you take when you deal with these beasts. You do not always understand the cost until it is upon you. Besides, if I wanted these five banished, I would have brought five chains, because if I only stole one of Abil’s sons, the rest would hunt me down.”

“Just so you’re aware,” Aros interrupted him. “Willa is included in that now. She is off limits.”

Crowe hadn’t taken his eyes off me since he stopped laughing. It was very disconcerting, and even though there was no weird sensation in my mind, I sensed he was somehow searching inside of me.

“No dweller can hold my chains,” he said slowly. “What are you?”

My hands were starting to ache from clutching the chains so tightly. “That’s the golden question, isn’t it?”

“Apparently,” he said softly.

I grew bold then. “Will you tell Staviti?”

Siret let out a snort of laughter next to me. “My little soldier, so brave.”

Crowe took an uncomfortable amount of time to answer. “There is nothing to tell him,” he said. “I know nothing.” Then he swished his cloak over his shoulder and spun to leave. “Give the chains to those who require them.”

Then he was gone, and it almost felt like the world flickered back into perspective. The panteras returned, along with the noises that had somehow been blocked out with Crowe’s presence. The trickling water nearby, the rustling of the leaves, and the chirping of bugs.

“I think black was a great choice for him,” I said, my chest heaving in and out as the reality of what had just happened hit me. “I mean, pink sparkles would have clashed horribly with his SWIRLING PITS OF DARKNESS EYES.”

My chest continued to heave as I struggled to pull air into my lungs. I had felt so brave when Crowe was standing before me, but right now fear and panic were crashing in on me. It didn’t make any sense.

“You’re always brave when it comes to protecting us,” Coen said as he stepped closer, his hands reaching for the chains.

I snatched them away, holding them close to my chest. “Stop trying to touch them,” I gasped. I would never get the image of Sienna’s lifeless body out of my mind.

“Willa.” Yael’s Persuasion wrapped around me. “Willa-toy, you don’t have to worry. These chains won’t hurt us, they don’t work until they’re activated, and you can’t accidentally do that.”

I wanted to be mad at him, because his Persuasion was having some effect, even with my new resistance. Logically though, his words made sense, and with reluctance, I released the chains into Coen’s hands. “I chose to let them go,” I told Yael.