Strength (Curse of the Gods #4)(6)

Two





Adeline was everything a God of Beauty should have been, plus more. She was just over six feet tall, her hair a mass of golden waves, stopping right above her tiny waist. Her flawless skin was somehow both pale and golden at the same time, as though she had never been touched by the sun, but still a healthy glow wanted to shine through from the inside out. Her eyes were a pale amber; golden, like the gold of Aros’s eyes, but with a hint of pink, making the colour darker and deeper. Those eyes fixed on me, making me feel both terrified and welcome all at once—but maybe I wasn’t so much welcome as I was going to stay anyway because she was pretty amazing to look at. She had a perfect hourglass shape, and it seemed to be accentuated by the way her robes draped about her; I wasn’t even sure that her shape would have been possible for any of the mortals to obtain. It was magical, in the literal sense.

Basically, she was every male’s fantasy … except for the five men around me, because they were her sons. Thank the gods.

“Hello, Mother.” Coen’s voice was … softer than usual. Gentle, even. He was the first to move, crossing the two steps to her side and wrapping her up in one of his amazing hugs.

The rest followed soon after, all of them standing close to their stunning mother. I remained apart from them, staring at the six of them together. Adeline was definitely where the golden sheen of my Abcurses came from. Abil was the dark and ruby tones.

It would have been impossible for Adeline and Abil to have ugly children.

“Willa,” Aros called to me, holding out a hand.

Swallowing roughly, I nervously smoothed my white robe down, crossing to where they stood. I wasn’t the girl you took home to meet the parents. In my village, it would have been considered the worst luck ever to end up with me as part of your family. It had been suggested more than once that I should refrain from sex forever, just in case I accidentally procreated. One of me was enough. This was the first parent I had met in this sort of situation, and I had no idea how I was supposed to react.

“Willa.” The way she said my name evoked so many warm, fuzzy feelings inside of me.

Her power was Beauty, and there was something utterly enchanting about seeing something so perfectly beautiful.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s really nice to meet you …” What the hell was I supposed to call her? Adeline? Tower of Perfection? Mumma Abcurse?

“Adeline,” she finished for me, sensing the unasked question. “Please, call me Adeline.”

“We need to get Willa out of sight,” Rome told her. “Let’s not linger up here any longer.”

She nodded, and with a sweep of her robes, she spun, leading the way to one of those white stone doors. Unsurprisingly, it opened into a living quarter, though this one was even more spectacular than the others that I had seen. The first room was white, with very pale splashes of colour tastefully scattered around.

I had a feeling that I might be able to get along with this woman, and by ‘a feeling’ I meant that I was sure I was going to follow her around with my mouth hanging open, on account of how perfect she was. I was also pretty sure that she wasn’t going to like me very much, especially when I inevitably knocked over one of her pretty vases or bled on one of her perfectly woven rugs, or set fire to the fluttering tapestry covering one of the walls.

Everyone filed into the main seating area and I ended up squished onto a couch with two giant gods. Siret had claimed one side, with Aros claiming the other. As usual, they immediately invaded my space—also as usual, I loved every click of it.

When the seven of us were seated, Adeline leaned back into her chair and took a moment to cast her gaze over her five sons.

“I have missed you all immensely,” she said in her sultry voice. “Abil filled me in on what you’ve been going through.” She leaned forward in her chair then—some of the demureness disappeared and I was almost a little surprised to see a flame burning in her eyes. “I am so sorry I wasn’t here. Rest assured, you now have my full support for whatever you have planned next.”

Her gaze flicked to me for a moment, that look measuring and assessing, before she turned to Coen, who had started to talk.

“Our main priority right now is Willa,” he was saying. “Whatever we decide to do, there can be no fallout for her. She remains safe, or things will get very messy.”

Adeline was looking at me again, and this time there was more than a little assessment in her expression. Before I could blink, she was out of her chair, standing right before me. She held a hand out, and even though my brain was screaming at me to pretend I didn’t have a hand, I couldn’t stop from reaching out and touching her.

The moment I did, I was hit with the sensation of a warm breeze drifting along my body. My curls even felt like they lifted up, before they rested against my shoulders again.

“You are a special one, Willa.” Adeline was talking to me, so I figured I should pay attention. Siret snorted from beside me, but I ignored him. “What is it about you that has captured the interest of my sons so thoroughly?”

I sensed nothing malicious in her gaze, despite how much she frightened me: she was actually one of the kinder gods I had met so far. Even so, her words raised every insecurity I had ever had. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my throat of the emotions suddenly lodged there.