Filthy Gods (American Gods 0.5)(28)

“I’m fine,” I said and my voice cracked despite myself.

Gabe’s jaw ticked, he ignored my pleading. “Senator Scott.”

Nathaniel’s eyes snapped back to mine, understanding brewing in them. I could see a thousand thoughts running through his mind.

“Get the others, Gabe,” Nathaniel said, his voice cool and calm, his gaze never leaving my watery one.

My eyes must’ve been filling up with more traitorous tears because everything was starting to get blurry, I blinked harder as my nose itched with restraint.

Gabe glanced at me and then back at Nathaniel, nodding once.

Once he’d walked off to get the others, I shook my head, staring at Nathaniel as he paced back and forth. I had never seen him so unnerved, so agitated. His muscles seemed to be pulled tight enough to snap.

“Fucking bastard,” he said, his voice thick with a rage I had never seen in him before. The tendons in his throat strained and each breath came out fast and hard. “Fucking scum.”

“Nathaniel,” I whispered. “Leave it be, please.”

He laughed darkly, lifting his head. “Leave it be?” His gaze found me and it was dark and deadly, no trace of warmth. “He assaulted you, Juliette.”

“I don’t have the power or the money to fight him,” I said. I knew how these things went. He would either say I was lying or pay me off.

His eyes moved down to my mouth and his eyes flared, rage building shockingly fast. It was then I felt the ache in my bottom lip and my fingers touched the edge of the raw bite, a tiny bit of blood coating it.

Nathaniel caught my wrist and stepped closer, pulling me into the safety of his strong arms. He shrugged out of his blue designer jacket and placed it over my shoulders, trying to hide my torn dress shirt.

He stared at me like I was precious, like I was the stars he had searched for and I couldn’t breathe, his fingers tracing my cheeks delicately. I hadn’t realized the tears had started to spill until I felt how wet my cheeks were. “We have more power than you think.”

A shiver ran through my body at his words, and he wrapped his powerful arms around me in a comforting embrace. I exhaled a shaky breath into his chest.

Two of his fingers brushed my sore bottom lip and wiped away the blood and then he pressed his mouth gently to mine, his tongue touching delicately over the wound.

He stroked my cheek. “Are you okay?”

I wanted to say I was fine, but I knew he would know from my eyes. “Just shaky.”

His jaw ticked, his eyes scanning me, his fingers still tracing my skin for any wounds he wanted to heal. Emotion so raw filled his features and then when he spoke, I heard it like a downpour. “No one hurts what’s mine, Juliette.”

His eyes shone so fiercely, so viciously.

I had never expected someone saying that to me would make my knees weak, but I wanted to be Nathaniel’s and I wanted him to be mine. Completely mine. I was at a loss for words, my mouth shaking as I stared back at him.

“You’re okay now, sweetheart. We’ll take care of this. He’ll pay for it, I promise.” His arms tightened around me, and I felt him kiss my forehead. His every touch was infinitely gentle, but I knew inside him a dark, furious storm was brewing. And it was only getting stronger. “Excuse yourself from work, Juliette. Tell them you feel sick and go back to our cottage. Wait there for me.”

I shook my head, stunned, but he moved away and walked back outside, following the steps Gabe had taken minutes before.




It was after midnight when I heard footsteps enter the cottage. I stayed still, lying on my side. When the footsteps grew closer and stopped by my feet, I glanced up.

Nathaniel shrugged out of his suit jacket, rubbing at his furrowed brow.

“What did you do?”

He shook his head.

“Nathaniel.” I sat up, glaring at him. “Don’t you dare go silent on me. I deserve to know.”

“We dealt with him,” he hissed out and I caught his harsh features in the moonlight from the moon shining in.

“How?”

He removed his dress shirt and pants, revealing his lithe, muscular body and settled down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shaking body. I hadn’t stopped shaking since I had left the study and I hated it.

I eyed his hands, noticing the bruised, bloody knuckles. My breath caught. I had never seen him so vicious, so violent, and so angry.

“What if he presses charges?” I asked, fear bubbling up inside of me.

Nathaniel laughed darkly. “He won’t be.” He flexed his hands, staring at the damage, his teeth clenched. “The bastard’s lucky to still have his two fucking hands.”

I shivered at his cold, cruel tone, feeling his body shake against mine. I couldn’t speak. Emotion filled me to the brim and suffocated me.

“Nathaniel,” I whispered, unwept tears filling my voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

When he touched my wet cheeks and kissed my neck, I relaxed, burying my face into his chest.

“You’re forgetting, sweetheart, who we are,” he whispered into my damp hair. His fingers played with my strands and he breathed me in. “We’re bastards with too much power.”

I didn’t laugh. I had thought the four boys were powerful at Yale, but I hadn’t thought of how much of that power existed in the real world.