Seduction (Curse of the Gods #3)(29)

Siret took a step closer to his brother, peering right into his eyes as though he could see deep inside. “Soldier, you in there?”

Hesitancy and confusion were prominent in those words, but also a sliver of hope. How the hell did he know it was me? Actually, who cared about that part, I needed to let him know I was there. I nodded my head, and Rome’s head followed suit.

“How is she doing that?” Aros asked, looking a little freaked-out.

I didn’t blame him. If I thought that one of them had the ability to slip into my head and control me without my knowledge …

Wait just a click.

Holy.

Fuck.

“I think Cyrus lied,” I spluttered out, Rome struggling to talk as fast as I needed him to. “I think he linked himself to me again, and he’s somehow controlling me. I thought it was the Chaos, because every time I black out, something really chaotic happens … but if the soul-link has been manipulated so that something like this can happen, then that would explain everything. Rau still has something on Cyrus—otherwise he wouldn’t have set the building on fire back in Soldel. And then I thought the Chaos was helping me by knocking out that guardian and shoving him into a closet, but actually it was probably Cyrus, trying to stop me from sneaking into Topia. And when I unlocked the collars on the panteras, it was probably Cyrus trying to stop me a second time … oh wow, he really underestimates how often I need to use bad situations to my advantage.”

The four guys were just staring at me—or Rome—their mouths a little unhinged.

“Did she say that she set a building on fire?” Yael rasped.

“And knocked someone out and stuffed them into a cupboard?” Aros, this time.

“And set a bunch of panteras free.” Coen was scratching his head.

“That’s my girl.” Siret was the only one who seemed pleased by my overload of information.

“Rome is messing with us.” Yael was shaking his head. “This is too fucked-up.”

“I’m not.” I tried to sound as convincing as possible, but Yael only shook his head and stepped closer to Rome, his fists clenched.

“Cut this shit out right now,” he seethed, “or I’ll hit you so hard she’ll have to start calling you Crushed.”

“That’s not very nice—” I started to say, but apparently Yael wasn’t in the mood for pacifications.

He pulled his arm back and slammed it into the side of Rome’s face. I couldn’t feel the actual blow, but my vision swam to the side, and then suddenly I was staring at the sky—I hadn’t paid much attention to where we were, but the sky was bluer than blue, the clouds all happy and perfect. They were still in Topia.

“You hit me!” I yelled at the sky, and it was almost humorous to hear Rome’s deep voice so full of feminine outrage.

“Oh.” Yael sounded genuinely shocked. “It really is her. Rome just dropped like a bag of rocks.”

“He’s still not moving,” Coen noted, his head appearing in my field of vision. “You okay in there, dweller-baby?”

“He hit me!” I repeated.

“I think she’s fine.” Yael’s head appeared beside Coen’s. “Rome’s head is too damn thick for any of the pain to reach her—right, Willa-toy?”

“You still hit me!” This time, it was a growl, and Siret’s head popped up beside Yael’s.

“You should get revenge,” he suggested helpfully. “You have so many muscles right now. You’re the God of Strength right now. The possibilities are endless.”

“No they aren’t,” I said, “Rome is going to wake up soon. I don’t always black out for long. But you have a point.”

I struggled to get back to my feet, but controlling Rome wasn’t so easy. His limbs were bigger than expected, and I accidently knocked over a low wooden table, up-ending a bowl of fruit and sending apples and oranges scattering over the marble floor. When I was finally standing, I focussed on Yael, and tried to swing a punch at him. Unfortunately, I miscalculated the distance to his face, and Rome’s fist connected with the pillar just to the right of Yael’s head. I watched in fascination as the stone cracked beneath Rome’s fist, caving in around his hand. I was so fascinated that I didn’t even realise I was stuck until I tried to pull his fist back again and it wouldn’t budge.

“Well … this is awkward.” Yael was smirking, turned to the side so that he could see the fist I had embedded into the pillar.

“Can we stay on track?” Coen snapped, throwing Yael a dark look, and then turning it on me. “The way you’re controlling Strength right now—you think Cyrus is doing that to you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Coen growled, and even Yael looked pissed, now that he believed me.

“And he’s been causing chaos?” Aros appeared beside me, taking Rome’s wrist in his hand and yanking it out of the pillar.

“Yes,” I repeated, a little exasperated. I wished that they had listened the first time around, but they were probably preoccupied with the fact that I had managed to take control of their brother’s body and mind.

“Why would he be causing chaos?” Siret sounded both angry and thoughtful, and he was pacing back and forth, his eyes snapping back to Rome every few moments. “That’s not in his interests at all.”