Seduction (Curse of the Gods #3)(8)

The silence felt a little heavy but not uncomfortable. Like we were each processing those words, and then as conclusions were reached, questions were asked.

Aros was first. He leaned forward, a lock of that golden hair falling across his forehead. “What about your father? You never speak of him.”

A derisive chuckle built in my chest as I snorted out, “Can’t speak about someone you’ve never met. Either I was a gift from the gods and just appeared on mum’s doorstep, or she got knocked up by a passing dweller she met at Cyan’s Tavern.”

And since I looked exactly like her, and we all knew how the gods felt about me, there was really only one of those options that we could consider plausible.

“You never asked her?” Rome pushed further, and a jolt of frustration had my voice clipped as I answered.

“Of course I asked her. What kid wouldn’t want to know if there was a responsible parent out there? One who wasn’t going to vomit in their only pair of shoes?” Always look before putting shoes on. It was solid advice. “She just told me that I didn’t have a father, and I should focus on the future, not the past.”

Focus on the future, Willa, the past is of no use to anyone. She used to say that to me all the time. Then she would get blind drunk and not have to focus on either.

A part of me was used to it, but I also couldn’t think too long or hard about her, because I didn’t want to be an angry bitter dweller. It wasn’t worth it. It changed nothing.

“Do we have anything happy to discuss?” I asked with a sigh, leaning forward and resting my chin on my arms.

The Abcurses somehow exchanged a single glance between the five of them, and I found myself sitting back up, unease rocketing through me. I didn’t like that look. It wasn’t a happy look. They were totally not bringing me any happy.

“What?” I finally burst out, my eyes running across their faces. “Don’t tell me you’re having another sex talk with me?”

A sol nearby gave a gasping cough and I realised how loud I was. Whoops. Maybe this wasn’t the best place for this sort of discussion, but the guys didn’t seem upset. If anything they now looked amused, which I preferred to that serious look from before—a look which unfortunately returned as all five of them leaned in. Siret spoke just loud enough for me to hear.

“Staviti has called us to Topia. We might have to face a trial.”

I swallowed roughly. “Because of the Chancellor? They found out you killed him?”

A single nod from each of them confirmed my fears.

“When do we go?” I tried to keep the worry from my voice, but as usual, I failed miserably.

“In four sun-cycles we need to cross into Topia,” Yael answered. “We’ll have an informal meeting with Staviti, and then he decides if it goes to trial.” He didn’t seem worried, his words so relaxed and calm.

Meanwhile, I was about to pee myself because I had a very bad feeling about this.

“It’ll be fine, Soldier.” Siret wrapped an arm around me, pulling me closer. “Staviti is used to us, we might have our time on Minatsol extended, but I doubt anything else will happen.”

Usually I would have sunk into his heat, into the comfort of touch, the soul-link no longer strained, but the worry just wouldn’t leave.

“What will Staviti say when you bring me along? Does he know you’re linked to a dweller? Does he know I might be a Chaos Beta? Is it a good idea to clue him into those things?”

Coen and Rome moved closer together, their broad shoulders blocking out the entire room.

Coen was the one who answered. “You can’t come with us, Willa. For those very reasons, and a few more. Staviti won’t kill you, but he could make your life very difficult. And we won’t let that happen.”

I knew my brow was furrowed, I could feel my forehead wrinkling right up as I processed those words. “The soul-link will kill me if we’re that far apart.”

Which worried me even less than the fact that every time the six of us were split up, something really terrible happened. Like Cyrus … wait a freaking click!

“You guys better not be thinking about transferring the soul-link to Cyrus again. Because I would rather take my chances with Staviti and Rau.”

Rome’s low growl rumbled through the table to me and I was pretty sure the wood actually vibrated.

Aros spoke up when it didn’t seem as if Rome was going to do more than curse and growl. “We won’t be transferring the link to anyone. Yael had an idea a while ago, and we finally managed to find the right god to help out. There is a way to temporarily extend our link—you’ll be able to be quite a distance from us and not suffer. It would only be temporary, of course. Eventually Rau’s curse would eat through the energy, but it would last long enough for us to get through this meeting, and even long enough for the trial, should it come to that.”

I was slumping into my chair again when dwellers appeared at our table. They carried laden trays of food, all of which were deposited down in front of us. The guys had to move back to make room for the many selections. For once I really didn’t care about the cheesy toast, or the little swimmer puffs.

Before I could stop my hands, they were reaching out and scooping a bunch of both foods onto my plate. Okay, I might have cared a little. Really though, it is important to keep your energy up when you need to argue with five hulking gods.