Persuasion (Curse of the Gods Book 2) Read online

  “We know that Staviti and Abil regularly punish them to weaken their powers. That’s why they sent them away, and made their time on this backward world so much longer than usual.”

  Razi was so busy sprouting off his opinion that he was completely taken by surprise when Rau whipped around and gripped him tightly around his throat. I tumbled to the ground in an unceremonious heap, quickly rolling out of the way as the two gods went head-to-head.

  “You would do well to remember who you are,” Rau snarled out the words. “You’re under my command while we’re here on Minatsol, so don’t push me. I can already feel you weakening.”

  I was far enough away now to get up, my legs wobbly beneath me as I tried to pull myself together. The pain was crippling, like nothing I had ever felt before, and I wasn’t sure I could actually run.

  Rau quickly set me straight on that. “I wouldn’t even bother, Willa. If you don’t make it to Topia soon, the pain will destroy you.”

  “I don’t understand,” I heaved out, my hands resting on my knees. “What’s happening to me?”

  He just shook his head, pulling his cloak tighter around me. “All I can tell you is that you are changing. I feel the energy morphing your insides. None of this makes sense … my curse should not be reacting like this. It really should have killed you. You’re a dweller, and it was designed for a god. So what are you, little creature? How is it that you have captivated five gods? How do you wield the energy without effort?”

  What the freaking hell was he talking about? And when would this pain end?

  “I need them,” I whimpered. “Topia can’t save me, only … them.”

  Razi was back in Rau’s face again, albeit looking a little more respectful. “Sir, this is a bad idea. You don’t have a Beta, you can’t go against the five brothers. They draw power from two powerful Originals. You need to think this through.”

  Before I could add my agreement to that statement, Rau reached forward and touched my chest. I flinched back, but somehow couldn’t move away from the hand pressed right above my sternum. The pain in my chest started to ebb away, taking with it a lot of the other pain.

  “I can temporarily block the pain so that you can make it to Topia, and once we are there we can figure out what is happening to you.” He was far too close for comfort, even if he was easing the agony. He leaned his face into mine, his voice lowering to a murmur. “You have no choice here, this hold will not last long, and you need more than Abil’s sons.”

  He was lying. I could feel it, but his threats were still fresh in mind. I couldn’t risk the safety of the Abcurses; the gods had no afterlife, and Razi had been right when he said they were weakened. The thought of Rau hurting them …

  “I will come with you as long as neither of you touch me again.” I straightened and gave them my best Coen stare.

  “Deal.” Rau swept his arm out to indicate that I should go first.

  My legs were still weak as I stumbled along, somehow keeping my footing. This time if I face-planted, there would be no one to scoop me up. I was on my own. Well, I was with two crazy gods who were taking me into the world of the gods—but that definitely wasn’t making me feel any less alone.

  The journey out of the building, across the grass and toward the backside of Blesswood went far too quickly. I was just about to head in the direction of the arena, since we’d have to walk past it to get to the forest, when Rau let out a bark of laughter.

  “Where are you going?” he asked me. “I thought you knew the way.”

  I immediately started cursing him in my head, until his laughter interrupted again.

  “I think it’s time I showed you the way a god enters his domain.” He was shaking his head as he spoke, as though saying about time.

  Which was … beyond ridiculous. Since when was I supposed to know the proper way for a god to enter his domain? Now it was my turn to laugh.

  “I’m not a god, and I don’t care.” I stopped moving altogether. “You can save your bragging for the next dweller you kidnap and turn into a Jeffrey.”

  “What the hell was that supposed to mean?” he snapped at Razi.

  The Envy Beta just shook his head, before crossing his arms over his chest. Both of them wore the same looks that I had been seeing most of my life, usually on my mother’s or Emmy’s faces. Like they just weren’t sure what to do with me—and how could I possibly be this annoying every single sun-cycle?

  Before I could say anything more, I was being steered in a completely different direction. Rau was being extra careful to not quite touch me, as per my wishes, but it didn’t make me want to punch him any less. We passed into another building and the ache in my chest crushed me again for a beat as I thought about the Abcurses back in the dining hall, before Rau’s magic kicked into gear again, wiping out most of the pain.

  I was so caught up in worry for the Abcurses, that I didn’t realise we had come to a stop. In front of the temple. Or to be more specific, in front of the statue of Staviti, which dominated the front of the temple.

  “I hope you can keep a secret,” Rau said, “Staviti does not like you lowly beings knowing more than they should. When they know things, they start getting ideas, and thinking for themselves, and then we have too much chaos.”

  Razi snorted. “And we all know how he feels about chaos.”

  His laughter was cut off by a single glare from Rau.

  “So,” the Chaos god focussed on me again, “you’re about to discover another entrance, not that you could activate it, but still … knowledge is power and I am trusting you with this secret.”

  “You do realise I don’t care, right? I don’t want to be a god! I don’t want to visit Topia! I don’t want anything to do with you!” I might have been shouting at this point, but I was seriously done.

  I had strong feelings for the Abcurses, it was a fact, I needed each one of them. I needed Siret’s grin, Aros’s heat, Coen’s hardness, Rome’s gruffness, and Yael’s stubbornness … but … there was no denying they had brought a level of crazy into my world that was just too much for me to handle. It never stopped, and I was reaching my limit.

  Without thought, I kicked out at Rau, and since neither of us had been expecting the sudden explosion of movement, it actually connected. He flew back a few yards, which had me staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed after him. How … what … what just happened? It was like the time I had kicked the couch: the same unnatural, inexplicable burst of strength. Still, the charcoal powder didn’t reveal any sol gift. I shouldn’t have been having any random bursts of anything. Could it be the Abcurses? Was it our connection, somehow feeding me their power at times? Or was the charcoal powder just slow to work?

  Either way, it freaked me out, and by the time I recovered, Rau was already back in front of me, his dark features creased in lines of absolute fury.

  “You dare to strike a god!”

  Before I could even lift my hands to explain, his fist crashed into my face. Darkness descended over my vision and my head went fuzzy for the second time that night. I got my hands up in time to stop the second hit, but he was just too strong. My hands were crushed between his fists and my face. I dropped to my knees, still fighting unconsciousness. If I passed out, he could do whatever he wanted to me. I tried to draw on that strength again, striking out blindly as I couldn’t even open my eyes to see what was happening, but a third hit had everything going black.

  Consciousness drifted in slowly, and with it came the pain. Not just in my head, but through my entire body. I groaned, realising that whatever Rau had done to dull the ache in my chest had worn off. My gut was okay, but the part of me that was somehow attached to the Abcurses was definitely hurting again. The main pain from my gut—from what Rau had called a metamorphosis—had disappeared completely.

  My mouth was dry and my head was pounding as I attempted to open my eyes. I hated the thought that I was lying there completely vulnerable, but for the life of me I couldn’t get my damn eyes to open. There was s
omething soft beneath me, but not too soft. Almost like a thick rug. Reaching out, I couldn’t feel anything else around me.

  Finally—with considerable effort—I managed to get my left, swollen eye open a pinch. The light burned, bringing tears, which blocked my vision for many more clicks. By the time it cleared I had both eyes cracked open, and I was rolling over to my side, trying to heave myself up. I got to my knees, taking in the wide expanse of cloudy sky around me, before my stomach rebelled and I started dry-heaving. I hadn’t eaten much that sun-cycle, so I ended up gagging and spluttering up nothing, before everything stopped rolling in my body.

  Wiping my mouth, I stumbled to my feet, my arms instinctively wrapping around me, trying to hold my chest together. I was on one of those floating platforms, high up above Topia. The air was sweet, the sun was shining, the fluffy clouds drifted lazily around me.

  I had an insane urge to run and jump off the side.

  Shuffling closer, I peered over, wondering if I would survive it.

  “Please step back from the edge, you will not survive that fall.” The robotic voice had me whipping around to find a Jeffrey standing behind me.

  It wasn’t the actual Jeffrey from last time—this one was a little wider, more hair scattered across his body, and only half a weird skin suit. He was also male. Which made me think the males might not need the entire suit.

  “I’m Wanda, I’ll be your server while you are here. The Great One asked that I give you whatever your heart desires, except you cannot leave.”

  Wanda. Of course.

  “And where is this great one, Wanda? Shouldn’t he be here, acting creepy, beating up dwellers?”

  I almost chuckled when he let out a mechanical gasp. So predictable. I continued quickly. “On second thought, what I really need is Abil. Can you get him for me?”

  I didn’t trust the Trickery god, but he was the only god I could think of who might be able to help me. Or at least get a message to his sons. My heart sank when Wanda shook his head.

  “I’m sorry, the gods have not returned from Minatsol.” He bowed low then, genuflecting before me.

  “Please, stop. You don’t need to bow to me.” I was mortified, and the whole servant thing was making me want to throw up again.

  As Wanda straightened, I licked at my dry lips, desperate for some moisture. My mouth tasted salty, and I realised that I was crying. Tears were silently dripping along my cheeks, dropping onto my lips. It was a reaction to the intensity of the pain in my chest, the part of my soul that was tied to the Abcurses was slowly ripping into even smaller pieces. Come to think of it: how was I still alive? I was in a different world to them. That sort of distance should have destroyed me. Maybe Rau’s magic was still working a little.

  Or maybe … maybe the Abcurses were already in Topia.

  Fifteen

  Wanda ignored most of my other requests, even though he’d apparently been ordered to give me whatever I desired. It seemed that ‘everything I desired’ meant ‘water and nothing else.’ Because ‘can I have some gods-damned water?’ was the only request that got a response out of him.

  After he disappeared, I explored the platform, dragging myself from one end to the other, weaving through pillars and poking at greenery. There wasn’t much happening. Low, marble boxes held all kinds of plants, and vines were everywhere, twining up the columns and dangling over the edges of the platform. It was a strange, marble jungle. There were a few benches to sit on, and one little area that might have been a meeting point, since the benches there were arranged in a circle, facing an empty centre. Eventually, that’s where I curled up on the ground to wait. On a bed of vines, in the centre of the circle of benches. The pain was unbelievable, tearing right through me, but I had managed to get a handle on the crying.

  I didn’t want to be weeping when Rau finally turned up again.

  Or when the Abcurses came to rescue me … because they were coming.

  I hoped.

  “Oh, that’s just pathetic,” a voice declared from behind me.

  I quickly uncurled and jumped to my feet, though it required a lot of wincing and wobbling. The god standing before me was familiar, although I was starting to wish that he didn’t look familiar. He had pale eyes that were almost white, though I was pretty sure that there was some blue in there. His hair was silver, and his face was almost too young-looking for all the silver and white. It was also a mean face. His brows were dark, to contrast the white hair, and they were pinched down into a frown right now. The god was so perfect-looking and so angry-looking that just facing him felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.

  “You’re the Neutral guy,” I spluttered, taking a step back.

  His eyes widened a little, but I didn’t think it was because I had correctly guessed his status. I was pretty sure it was because I’d called him ‘the Neutral guy.’

  “I am Cyrus. I deal in the disputes of the gods.”

  “Profitable job you got there.” I took another step back, and he matched it with a step forward.

  “I don’t get paid for it.” Now he looked even more pissed off.

  “You should take that up with someone!” I tried to sound genial, as though he had come to me for help, but I was still stepping back and he was still stepping forward. “Like … I don’t know … is there a council or something you gods go to when you’re not happy about something?”

  “Yes.” His lips twitched, just a little, but his eyes were still cold and mean. “Me.”

  I took another step back, but my foot didn’t come down against marble the way I had been expecting. It came down on air, and then I was toppling backwards, over the edge of the platform. Or, I would have been, if Cyrus hadn’t jumped forward and grabbed a handful of my dress. He jerked me forward and twisted right before I would have crashed into him, sending me sprawling onto the vine-covered marble instead.

  “Get up,” he growled, stalking towards me again. “We need to anchor your soul before it begins to feed on itself and you die.”

  “Whoa.” I was scrambling away from him again, but this time on the ground, and I stopped to hold my hands up before me, to keep him back. “What the hell did you just say? My soul is trying to eat me?”

  “That is not what I just said.” He reached down, caught my arms, and hauled me to my feet. “But essentially … well yes, I suppose you could put it that way.”

  “What the fuck!” I struggled to get out of his grip, because I was starting to freak out just a little bit, but he wrapped both arms around me and hauled me up so that my feet were dangling above the ground, my arms trapped against my sides.

  “If you’re not going to cooperate long enough for me to create a soul-stone, I’m going to have to do it this way.” His grip was getting tighter, his words growled out against the top of my head, and then, all of a sudden … the world was white.

  Bright, blinding white.

  It flashed over my eyes and dropped through me, spreading heat and pain through my limbs until I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to cry or scream. The agony spread right to the very tips of my toes, and then as suddenly as it had appeared, it swept out of me.

  All the pain swept out of me.

  Cyrus released me, and I fell back to my feet, my hands clutching at my chest. It wasn’t all tight and achy anymore, or ripping me into pieces. The Abcurses were finally here!

  “No, they aren’t,” Cyrus answered drolly, and it took a moment to realise that he was answering a thought.

  “What?” I snapped my head up, fixing him with a surprised glare. “You can hear my thoughts now too?”

  “That’s how the soul-bind works, doll.”

  “Doll?” I squinted, inexplicable rage bubbling up inside of me, as though on some level I had actually figured out what he had done, but it hadn’t fully formed into a thought yet. “We have cute nicknames for each other now? What the hell is going on? What the hell did you just do?”

  “We don’t have cute nicknames. You have a nickname,
and it isn’t cute—”

  “What isn’t cute about dolls?” I interrupted, before he could even answer my other questions.

  “You’re a ragdoll, Willa Knight.” Now, he was smiling. And it wasn’t a nice smile. “Your head is filled with straw and you flop around like you have no actual bones. I should try breaking one of them, one of these sun-cycles, just to be sure that you have them.”

  Before I knew it, I was running at him. I wasn’t sure what my grand plan was, but my fist apparently had a mind all of its own, because it was tunnelling toward his stomach. Until he caught my hand and it wasn’t moving anymore.

  “What did you do to me?” I demanded again, staring up at him. Pretending that I hadn’t just attacked him.

  “I anchored your life force to mine. The same way you anchored yours to Abil’s sons.”

  “So … my soul pieces haven’t been living inside them this whole time?”

  “Soul pieces?” He had gone right back to frowning at me as though my head was full of straw. “Where did you come up with that idiotic notion?”

  “It’s a skill,” I snarled, trying to yank my hand free. He only tightened his grip.

  So I decided to kick him in the balls.

  He dropped me, hopping back with a vicious hiss, and I turned and ran before he could reach out for me again … except I was on a marble platform floating up in the sky. Stranded. With a god who may or may not have some kind of anger problem … who I may or may not have just kicked in the balls. Before I got more than a few steps, a form popped into being right in front of me, and I crashed straight into Wanda, sending us both tumbling down to the vine-covered marble. He had been holding a big jug of water and a little stone cup, and the jug somehow managed to up-turn itself on my face, while the cup thumped heavily against my chest.

  I decided to stay down. It was safer than standing up.

  Wanda, however, couldn’t have jumped to his feet any faster. He was spouting out apologies quicker than he could breathe. When I said nothing, he tried to kneel for me, but that didn’t turn out so well for him because I was already lying down, so he flattened himself to his stomach, and tried to get lower than me. It was an impossible feat, but he tried anyway.