Page 23 of Tempt

“Disarm,” Wonder commands. “Or I’ll make you.”

“Haven’t you heard? You shouldn’t tell a rage god what to do. It’ll put him in a vengeful mood.”

“I thought you were smarter than that.”

Malice’s arm tenses as her implication sinks in. An instinctive act of violence will prove his temper is stronger than his foresight. If there’s anything he coddles more than his short fuse, it’s his shrewdness.

But lacking any recourse, he maintains a steady aim.

Wonder does as well, thinking, wheezing, thinking, wheezing…inhaling. “Wait. I know what to do.”

“So do I,” he baits.

“You want to be sloppy or strategic?”

With a curse, he lowers his weapon while she disengages to hunt through grass, toadstools, and blossoms. Relief floods her at the sight of a purple lace flower that she plucks from the soil. Kneeling beside the deity, Wonder slips the petals into the female’s mouth.

Tilting the goddess’s head changes the angle of Wonder’s view. And that changes everything.

She reels back. Oh, no. Blast, no, no, no.

Yes, she knows this goddess. Wonder has spent fifty years training with her.

Her Guide looks the same, with those dimples and that sage-colored hair.

Harmony

That’s what the female had named herself after passing her role on to her charge. Harmony used to be the Goddess of Wonder, and now she’s the Guide of Wonder.

A swell forms on the goddess’s temple, but otherwise, there are no lacerations or abrasions marring her countenance. Nevertheless, Wonder’s face drops into her palms. She permits herself a moment, then recuperates just as Harmony would have instructed her to.

Up close, Wonder squints and finally notes the ivory archery harnessed to the female. If only Wonder had recognized it earlier, or if only the goddess had perceived Wonder’s quartz arrows. How had either of them neglected this?

But then what? Like Anger and Love, it’s too risky to bring Harmony into this.

Resigned, Wonder finishes the job, nudging the flower between the female’s lips. The petals will dissolve and seep into her mouth, an agent that will mend the wounds even faster than they normally heal. It shall fix the evidence, the damage they’ve done to her—as well as apply another symptom, not unlike the distortion caused by mortal mushrooms. With any luck, Harmony shall sleep through that part.

Wiping her hands, Wonder traces a thumb over the elder’s chin, whispers that she’s sorry, and gains her feet. In the silence, Malice stares with an inquisitive glint, to which she clarifies, “The goddess will think she was hallucinating.”

“Ahh. I guess that’ll work.” He quirks a brow toward the budding woodland spread, regarding it like a human addict discovering an illegal pot farm.

Before he advances, Wonder orders, “Do not even think about it.”

“Who?” He presses a hand to his chest. “Me?”

“We’re not here to harvest celestial drugs.”

“But it would make the sex much more invigorating. Just imagine how it would enhance the flavor of fucking like salt to a dish.” His decadent eyes roam her curves. “A deep, round, hard dish.”

She will not—she willnot—let that crass comment melt any region lower than her navel. They haven’t been trespassing for long, and already he’s being difficult. To say the least, cracking frivolous, vulgar jokes while in enemy territory is wasted on her.

That…had been a joke, hadn’t it?

“Where were you?” she gripes.

“Here, there, everywhere,” he sings.

Never mind.

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