Page 23 of Touch

Love glowers at Anger.

Anger glowers at Envy.

Envy doesn’t care. “Your inferior mortal is—”

One of her arrows is out and pointing at his nuts before he finishes, the shaft suffocating in her grasp. “Donotcall him that.”

Above the star-flecked lower lashes, Sorrow’s irises are the palest tint of silver, like the color of tears. “You sound like a human. It’s pathetic, not to mention depressing.”

Love pushes that disturbing allegation from her mind. “None of you believe I have the grit for this match.”

Envy quirks an arrogant brow at the arrowhead targeting his cock, then inclines his head. “If you wish to see it that way.”

“I do see it that way.”

“You questioned the consequences twice within minutes of us arriving,” Anger bites out.

Love veers the arrow toward him. “Do not accuse me of being a coward. I wasn’t serious.”

“Like your sentimental tendencies aren’t serious? Or your obsession with human touch?”

“Trifling details. I cannot touch the man, so he’s hardly a temptation. He’s useless to me.”

“He’s fatal to us, yet you failed to reveal his existence to The Court!” Anger shouts. “One might think you were protecting this mortal!”

“I needed to gather information about him first. I wasn’t about to dash off to The Dark Fates without knowing a confounded thing!”

“Yes. I sold The Court on that theory, thank you but no fucking thank you!”

Love launches to her feet. They bolt toward each other like a pair of cannonballs.

With a sigh, Envy lashes out both arms. His muscles ram into Love’s stomach and Anger’s torso, the impact halting them. “Settle down, beauties. As much as I’d love to watch you slap one another around, the tension kink is enough to make me feel excluded.”

Anger rips Envy’s arm from him with sufficient force to sever bone. At least, if Envy were mortal.

It’s uproarious how determined the rage god is to insult Love. He cannot stand her, and more than any other god, she can’t abide him. Whenever they lock horns, she wagers somewhere in this world volcanoes erupt, and storms uproot houses from their foundations.

Well. There have been benign moments between them too. Memories tempered by empathy.

Envy returns to the subject at hand. “We don’t need more renegade deities in this crew. Want the dainty version? Get it done before The Court loses faith in your prowess and orders us to maim your shapely, albeit celibate, body. I’d like another chance to seduce the Goddess of Love while she’s flawless, but you’re stalling on this task. At this rate, you’ll end up as blemished as Wonder and Sorrow.”

Sorrow lobs the snowball at Envy like a grenade. He dodges the attack, and the orb slams into a branch, exploding in a cloud of white. Straightening, the god flashes an antagonist grin toward the female. “You missed, hon.”

She curls her lip. “This time.”

Inexplicably, Envy’s smirk plummets like a deck of cards, irritation tightening his features. They stare at one another for long enough to confirm there’s another meaning behind Sorrow’s reply. Presumably, it’s not the first time the goddess has aimed a projectile at Envy. Nor will be it the last.

“How long do I have?” Love interjects.

Sorrow rips her gaze from Envy. “A fortnight before you deteriorate, and we follow suit. However, The Court will give you thirteen days from now.”

“I won’t fail at this.”

“We’d like to think so,” Anger condescends.

Instead of evanescing as one, this mythic crew disbands by individual means. Envy jumps to the ground and struts into the forest. Sorrow travels in the opposite direction, puttingmaximum distance between the male and herself, while Anger leaps off the branch and storms away with a glower.

Still hanging upside down, Wonder maneuvers off her branch. She drops to Love’s level, her locks falling past her backside, and folds both hands primly in her lap. “You never cease to amaze me. Of all the people to antagonize, you pounce on Anger when he’s already in foul spirits.”

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