Page 77 of Bought to Break
‘What about me?’
The goddess looked devious. ‘You have Dark Realm blood; very diluted, but it’s enough. A delicious little loophole. I can help you – just a bit.’
Gaila drew Lana to her feet and took her face in her hands. ‘Your life drains from you even now. The bond you have with the three Brothers has given you more time but its barely sustaining you.’ She looked down her nose at Lana. ‘Luckily for you, I have an abundance of such power. Though your realm has forgotten me, many others have not. I can lend you my strength and give you time. It will be difficult, though.’
She tutted, and when she spoke again, her voice was soft. ‘The witches of the old days were much stronger than you. They knew their worth and their power came from belief in themselves and each other as well as the bond they had with the Dark Army. They were like Gods in that way. But you,’ Gaila cocked a brow, ‘you doubt yourself. Though perhaps its because your blood was awakened by happenstance, not born.’ She let out a long sigh. ‘So few are born now.’
Lana looked down at the floor, not wanting the goddess to see the tears she blinked back, how her words rang with truth. She was just a slave girl from a village in the middle of nowhere with a mother who had sickened and died, not even willed herself to live for her child – just died. And Lana was angry, she realised, even all these years later. Why had her mama not fought for life? Why had her father not been much better? Leaving, taking the word of a stable boy that his only daughter was dead, and then all the rest that had happened just a few short weeks ago. Why had she been worth so little to them both? She shook herself out of her unhelpful, dark thoughts.
‘Are you sure you can help me?’
‘You doubt me?’ The goddess’ voice suddenly brimmed with power and the room shook, the goblets on the table falling over with a clatter.
Lana put up her hands to placate her as she tried to keep her balance. ‘No, of course not.’ Her voice trembled.
The room stilled. ‘You’re like a sealed vase leaking through tiny cracks. I must force strength into you. It will not be comfortable.’
Lana wrapped her arms around herself. ‘How many days will I have once I leave here?’ she asked, changing the subject.
‘After I give you my essence?’ Gaila’s head bobbed from side to side slightly as she considered. She looked sohumannow, all hints of her tremendous power hidden once again. ‘If you stay well rested and take care of yourself, you’ll last until midwinter. If you exert your body, less.’
‘So if I get you the Vessel, you’ll lend me your power for the rest of my life?’
‘We’ll see. Get me the Vessel first.’
Lana took a deep breath. ‘How will you do it?’ she asked, fearing something like the last ritual she’d suffered through to get to the Mount in the first place.
Gaila smiled knowingly. ‘Don’t worry. It’s not quite so taxing as getting here was.’
The goddess leant forward, put her hands on either side of Lana’s face again and kissed her suddenly but gently, her lips silky on Lana’s own. She opened her mouth and coaxed Lana to do the same, her tongue delving into her boldly but delicately, softly. It was completely unlike anything Lana had felt before, insistent and yet yielding at the same time.
A blinding light emanated from the goddess’s ethereal body. It seeped into her and she closed her eyes with a moan, muffled by Gaila’s lips, as it warmed her. She arched her back with a cry as her knees suddenly buckled, ecstasy flooding every part of her out of nowhere. The kiss ended, but, as if she had been caught unawares by a wave in the sea, Lana was pulled under, turned this way and that. She couldn’t breathe, but the pleasure was so intense she didn’t want to, afraid that any movement of her own would cause it to cease. It pulsed within her, filling her with strength she had never before felt the like of. The Goddess’ Realm faded out of her vision, but she hardly noticed.
She woke with a gasp,sitting up straight and opening her eyes all at once.
‘You made it. How do you feel?’
Lana took a deep breath. The joy her body had felt was ebbing. It had seemed to go on for hours and sated her in ways she had never felt before, as if she had gorged on the very food of gods. But instead of feeling tired, she was the opposite. Her body hummed with vitality. She hadn’t felt so strong in a very long time, perhaps not ever.
Looking around, she realised she was back in Vie’s cottage and she was, thankfully, wearing clothes – a dress of dark homespun wool, to be exact. The witch herself was standing not too far away, warily as if she was afraid to get too close. Lana’s eyes narrowed as she threw a pillow at her. It bounced off her harmlessly, of course, and fell to the floor.
‘You could have fucking warned me!’ she snarled.
Vie had the decency at least to cringe. ‘I couldn’t. I’m sorry. The ritual wouldn’t have worked if I’d told you everything. I swear it. And that was the only way to get your spirit to the God Realm.’
Lana ignored her, stood up and stretched, the movements eliciting a groan as her muscles and joints awakened. The witch stepped back without another word and Lana rolled her eyes. ‘After what just happened, I believe you.’
Vie seemed to relax. ‘It worked, though. You look … better.Brighter.’
‘I have until midwinter, she said.’
Vivienne’s brow furrowed. ‘Who said?’
‘The goddess.’
‘Goddess?’ The witch looked confused. ‘The gods, you mean. The ones you pleasured?’
‘No.’ Lana shook her head. ‘No. I pleasured no one.’ She grinned in spite of herself as she remembered what Gaila had done to her. ‘The opposite, in fact.’
