Page 4 of Courting War
And she was terrible . . . but she had a code.
It was the only thing she had. The only thing that mattered, and she would not break it. Besides, Theo never wanted the whip. She wanted freedom. She wanted bad men punished. Theo squared her shoulders. “Yes.”
Erety turned back to her wife, Havyn, who said, “How interesting.” The goddesses shared an intrigued look. They were rhythmically aligned—perfectly fitting together. Perhaps it was why Havyn kidnapped Erety. She knew the girl would be the ideal partner—compliment her in every way.
A love that would defy a thousand lifetimes.
Havyn turned to the ghost, her violet eyes sparkling with wicked intent, but she spoke to Theo. “I won’t take your hard-earned whip. Instead, I want a life.”
Theo cocked her head, confusion lighting her insides. “A life?”
She didn’t keep lives or resist their taking. She didn’t even have faithful servants like all the other gods. Theodra hated inconvenience, and humans wereso inconvenient. She wanted nothing to do with them.
“You are the second most powerful and most feared god in all the pantheon,” Havyn said. Theo suppressed a chuckle. She’d spent lifetimes instilling that rumor. It was always more valuable to be feared than to be loved. But Havyn’s statement wasn’t entirely accurate. All the triplets were equally strong and shared the same power source, but many believed Theo to be the most skilled at using it. “If you wanted to protect a human and throw your will behind something, you’d be nearly unstoppable. So, I want an equivalent soul you love in exchange for her life.” Havyn waved a hand at the spirit.
A human soul.
“Why would you ask for that? I’m not capable of loving a human.”
Theodra was the only triplet who didn’t love and the only onesmart enough never to break the Immortal Law. True love was forbidden. A god could not fall in love with a mortal, nor the mortal fall in love with a god. The punishment for true love was death for the human and a hundred years of torture for the god. Havyn had been lucky and slithered out of the consequences, but the Goddess of Light—the third sister—lost her lover, Deveraux, to eternal damnation.
“You take nothing from me,” Theo said. “I cannot love.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, dear sister.” Havyn’s bearing was insidious. “Think of the prophecy.”
The prophecy claimed that the triplets would each fall in love with a mortal, and it would end in death.
“Prophecies are the playthings of fools,” Theo said, examining her fingernails.
Erety giggled. “Oh, you poor silly goddess, you can’t even see your heart. If you care nothing for humans, you wouldn’t trade Fire’s whip for one. And if you can care for one, you will care for more. You will love one . . . eventually.”
Theo shook her head and stepped away from the coffin. “You’re wrong. I don’t care for this girl. I care for justice.”
“Of course you do.” Erety ruffled the feathers of her wings, her face alight with amusement. “So, do you accept our bargain?”
“Yes.” Theo’s voice lingered in the air.
Havyn appeared beside her sister. Lightning lit the sky, and the ground trembled as Death and War shook hands, sealing their fateful deal.
Chapter Two
THEODRA
Goddess of War
Eleven Years Ago
LETUM CLIFFS, ERTOMESIA
Wisps of a silver elixir looped through the air and settled into the girl’s body. Her life force returning, one drop at a time—one string at a time. The girl’s pallid face flushed with heat, and she gasped, clutching her throat as if she still felt the smoke burning inside her.
Her eyes were wild and coated with panic.
Theo stroked a feather along her skirt, needing something to do with her awkward hands. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she realized she had no idea what. Comforting humans wasn’t among Theo’s many talents.
She turned, searching for Death’s help—knowing how to handle dead humans was her expertise—but both gods had vanished into the darkness, their laughs lingering and dancing on the wind.
Theo loosed a belabored sigh. Then she flashed her teeth to the girl, attempting a soft smile that looked far more like agrimacing twitch. Curling her fingers into the feathers of her skirt, she listened to the calming beat of her heart, which returned to its steady two-step dance.
