Page 13 of Faithless
He was Reaper’s younger brother and had died years before I was born. Reaper’s real name was Rory, which he hated and never went by. My nickname was a means to tease him at first, but it stuck, and he’d always said it was much better as a girl’s name.
“What is this place?” I had asked my uncle’s ghost.
“When you come here in a few years, it’ll be called the Great Wasteland. Back when your dad and I used to ride through it? It was the Nevada desert.”
“WhenIcome here?”
“The gods will lead you here,” he’d said, nodding at the mountains like they were the ones telling him this. “It will be dangerous and the most difficult thing you’ll ever do in your life. But you’re the only one who can, Rori.”
“I don’twantto be here. I want to go home.”
Uncle Daren had turned to me then with a kind smile and knelt to talk at my eye-level. “I know, kiddo. It won’t be for a while. Sometimes grown-ups have to do really difficult things. But it’s okay. You won’t be alone.” He gave an affectionate squeeze to my shoulder and there, the dream ended.
I’d had dreams of my uncle for as long as I could remember, and I always believedhewas real. Something like an angel, guiding and protecting me. Reaper told me that he dreamed of his little brother too, at times. But I had completely forgotten his cryptic message about gods until now.
In the present, my parents were still arguing with Astarte, one of the gods who I could only assume would lead me through the Great Wasteland as my uncle had told me.
Hades, Horus, and Freyja finished their business with you,Astarte was saying.They are not part of this.
“They wouldn’t allow this,” Gunner said. “They won’t interfere, but they said they would remain present to watch over and protect our family.”
I’m sure your trinity gods will continue to do so, but that does not mean they will interferenow.
“They never were just animals, were they?” I piped up.
Everyone seemed to have forgotten about me, despite the conversation beingaboutme. A hush fell over the room as my parents exchanged glances, as if deciding telepathically what they should tell me.
“By the time you came along, they were just our pets,” Reaper said. “But before that, during the war, no.” His gaze slid to my mom, who gave him a subtle nod. “Hades, Horus, and Freyjaweregods in animal vessels. Just like Astarte here.”
“They bonded to us,” Gunner added. “They gave us…gifts which enabled us to win the war.”
“Humanity would have been headed for extinction if we had lost,” Jandro said. “So we were prepared to make sacrifices and fight with everything we had. But…” He turned a narrow-eyed glare to Astarte. “The human population has been increasing. Territories are stabilizing. It’s been twenty-six years of peace and progress. So can you understand us losing our shit over a god coming back after all this time and demanding our oldest daughter?”
The threat that looms is in its infancy, but its power is continuously growing. If another decade passes with it going unchecked, all your sacrifice will have been for nothing. All the progress of the past twenty-six years will be undone.
“What exactly would I be going up against?” I asked. “Another god?”
Other humans, for now.
“So why are gods getting involved if it’s a human issue?” Mom asked.
It always starts with humans,Astarte answered cryptically.But it may not end up that way. It seems you forget, Mariposa. Gods are human concepts given personification. When you give those concepts power, you deify them. War, love, fertility, prosperity. Each of these ideas have gods attached because humans gave power and personhood to them.
“None of us have forgotten,” Reaper snarled. “But why does it have to be Rori? Whyourdaughter?”
The dove fluffed up its feathers and promptly smoothed them down, looking directly at me.This is simply the path she is meant to take.
6
RORI
Astarte flew away soon after dropping that bombshell, but I knew the dove would return. Reaper came to kneel in front of me, taking one of my hands in the silence that followed. “Sugar cube, you don’t have to do this. No matter what that god tells you, you have free will, and you can say no.”
“Love.” Mom came up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “You know that’s not true. I know you want to protect Rori, but please don’t lie to her.”
Reaper let out an angry huff of breath, staring at her hand like it offended him. “We didn’t do everything we did just so the gods could come back and take our kids from us, Mari.”
“Rori, what are you thinking?” Jandro leaned forward from his place on the couch, the side of his face coming to rest against my mom’s hip. “You’ve been quiet, mija. Do you have any questions?”
