Page 15 of Faithless
Reaper was the one that answered. “Every time I resisted Hades, he made a point of reminding me just how…humanI was. And that he was something more. Humans may have brought gods into existence, but they aremorethan us. They exist outside of the bounds of time and physical space. They know things we don’t, and everything they have us do is for a reason.” The look on his face was pained, like it killed him to say it. “So yes, sugar cube. Your mom is right. There is no getting out of this once you’re chosen.”
My chin went up and down in a nod, even though I didn’t feel like I wasreallyunderstanding. I had all this information coming in but none of it was processing. I knew the words, but the meaning, the gravity of the situation wasn’t sinking in.
I was still the same directionless woman from last night, drinking and partying my feelings away for the town’s heartbreaker. Like tons of others born after the Collapse, I was trying to find purpose in a world that was still recovering from irreparable damage. There was no reason why a god should choose me.
Only one thing was clear to me, a persistent need itched under my skin.
“I’m going for a ride,” I said, standing abruptly.
I loved my family more than anything, but I was sick of them staring at me like this. Like they were waiting for me to accept this mission proudly, the prodigal daughter finding her purpose at long last.
I needed the road to clear my head.
“Helmet,” Shadow barked as I walked past the couch.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled back.
* * *
I torethrough town on my motorcycle, then turned onto the winding road that would lead to a secluded pond just outside our borders. The location must have been a park for families and children before the Collapse. Rusted metal play structures were in a fenced-off area next to the pond, which was shallow and little more than a mud hole.
Daren, Lily, Torr, and I used to come here as teens to drink and just be dumbasses. My brother once stole one of Reaper’s clove cigarettes that he liked to hide, and all four of us nearly choked on the intensity of it. When Reaper found out, he was so pissed that he told Daren and I to finish smoking it. We tried, both threw up before we could, and never stole from our parents again.
I eased back on my bike, reducing my speed once I left town and let the curving road guide and sway me through the landscape. The wind in my hair was cool at this time of year, but it would start warming up soon. It never got too cold in this region, not that I’d really spent much time anywhere else.
My family and I went on rides, sure. We camped and went on road trips every summer. I’d seen much of the land that was once a single country, before the central government fell apart and it became a bunch of warring territories. I’d never lived anywhere but in Four Corners though, and I’d never gone on a multi-day ride alone.
Would this mission from a god really be so terrible if it took me somewhere new? My parents were all worried, even angry. I knew they’d suffered in the war and didn’t want the same for me, but it didn’t sound like that was what I’d be walking into. But then again, Astarte hadn’t revealed much.
The only thing that seemed certain was my lack of choice in the matter. And that in itself made me want to dig my heels in and tell that bird to fuck off. I was perfectly content in my small town life—riding motorcycles, working part-time at the tattoo shop, drinking the night away while pining over a man I couldn’t have.
Perfectly fucking content.
The ride ended too quickly, and I pulled up to the gravel area next to the pond while my thoughts still churned. I sat atop my bike for a minute, just looking at the place where my friends and I had once been blissfully ignorant troublemakers. It felt different than I remembered. None of us had come here in years, to my knowledge.
I turned off the bike and swung my leg over to dismount. My boots crunched over the gravel as I headed for the playground, hopping the short, barely-standing fence with ease. I sat in one of the rusted, creaking swings, my legs stretched out in front of me and dragging along the ground. Bending my knees to pull my body forward, I allowed myself to gently swing.
The rumbling of a bike pulling up next to mine moments later wasn’t surprising in the least. Neither was the tall rider with tousled dark hair walking toward me after he’d parked. My gaze remained impassive as he approached, watching songbirds and dragonflies fly over the surface of the pond.
Torr sat in the swing next to me without a word. He offered me a cigarette, which I accepted, again, without a word. He lit mine for me and then his own. We swung lazily back and forth, taking drags with no conversation for a few minutes.
“Stalking me now?” I asked him when my smoke was halfway done.
He made a small huff of laughter, the corner of his mouth pulling up. “I was running errands in town when you tore through like a bat out of hell. I’m sure the next ten blocks could hear your bike. Didn’t know what to think, especially since you’d just texted that you got home.”
Yeah, speeding through town probably wasn’t the best idea. In a place like Four Corners, people would likely ask my parents what the hell that was about. We weren’t the only biker family, but we were the most well-known.
“Everything okay, Ror?” Torr asked when I didn’t respond.
“Not really,” I admitted, my chest clenching painfully. How much could I even tell him?
“Well, what’s up?” Torr tossed his cigarette butt and scraped his boot over it as he swung forward. “Who do I gotta put in the hospital?”
I snorted out a laugh. Typical Torr, solving problems with his fists or his dick. “It’s nothing like that. My parents just kinda…dumped some news on me.”
“Like what, they kicking you out or something? You need a place to stay?”
“No.” I stared at him, a little unnerved by his prying. He’d never been this…protective over me before. “It’s…I dunno. Family stuff.”
