Page 38 of Lost and Stolen Gods
“I didn’t?—”
He squeezed, sudden and sharp, hurting me and cutting me off. Tears blurred my vision.
“Entitled. Superior.” His hand flexed, bringing afresh stab of pain. “You think you’re better than us. That you’re worth more than us?”
I would have denied it, shaken my head, but I couldn’t move, and he was hurting me while tarring me with a brush that had nothing to do with me. A kernel of heat unfurled in my chest.
“You are weak and useless. You cannot survive without…” He trailed off, eyes narrowing speculatively. His grip eased a fraction.
I took advantage of the reprieve to slip my fingers between his hand and my throat, yanking to try and free myself while kicking out, hoping to hurt him back, to make him drop me.
“Let…go of…me.” I didn’t deserve this. Not from him. Not from anyone. “Get… off me…you—” A coughing fit cut off my words.
He obliged, releasing me so suddenly that I fell to my knees with a yelp which pissed me off even more. I clutched my sore throat, swallowing past the pain as the coughing subsided.
“Pathetic,” he drawled.
Hell no. “Pathetic?” The word came out raspy and broken because it hurt to speak, but I pushed past the pain. “You know what’s pathetic? You are. Hammering on at me about shit I didn’t know existed until a day ago.” I pulled myself to my feet, eyes burning with indignant rage “I didn’t fucking ask to be dragged to your world. If anyone has a right to be pissed off, it’s me.” My voice cracked as the grief I’d been holding atbay surged up to choke me, momentarily stealing my words. “The only family I have was killed by a monster from your fucked-up world. So, fuck you, Araz. Fuck you with a mammoth cactus right up your?—"
He hauled me up by the throat once more, but this time his grip wasn’t as punishing. “You think you’re the only one who’s lost someone they love? You think that makes you special?” His mouth turned down in mock sadness. “You want me to hold you while you cry?”
I grabbed his wrist and kicked out again, this time catching his thigh with my boot, but he merely laughed—a harsh mirthless sound that hollowed out my stomach.
“You know, I could speed this up.” He drew me close so that we were face to face, his breath hot on my lips. “I could fuck you right now. Break you in…Break you.”
And there was that speculative gleam in his eyes again.
“You can’t…hurt me.” The tremor in my belly belied the conviction in my tone.
“Oh, little mortal, Icanhurt you. I can make you scream for sweet pain.Begfor it, and if my attentions tear you up inside and kill you then?—”
I slapped him hard enough to make my hand throb, but his head didn’t move an inch.
His jaw flexed, though, topaz fire burning a path across my face. “That one you can have for free. But tryit again and I’ll break every bone in your hand, am I clear?”
I glared at him, refusing to respond, and he squeezed my throat until the sharp pain forced me to gasp. “Yes. Okay.”
He released me like I was a bag of trash and crossed to the exit. “You’ll sleep on the floor, and if you touch any of my things, I’ll know, and Iwillpunish you.” He left, slamming the door closed behind him.
My chest shook from the inside, stomach shivering, and then the sobs came, shaking, shuddering things that were a mixture of anger and fear.
Anger at the beast that had taken Nani from me. Anger at Araz for his cruelty and at myself for my mortal weakness. And fear, so much fear that I’d fail at the one thing that mattered the most in my life now…Giving my Nani’s soul the peace it deserved.
I let the emotions roll over me, through me, to shake me until they ran their course, and when the quaking inside me subsided, I wiped my face clean.
Araz was a monster.
I couldn’t reason with him.
He didn’t care about my plight, so why the fuck should I care about his?
And why would the Shakti pair me with him? I tried to recall their words to me, something about a path and unknowns and being guided by my heart or returning a gift? And there’d been something about an anchor and a storm, but it was all muddled in my head,buried beneath the pulsing headache and throbbing throat.
A drohi was supposed to help his demigod, that much was clear, but I’d get no help from mine.
I was on my own.
Jack of all trades, master of none, until now. Now I was going to put everything I had into mastering how to become a god, and if Araz thought he could break me, then he had another think coming.
