Page 78 of Spellbound
“What. No—” Something blunt hit the back of my head. Stars filled my vision as everything faded to black.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ipeeled my eyelidsback and saw a star-stricken ceiling, painted to look like the night sky. For a second, I remained still, mesmerized. Silk hugged my curves, and I snuggled deeper into the bed, forgetting where I was until a searing pain in my head shot me upright. Leaning forward, I pressed my hands against the sides of my head and screamed.
“I said heal her,” a voice snapped. “If not just to shut her up.”
I whipped my head to my left, and through blurred vision, I could make out Freya’s tall figure wrapped in a tight blue dress. Her dark hair was a mass against her back. She stared out of a window that ran the length of the side of the room.
Alexander rushed to my side. Focusing on his long, dirty-blond curls, I let his fingers graze my temples. Heat tingled below his fingertips. As quick as the pain had come, it dissolved. Rolling my head back, stretching my neck, I inhaled deeply.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I scowled once I reoriented myself.
“A goddess.” She ran her fingers through her silky black strands. “While you are merely a mortal.”
Alexander joined her side, placing his hand around her waist and brushing a kiss against her shoulder.
I cleared my throat. “So is your... boyfriend.” I guessed.
He smiled. “Not for long.”
Freya gave him a look, and he fell silent. “Just stay quiet until I figure this out.”
Puzzle pieces connected in my mind. “You’re planning on turning him immortal, which can only mean...” I shook my head at the thought. “You’re going to kill another of them to turn him into a god.”
“Alexander deserves it.” She ran her hand down his cheek, and his besotted gaze latched onto hers as if no one else in the universe existed but her. I wished someone would look at me like that. “He’s been loyal to me for the last decade.”
He only looked to be in his midthirties. She must have met him young—probably manipulated him into feeling bad for her. Why else would someone stick around someone so awful?
“You know, for someone who’s gone through such terrible things, you really don’t mind inflicting the same pain onto others.” I expected her to lunge at me, but she remained quite still.
“I’m doing what I have to, to survive. Raiden, Thalia, and Aziel will never forgive me for what I did. They will forever hunt me, and a life spent hiding is not a life lived at all.”
“People have died for you to live,” I said with a scowl. “Not just Leda. I mean all the witches and warlocks you’ve eaten.”
She turned to look at me. Her left eye twitched slightly. “They were not who you think they were. They had dark thoughts. Dark intentions.”
