Page 79 of These Godly Lies
Anna’s eyes slide to Malik, to the anxious sparks lighting his hands as they flex at his side. He looks lost. Unsure. No one has given him an order. Anna knows he won’t get one. Not here. Khiran’s words from decades ago ring in her ears.
He’s a bomb waiting to go off.
A bomb. The Calamity. The bringer of the end for whoever is unfortunate enough to be there when he detonates.
Khiran is still pulling at her, urging her up. “We have to run,” he says, his eyes wide and frantic. Water still drips from his hair, his face pale with pain. “Go to Kaia. While he’s distracted.”
Anna’s lips part around an apology she can’t bring herself to make. It sticks in her throat, stubborn and honest. He sees it—she knows he does—because the desperation rimming his eyes blurs into fear.
“Anna—”
She kisses him. Hopes he tastes apology mixed with the goodbye. Then she does what he asks:
Anna runs.
But not toward the water. Not toward Kaia and the escape she offers, but toward Malik. The child with a temper faster than reason because he was never given the opportunity to grow old enough to control his impulses. Anna is counting on that temper, that lack of control, now.
He’s so focused on the battle, he doesn’t see her until a split second before she collides with him. They’re on the ground, roots digging painfully into her hip as she scrambles to get up. Malik’s complexion is so red it’s beginning to bleed into purple. Fire flares from his fingertips, licks of it slipping between his clenched teeth.
The First catches her gaze, snaring her between dodged blows. There’s a furrow in his brow—disapproval—but he must see something in her. A determination. A confidence. Then his eyes slip to Malik, and he bares his teeth around a snarl. “No!” Abruptly, his shadow abandons the battle and reaches towards them, clawing over the tangle of roots with a frenzy that feels reckless.
It’s too late.
Malik’s small mouth is already parted in a scream full of flames and fury, leaving his hands with such force that Anna canhearit. The roots at their feet catch, the flame traveling faster than should be possible—as if The Tree itself were urging it along. It sweeps over the network of limbs and branches over their heads, the wood groaning and cracking. Malik stares up at the burning canopy, the fire reflecting in his wide, terrified eyes as he realizes what he’s done.
The First is yelling, furious, but Cassius and the others don’t give him the opportunity to come forward. Someone has landed a blade behind his knee, cutting through the tendons and crippling him, but he isn’t given a moment to drop his hands long enough to remove it. He turns to Kaia, his eyes wild as he continues to block their blows. Gone is the calm, confident control—burned away like the branches raining ash and embers over their heads. Gone is the god, exposing the desperate man beneath the power. “Don’t just stand there! Put it out!”
She steps back, drawing herself closer to the shore. Behind her, the water ripples as if in anticipation. Her answering stare is as frigid as her answer. “No.”
He growls, blocking Silas’ attempt to cleave his hand from his wrist and backhanding him with enough force to send him hurtling into the throne—smoldering roots snapping on impact. Anna cries out, ready to run to him, but a hand clasps around her wrist, stopping her.
“Don’t,” Khiran begs, a hiss in her ear. She doesn’t understand why he’s stopping her, not until she notices the erratic twitching of the shadow mere feet from the boy curled on the ground, his hands over his ears and his face burrowed in his dirty knees. It shudders in indecision, as if torn on who to punish, before retreating from the shell shocked boy and racing back towards its master.
Silas stands, embers falling from his broad shoulders, and dodges the pale hand shooting for his throat, sweat slick on his brow—
And steps on the hungry shadow waiting for him.
He drops, screaming, as his veins blacken and his eyes roll backuntil all that’s visible are the whites. On instinct, Cassius reaches for him.
A mistake.
Tendrils of shadow claw at his wrist, poison seeping into his skin. His knees crack as he kneels, dull nails clawing at the dark lines spreading over his flesh. His pain is only drowned out by Silas’ continued scream.
Chest heaving, The First pulls the blade from his leg, blood splattering across the pale, broken and burning roots of his once mighty throne with a hiss. He towers over them, flames reflecting like embers in his pale eyes and the blade’s hilt strangled in his blood soaked grip. “Do you have any idea what you haveruined?!” he thunders, delivering a swift kick to Cassius’ prone form. The blonde wheezes as the foot connects with his stomach, the air expelled from his lungs. Beside him, Marcia stands listless—strings unplucked.
Pushing his pale hair away from his face, he whirls on Kaia with new fervor. He steps toward her, made all the more terrifying by the backdrop of smoke and flames. “Put. It.Out.”
She returns his stare, flames reflecting in her eyes as the water rises around her. It moves with her when she takes a slow step forward, coiling like a snake ready to strike. “No.”
“Don’t be a fool!” he rages, but his tirade is interrupted by a jab to his neck. Blood gushes over Marcia’s fingers.
From the ground, Cassius grins through his pain. His jaw clenches so hard, his gums bleed from the force—staining his smile red. What was left of the shadow after infecting Silas must not have been potent enough to debilitate him completely. His glare is as sharp as the weapon wielded by Marcia’s puppet hands. He’s in too much agony to speak, but there are volumes in that stare. Chapter after chapter detailing all the ways The First has wronged him; all the ways in which he would see himpay.
The First draws the knife high, blood still dripping from the steel and eyes rabid, and Anna knows he’s aiming to kill.
Her heart drops, scrambling toward them despite knowing she’s too far to stop its descent in time—
Before she can even register the loss of his hands on her shoulders,Khiran teleports to the god’s side, tackling him to the ground before his blade can taste Cassius’ flesh.
