Page 71 of Godslayer
“Please?Please? He’s got cocoons of women down in some secret room, Finn!Cocoons of women! One in particular who looks suspiciously like Clara! And you’re just gonna, what? Let that slide?”
“Allow me to explain,” the god says.
“Oh, you would,” I sneer at him. “You would want to explain. Because it’s gonna be a lie!” I look back at Finn. “Let’s just leave here. Let’s walk out and?—”
“Andwhat?” the god asks. He’s obviously reached the end of his patience for me and my outburst, because he practically growls these words. “What will you do, Jasina Bell? Where will you go?”
“Anywhere but here! I don’t even care.” I look at Finn. “We can gohome.”
“Home?” the god laughs.
“Home,” I say again, ignoring the god and focusing only on Finn. “Find our cave.” I rest a hand on my belly. “Have our child. Live our lives. He just said that they’ve lost control of Tau City. It’s safe there. Safer than here. Than going on. Please,” I beg. My tone softer now. “Please, Finn. Let’s just leave.”
“I think she’s tired,” Xi says.
I whirl on him. “What?”
But the stupid god isn’t even looking at me. Isn’t paying me any attention. He only cares about Finn. About what he can use him for. “Pregnant women are…” He pauses here to side-eye me, then quickly averts his gaze back to Finn. “Excitable.”
“I’m not excitable!”
He pans a hand in my direction. “See? They’re unstable. It’s the hormones, you see. It’s not her fault.”
I stomp my foot. “Finn! I’m not excitable! I’m not unstable! I’m the same girl I was yesterday. Someone you trusted and counted on!”
Finn sighs, it’s a heavy one, too. “I think you might need to rest, Jasina.”
“No! I do not need to rest!”
“She did,” the god adds, “just walk up seventeen flights of stairs.” He looks at me. “It’s taxing, my dear. Even for robust men like your partner here. So naturally, for a pregnant woman, it’s more than taxing.” He switches his gaze to Finn now. “It’s overwhelming. Where are my manners!” This last part comes out in a gregarious roar. “Let’s get you both to your quarters.”
“No!” I stomp again. “We’re not staying! Tell him we’re not staying, Finn. We don’t need quarters. We’re getting back on the train and we’re going home.”
Finn turns to me and he doesn’t even have to open his mouth for me to know that I’ve lost. That heisstaying. That wedoneed quarters and I’m about to be sent to them right now. “We do need to rest.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You can stay if you want, but I’m leaving.”
And that’s what I do. I cross the room, heading for the stairs, but the moment I begin to make my escape, all the workers flank me, weapons drawn. They surround me, pushing in, caging me in until I can’t move.
I push them, trying to force my way through, but they are so heavy, I can’t even manage to knock them sideways a fraction of an inch. “Make them move!” I demand. “Let me out!”
“She needs to rest,” I catch Xi saying to Finn. “She’s going to hurt herself, which, in turn, will hurt the baby.”
“Finn!” I yell. “You’re not falling for this! Tell me you’re not falling for this!”
“Move aside,” Finn says, making his way over to me and the cage of workers. “Move!”
I catch Xi flicking his finger in the air, and the workers all part.
Finn reaches for me, taking my hand, pulling me towards him. “Please,” I beg again. Softer now. “Let’s just leave. Please. This isn’t good. Nothing good is going to come of us staying here. That god, he’s turning you against me.”
Finn reaches out to swipe a piece of hair out of my eyes. Tenderly resting his fingers against my cheek. “That’s not true, Jasina. Nothing will turn me away from you. It’s us, forever.” His hand slips down to my stomach. “We’ve got a future now. Something to live for. Something to fight for. Your idea to go home is a good one. We will go, but we’re going to rest here first. We need more information. The world isn’t what we thought it was.”
“He’s going to do something to you, Finn. That’s why he wants you. He just said he wants you to fight in his war.Hiswar. It’s not our war.”
“If you let me take you somewhere comfortable so you can rest, I promise I will not let him do anything to me without talking to you first.”
I hesitate. He’s placating me. Pacifying me.
