Page 9 of Godslayer
He taps my head with a finger. “Especially yours.” Then he offers me his hand. “Ready?”
I nod, even though my stomach flutters with nervous butterflies. “I’m ready.” Then I take his hand. But while he’s picking up my rucksack and hitching it over his shoulder, I turn and look out the vast panel of floor-to-ceiling windows. Allowing myself to be knocked over breathless from the view one last time.
It’s all so temporary.
That’s been the major lesson of my life this past month. One moment, I’m a Spark Maiden living like royalty in a tower, the next I’m a sacrifice, my entire city standing against me. Then I’m in another world, with another man. And even that was fleeting. The escape from Tau City, the near-death train ride into Delta. The black-sand beaches that smell like oranges and the amazing top-floor apartment with a view so magnificent, it makes you wanna cry.
I’ll never come back here. I will never live in this apartment again.
It’s a weird, one-off thought that I can’t know for certain.
But I’m certain.
I’ll never come back here.
I sigh, my heart a little bit sad at the realization.
But I’m ready for what comes next.
As long as this man is beside me, I’m ready for anything.
3 - TYSE
“Stairs? Or elevator?”I look at Clara as we come to the end of the hallway. Elevators were a thing in her Tau City. She said Lover Boy had one that led up to his domed palace. That must’ve been where he was when I saw him that night I kissed Clara on the edge of the Tower District, trying to contain her spark. But I can’t really tell if she likes them for the convenience or not.
She looks at the elevator doors—which are gold, and metal, and have an elaborate geometric design on them. Then at the opening of the wide stairwell that leads down in a spiral. She smiles at me. “Stairs.”
I wave a hand at it, inviting her to go first. Which is something I find myself doing all the time since up-city Clara Birch showed up in my life. Ladies first. Of course, I’ve always known it was a rule of good manners, or whatever. It’s just… before Clara, I never had cause to treat a woman like a woman.
Now I do.
We descend together though. Slowly. In no particular rush. “Are you excited?” I ask.
“Kind of. Are you?”
“Well, it will be nice to get out of here. And be back in service—even if it’s for a god I don’t like. I mean, I didn’t like the Sweep, either. But that’s never been enough to stop the adrenaline rush, ya know?”
She looks at me as we keep going down the spiral. “Is that what drives it? The adrenaline?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “It is.”
“I’m very interested in this, Tyse. Because while I did see you in action during our escape from Tau City, it’s a new side to you.”
I look down at her and smile. “You went from princess, to vagabond girl, to augment accessory. It’s a new side to you as well.”
Her grin grows big even though some women might take what I just said as derogatory. “I could take that one of two ways,” And here it comes. I smirk. One-hundred percent convinced that she will not see it as derogatory. “I’m a bracelet.”
My chuckle is immediate. “Or?”
She bumps her hip into mine, making my Versi shake. “A weapon.”
“I love you.”
“Noted. And for the record,” she bumps my hip again. “It’s this one.”
“I never had any doubt.” I take her hand as we get to the bottom of the stairs and we walk through the lobby as a team, then we’re through the doors and outside. The sky is a dull gray, clouds having rolled in off the ocean as is typical around here. There’s a little mist in the air as well. For me, this mist is cyan blue, but for everyone else, it’s just a semi-opaque haze of fog.
I come to a stop in front of a pile of supplies being watched over by the doorman, hand him a gold coin, and he bows, accepting it and moving off to get back to work.
