Page 166 of Godbound
“Peonica!” I cry, lunging forward as panic surges through me.
But Kaelzar is faster. His arm clamps around my waist, hauling me back from her convulsing form. “Let me go!” I scream, thrashing. “Why are you pulling me away? Let go!”
Ten feet. That’s all the space he puts between us before he spins me to face him. He seizes my hand, fingers digging into mine. “It’s too late now. I’m sorry. She knew what would happen when she took that ring. Remember that. She knew, and she did it anyway.” His voice cracks. “She did it to save you, so you can save the world.”
I rip my hand free, breath heaving. “If you don’t let me go to her, Kaelzar, I swear to the gods, I’ll let my magic rot the marrow from your bones.”
“Magic…that isn’t yours,” Peonica hisses from behind me.
My head snaps toward her voice. She stands too still now. Her lips curl into a lopsided grin I’ve never seen on my sister’s face. And her eyes… they’re wrong. No longer warm honey-gold. They’re tarnished now, clouded with a rusted hue.
“The decay,” she says, her voice curling like smoke. “It isn’t yours.” She lifts her hand, my ring gleaming on her finger like a brand. Her smile widens. “Kaelzar left the door open, my Champion, and I walked right in.” She tilts her head, almost lovingly. “But as I said, the magic is mine. And I’ll need it back.” Her voice deepens. “You didn’t really think you could keep it, did you?”
A cold horror spreads through me—not suddenly, but slow and steady, like frostbite. By the time it reaches my heart, I understand.
This isn’t Peonica.
It’s Calista.
Calista’s eyes—Peonica’s eyes—flash with fury as she stares at her trembling hands, fingers flexing like they can’t quite hold onto the power that once obeyed her. Her lip curls, twisting Peonica’s features.
“This body,” she spits. “This wrong body. Why am I in it, Kaelzar?” Her voice scrapes the air like glass dragging across stone.
My head snaps toward my Godbeast. He doesn’t flinch. He only stares at his Goddess from beneath furrowed brows.
“She tricked your Champion into offering her the ring,” he says, his voice steady. “Raylane has given it without my knowledge. There was nothing I could have done to stop it. The terms of our bargain remain unbroken.” He straightens, jaw tight. “I did everything required of me. Now it’s your turn to fulfill your part.”
My stomach lurches. The pieces fall into place, jagged and far too late. He offered me the ring during the most chaotic moment of my life, claiming it would help me contain the magic. I accepted without a second thought, desperate to make it stop. Then he told me it was meant to call for him when I was in danger, and again I believed him, because why wouldn’t I?
He was supposed to be there tohelpme. We were supposed to be on the same side. I trusted him. Completely.
“The ring you gave me to protect me… It was a trap?” I whisper, disbelief cracking my voice.
He doesn’t answer immediately. His gaze drops to my arm, to the shard of his shadow inked into my skin. “This,” he murmurs, voice fraying, “was supposed to block her from possessing you. My life was supposed to be enough to keep her out.”
“Oh, how noble,” she coos, tilting Peonica’s head with mocking grace. “You agreed to be her dutiful Godbeast. You handed her victory so I could claim a body strong enough to contain all of my magic.” Her smile sharpens. “I would walk the earth as a god again, something no other deity has been capable of since the Skyburn War. All in exchange for freeing yourself and your friend.”
Then she turns her attention to me, her eyes rake up and down my form. “And yet… you faltered. Guilt, was it? Or did you simply lack the spine to finish what you started?” Her mouth twists. “So instead, you left me trapped in this useless body.”
Useless.
A spark of rage flares amid the rubble of my ruined heart at the word. My hand moves on instinct, reaching for my whip, only to close on empty air. I left it behind in the arena, I realize.
Calista’s glare snaps to my inked arm. “You even tried to sacrifice yourself for her. What did you think you’d gain by crossing me?” the Goddess hisses.
“The pleasure of taking one thing from you,” he replies hoarsely, his voice steeped in a hatred so deep it makes my own feel pale by comparison. “The way you took everything from me.”
She fixes him with a hard glare. “It’s been a century, Kaelzar. How long can one hold a grudge?”
I let out a derisive huff. “You’re the one to talk,” I snap. “A thousand years since your husband’s betrayal and still you refuse to free my people from your curse.”
Calista shrugs her shoulders at my words, like centuries of suffering are a petty price for wounded pride. Then her attention shifts to me again, slow and disdainful, as if she’s peeling back my skin to see what could possibly justify such betrayal.
“Well,” she purrs, “here we are. All of us deceived. And the bargain is still fulfilled despite your sabotage because of this littlecockroach.” Her eyes lock onto mine as she gestures over Peonica’s body.
“You’ve won,” she addressed me now. “I possess the body of the ring’s bearer. Your Godbeast and his friend are free.” Her smile sharpens. “And yet none of us seems to have truly received what we bargained for.”
“Leave Peonica’s body,” I say. My voice is quiet, but it doesn’t shake.
