Once that deal was made, the rest of the ‘Dream Team,’ as Leo and I had dubbed them in our now shared consciousness, wandered out.
Honestly, we thought they were a bit weirded out by the whole thing, and who could blame them?
I was tied to a demon more than I’d ever thought possible, we were all living under a curse, and we had an Egyptian god in our living room making deals.
I was seriously starting to think Leo might be right about Set also being Lucifer, which was going to make this a lot more complicated.
Taking the hunters Set had been holding back to Breksta was interesting. The goddess was rather pleased with having two more of the seventeen delivered so soon.
The moment they were in her presence, the constellation of stars on my body changed again as two more faded away, leaving fourteen remaining targets.
Set had given us some basic information about the targets when we’d had him tied to a chair, but now, with the new deal, we hoped to get more detail because time was running out.
After seeing Breksta, we returned to Leo’s living room. Set sat down on the floor in front of us as I sat in Leo’s lap, still half in a dreamlike bliss of what had happened.
“Now then, I recommend your next targets be those of the Fey. They have three of your little stars, and they’ll be easier to capture than the others.
“I will need to seek more information on the shifters as they have likely changed locations over the years, and the witches will be a problem the moment they know you are after them.”
Leo and I drew a breath at the same time, though it took a moment for that to register in my brain.
Set continued. “Within the Fey is a smith of great skill who designed the weapons that split the souls of the witches we killed.
“However, I am unsure if the blacksmith is one of the targets. They were under orders from those above them.
“I can only point you at one of the Fey for sure—the one who handed us the weapons, a member of the Fey court.
“The other two targets could be Fey pulling the strings, or perhaps it’s the weaponsmith. I am unsure.”
The thought was unsettling to me that we didn’t know exactly who it was this time. Clear targets were much easier, but we didn’t have much choice right now.
“So, if we don’t know the targets, why start there? We know the witches, right?”
Upon asking my question, Set smirked. “If we go after the witches or even the shifters first, the Fey will know. They have spies all over.”
He didn’t sound wrong, and Leo agreed. In fact, we didn’t like that he sounded so reasonable and right; we didn’t want to trust him.
Who honestly wants to trust a god with such a cruel and bloody history? Hell, it is hard to trust humans who do far less.
“So, we have to get the information from the Fey themselves. How are we to do that?”
Set smirked. “I tell them we didn’t kill off every dream walker.”
Leo stiffened under me as I grew still. The thought belonged to us both. I was going to have to be the bait.
Leo wrapped his arms around me and pulled back from our bond. I felt a bit empty as he drew back, ending our shared, nearly perfect connection. “No. Not Sarah.”
Set smirked. “I agree with you. One of the others will work.”
I frowned and shook my head. “No, I am not going to offer one of them up. All of this is my fault. They never asked to get involved.”
Leo’s arms tightened. “You’ve done enough.”
I tried to pull free of Leo’s hold, and this time, he didn’t let me, so I twisted in his arms to face him. “Le—”
He cut me off by kissing me. It wasn’t some sweet, gentle kiss. It was deep, full, and filled with the emotions he was hiding from me.
When he pulled back, I was just a bit off balance and still catching my breath. “I know Sarah.”
I blinked at him, not understanding the tone of his voice, the expression on his face.
He kissed my forehead gently, and it clicked. I paled and struggled in his hold until he finally let me go, panic clawing at my throat.
Set watched our little display in silence.
Leo raised his hands with his palms up and his fingers relaxed. “I don’t blame you. I would never hate you for that, Sarah.”
I backed away from him. I didn’t care that Set was in the room. I didn’t care that Leo was saying exactly what I needed to hear.
He knew he was accepting what I couldn’t, and I felt trapped, smothered, like a hand was wrapped around my throat.
I bolted from the room with only the sound of Leo cursing behind me.
I heard Sai call my name as I rushed past the group in the kitchen as if the hounds of hell themselves were on my heels and out into the cool night air.
I didn’t hear anyone following me, but I didn’t slow down until I was far from the lights of Leo’s house, and the night closed in around me.
I sank to the ground in a grassy open area and let the tears fall.
I felt like some hideous, twisted monster. I was pushing away someone who accepted me fully despite what I’d been through; despite what I was putting him through.
I wanted to scream; my mind wanted to tear itself apart amid its own chaos and turmoil.
Lost in my pain, I didn’t notice the cold wet ground under my bare feet until it soaked through my clothes and made my ass wet.
I blinked at the water I was sitting in, wondering where the hell it had come from.
I looked up, and while the moon and stars were still there, it was as if I were looking up at them from underwater. Panic filled me again. “What the hell?”
A chuckle from behind me had me spinning until I ended up on my hands and knees. I looked up at a man whose features weren’t clear in the least.
“Not hell.”
I swallowed. The voice was a sound not like any voice I’d heard before. It was as if the depths of the dark sea had a voice. The voice was so deep that it rumbled through the very core of my being.
Listening to those two words hurt, even as they also made me feel full of some unknown and indescribable yet pleasurable weight.
“Wh—?”
I couldn’t even form words. The weight that filled me made me lie back in the inch-deep water. I turned my head just enough so my mouth could pull in some air.
“Poor child.”
A hand smoothed over my hair, brushing it back from my face. That touch felt like water was rushing over me; cold yet comforting.
Again, the words it spoke sent weight and pain through me until it was hard to draw in air.
I blinked up at the blurry form with a fear deep in my mind that if he spoke again, I would drown beneath its sound alone.
I was pulled up from the water only to be smothered by a weight. Arms moved over and around me as if snakes made of water circled me, held me, and crushed me.
I wanted to scream, but the only sound that came from me was that of the breath leaving my body as I blacked out.
When I awoke, I was floating in what felt like water, up to my neck. The weight in my chest and body was not fully gone, but it was better.
“Yes, wake, child.”
The voice was back. The blurred form appeared again, sitting just before me as I was suspended in the water under his feet.
The pressure reduced some more; the water I was trapped in was lessening its effects on me.
“Mortals, such a frail creation.” A hand lifted and brushed my hair back from my face once more. “Yet, so similar to the light of a star.”
That touch was the same as before, the touch of a snake made of water yet without the crushing power.
“Who…?”
The blurry face seemed to smile. “Father to all, some would say; chaos, others would claim. But Nu is what you shall call me, child.”
I really needed to do more research on gods and massive powers. I was out of my depth here, but thankfully, he seemed to understand.
“I am where creation came from. Some claim I had help. Some claim life came from me of its own will.”
He continued to play with my hair, and though it bothered me, I dared not ask him to stop. “It matters not for time has little meaning, as does the order of creation.”
I swallowed hard before speaking, trying to find the nerve to speak. “Why take me?”
His chuckle caused me to shudder. “My children and grandchildren find interest in you. Worth in you.”
“Your light, soul, and power draw them to you like life and light once did.”
His fingers curled into my hair, and he pulled my head back a fraction. “A bright light that is hidden within a mortal life. What I could create by taking that light.”
I felt myself pale as fear filled me to the core. “Please—”
He did not let me finish. “No need to beg, child. I shall watch, for now. Time is nothing. The chaos in you is mine.”
I could see the blurred form smile again.
“You shall create chaos, discord, and unrest even as you bring peace and order. I shall watch and enjoy.”
His body sank into the water until his head was level with mine, his eyes meeting mine. “I offer you a choice.”
The weight of his hand pressed against the bonding mark on my chest. “I can wash this power away.”
My eyes went wide. I could free Leo from me, and he would be free to find someone better.
Nu smiled. “You wish this. To be free.”
Two voices screamed at war with each other in my head: one said I should free Leo while the other demanded I not let go of the best thing in my life.
The chaos of those two voices filled my head as they screamed and fought, and Nu only watched me with an amused smile on his lips.
I finally asked, “What happens if I say yes?”
His laughter was far more than just a chuckle this time; the reality in which we floated shook with it.
“I fill you with my waters, washing away the bond between you both, and it is just gone, as if it never had been.”
“I could wash away your curse, your deals, your bonds, and your very ties to the reality you call home.” Nu moved closer to me, and his breath whispered across my lips. “The memories that haunt you.”
Nu was giving me an out, a way to walk away from everything, even the suffering in my mind.
“Why?”
He chuckled. “I am chaos. I would swallow yours back into me.”
The water around me seemed to hug me closer.
“Say yes to me, avoid the pain to come, the suffering. Let it all go and find peace in my waters.”
