Ch. 9 - When the Veil is Lifted
1319 Words
AARON’S POV
“The little human passed out,” Thanatos said, watching me as I laid her gently down on the couch.
“Did you have to make an entrance?” I sneered.
Thanatos sat down smoothly in the chair I had occupied earlier, crossing his legs and leaning back. “You called for me.”
“You knew I was with a mortal. Selene at least knocked.”
He sat up, leaning in. “Selene was here?”
“The girl is a shifter. She’s one of hers.”
Thanatos smirked. “I thought I smelt something on her. But there’s something else. Something dark. What is that?”
“She’s one of the cursed.”
Now, he looked intrigued. “And you’re here with her now? Why?”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that the curse is not broken. It should be broken. Her mother should have been the last…”
He cut me off. “And now you want my help. Before I come, greet her to take her to the other side.”
I sat down at Ayla’s feet, looking exasperated. “Yes. Are you able to?”
“No.”
“You owe me, Thanatos.”
His eyes flashed. “I wouldn’t withhold information for the sake of your little human even if I didn’t owe you. You should know me better than that.”
I sighed. “I do. I’m sorry.”
Thanatos stood. “It seems she’s coming to. It best if I make my leave. I’d love to meet her once she realizes who you are because something tells me she doesn’t.”
Before I could respond, shadows swallowed him, and he was gone. Looking over at Ayla, I saw her eyes fluttering open. I stood, moving towards her side and dropping to my knees. Her eyes focused on me and were immediately filled with fear as she quickly sat up, shoving away from me. “Who was that?”
I could continue to lie. I could try to say she was delusional and had imagined the entire thing. But with as much as I’d already done, there was no talking my way out of this one. Selene had complicated things before, but Thanatos had successfully blown the entire door off its hinges. There was no coming back.
She looked at me, her eyes demanding answers. “That was Thanatos.”
“Who?”
“…the God of Death.”
She looked like she was about to pass out again. I stood, taking a seat next to her. I wrapped an arm around her, trying to ignore the warmth of her body as I pulled her up against me to calm her and also ensure she didn’t run away. She struggled, but once she realized I wasn’t letting go, she stopped, staring at me. “You’re messing with me. I hit my head in the bathroom. And now all of this. It’s just a crazy ass dream.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“If that was the God of Death…then…he called you…Ares…”
“The God of War.”
Her eyebrows shot to her hairline, stunned at my proclamation. “No.”
“No, what?”
She jumped up, catching me by surprise, so I lost my grip on her. “You’re trying to make me think I’m crazy. That’s all this is. I’m not a werewolf. I’m not cursed. I’m not anything. And you are not Ares, the freaking God of War. And you did not invite the God of Death into my house. And whoever that woman was.”
“Selene, the Goddess of the Moon.”
She ran a shaky hand down her face. “I’ve gone mad.”
I offered her a small smile, hoping that my being pleasant would disarm her. I’d been crass and somewhat…obtuse with her. Not my usual cheery self, I thought, smirking to myself, knowing full well I was never cheery. I rarely even laughed. My life was war. I was war. “I know it’s a lot to take in. But if you sit down…”
She held out her hands, backing away from me. “No, thank you. I think you need to leave.”
“I think it’s best that I stay. Selene said…”
“I don’t care what she said! I don’t know her!”
“She already helped you by suppressing your wolf. It wouldn’t hurt to heed her advice.”
“I don’t have a wolf!” she screamed at me.
I stood, rising to my full height, angry that this…mortal had raised her voice at me. “What would you like to see to prove I am who I say I am?”
Her eyes flickered, darting around the room. Then she jabbed a finger at the recliner. “Make that fly.”
I laughed, sounding dry and unused. “You want me to make a chair fly?”
She crossed her arms, staring at me. “What? Can’t do it?”
I tilted my head at her and raised a hand. With a flick of my hand, I raised the recliner a foot off the floor, watching as her eyes widened, darting between me and the chair. I slowly lowered it so that it wouldn’t thump too loudly on the ground. With her raised voice and then banging furniture, I wouldn’t be shocked if human police were called to us soon.
“How did you…”
I sighed. “I’m a God. I can do many things. You’re asking me for me to perform parlor tricks to prove it. It’s insulting, honestly.”
She turned around suddenly, holding her hands in front of her. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Two.”
“Now?”
“Seven.”
She spun around, looking at me. “I…”
I sat down again, hoping that if I took a less menacing stance, she might calm down. “Come. Sit with me.”
She slowly sat on the other side of the couch. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here to help you. You are a shifter, and you are cursed.”
“Why does it matter to you? You’re the God of freaking War. Don’t you have…I don’t know, war things to handle?”
I shrugged. “You’ve interested me.”
“I don’t even believe in…a higher power.”
“And now?”
She blew out a breath. “I don’t know. I don’t really know.”
I leaned closely to her. “I’ll tell you a secret.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “What?”
“Just because you don’t believe doesn’t make this any less real.”
“If you’re a God…why can’t you just break the curse and everyone just…go away and leave me alone to my silly human life?”
“I…can’t.”
“But you’re a God.”
“There are some things so powerful that even a God can’t break them.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I feel like you’re not telling me something.”
If only she knew…the weight of the coin in my pocket was suddenly hefty. “I’ve told you everything you’ve needed to know.”
“That tells me right there you’re hiding something.”
“It’s not a mortal’s place to question a God.”
She rolled her eyes. “And it’s not a God’s place to be in my freaking living room, you weirdo.”
I threw my head back and laughed. Genuinely laughed. Her eyes never left my face as I contained my laughter. The laughs and smiles I’ve given throughout my life hadn’t been genuine for centuries. My first real laugh was at a mortal calling me a weirdo after having me make a recliner fly. What kind of madness had I stepped into?
- Writer
