Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
I’d been happy to leave Hell—and all the torture—behind when I came to the human world.
Suddenly, though, I wouldn’t mind shoving a metal poker up the asses of some of these humans again.
Lucy’s eyes glowed red as the girls half-dragged the horribly beaten and bloodied woman past us and into the house.
“We had purpose,” he said, jaw tight as he looked at the woman and her bare, bloody legs. “We did terrible things. For good reasons. Just the threat of us kept the majority of humans in line. Now, look…”
“I keep hoping the gods will… do something,” Nox said, coming down the stairs, looking at the blood drops on the hallway floor.
“They don’t care about the humans,” Lucy said.
“But you do?” she asked, not unkindly.
“I always did,” he said, glancing up at the sky. “Isn’t that what we argued about most, Dear Old Dad?” he asked the sky.
“I thought you were too prideful,” Nox said. “You know that whole ‘pride goeth before the fall’ saying.”
“Let’s say I had some very valid questions that someone did not like.
“I fell. Then I chose to spend my life punishing those humans who took their free will to do evil things. In a way, He and I have been working together for ages,” he said, nodding toward the sky. “It kept things… mostly in balance. Now, look at things…” he said as the woman howled from somewhere deeper in the house.
“I really wanted to believe that human goodness would prevail in hard times,” Nox admitted.
“Did you?” Lucy asked, tone just shy of condescending.
“Humans have shown a long history of helping one another in trying times.”
“They have also shown a long history of murdering over silly, imaginary lines on a map,” Lucy said with an eye roll. “Of inventing thousands of ways to torture someone without the sweet release of death. They have killed, maimed, raped, and burned across centuries with no signs of becoming less cruel. They’re a failed experiment,” he added.
“I want to disagree with you,” Nox said, wincing as the woman in the back of the house cried. “I’m going to go give her some rest,” she added, patting my chest as she moved past me.
I was still adjusting to seeing her so healthy all of the time. She’d gone from sleeping sixteen-hour stretches to barely needing a few hours to be fully charged and ready to take on the day.
Which she typically spent integrating herself with the other women, playing with the kids, cooking, helping Lenore tend to the cold frames that were still producing food for everyone who needed it, planning a giant garden for the spring to help feed the humans that kept coming our way, half-starved, cleaning, and learning healing from Jo and herbs from Lenore.
She’d melted in so effortlessly; it was like she’d always been around with us.
Her powers to put people into a deep sleep definitely came in handy when we had injured humans staying with us. And, once, when one of the babies was cutting teeth, miserable, and everyone had hit their max trying to coddle.
Lucy and I moved into the study, finding Ace talking to Charlotte, likely discussing the gods yet again. To what end, though, I had no idea.
“Any word from Seven or Aram?” I asked.
“Phones aren’t working,” Ace said, waving over at his that he still had plugged in. Just in case.
I knew he was worried about our missing brothers. And, of course, Red. Especially with the world the way it was.
We all were.
Last we’d heard, Seven, Aram, and their women were on their way back. But that had been a while back.
“Nyx had nothing else to say?” Ace asked Charlotte.
“I think she has a certain loyalty to her kind,” Charlotte said, shrugging. “She worries about the humans too, but she won’t tell us how to… rein in the old gods either.”
“How is she doing?” I asked when Nox walked into the room, her eyes sad.
“She’ll make it,” she said. “But… she’s been through it. She said there’s this roaming group of men the next town over. They’re just going house to house, killing and assaulting. Even when the people freely give up all their food.”
“Excuse me,” Lucy said, standing, grabbing his coat, and charging out of the house.
“What was that about?” Nox asked as I moved across the room toward her.
“Best guess? A little devilish justice,” I told her.
“I feel like I should object. But, gods, those men deserve whatever Lucy wants to do to them.” She let me lead her out into the hall before she wrapped her arms around me tight. “It’s so ugly out there. I wish we could be doing more.”
“You’re doing a lot,” I reminded her. “And we’ll do more as we figure out how to. We’re still… learning and planning. Action will come.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, pressing her face into my neck, breathing me in. “Want to go help me forget for a while?” she asked, her voice already thick with need.