Page 33 of Godbound
My eyes burn as the memory of what was left of those people after my magic had finished with them resurfaces.
I swallow the hard lump rising in my throat and manage to ask, “And what happens if it bursts?”
“Then their deaths will not have been in vain.” There’s no mockery in his voice now, only a cold, knowing certainty. “You will release it to heal yourself or others.”
The truth drifts down through me, settling like ash after a long, devastating fire. Take life to give life. Steal breath to restore it elsewhere.
I was right. This magic is no gift. It is a burden. A debt.
I open the palm that should have been cut, now smooth and healed. It worked so efficiently, I didn’t even notice.
I press both my palms against my eyes, rubbing at them before remembering too late that Eva had coated them with paint. No doubt I look horrific. Bloodied, filthy, streaked with black smears. But none of it matters. Not my magic. Not my appearance.
Right now, survival is the only thing that counts. “There has to be a reason our minds are tethered,” I muse aloud. “I should be able to track you through the connection.”
A distant shout slices through the air.
My muscles tighten. It’s impossible to think when death lurks at every turn. If only there was somewhere I could be safe, somewhere beyond reach of the contestants, beyond the elements themselves?—
Not within these walls. Above them.
Kaelzar’s hum brushes against my consciousness, a whisper of approval laced with surprise.
“I don’t need your validation,” I snap, and fix one part of the dirty hem of my dress to my waist so it doesn’t restrain my legs’ movements.
Hand over hand, I begin to climb. Every movement feels like it takes too long. My muscles tremble, breath shallow, fear slicking my skin. The stone is jagged, its sharp edges biting into my fingers with every shift of weight. I should be sore from the fall off the balcony, but the aches are gone, most likely erased by the Blood Magic before I even knew it was there.
My arms burn. My knees shake. But I keep going.
I’ve done harder things in the last two days. Survived worse.
The tether between us thrums faintly, brushing against my senses. A thought—not mine—slips through before he can shove it away. A single, fleeting impression: She doesn’t stop. Even when she should. Even when it’s hopeless.
A misstep. My fingers slip, just for a second, as his thought is smothered under the weight of his usual disdain.
“Stay focused, or you’ll fall and break your legs,” Kaelzar murmurs, his voice a low thread in my mind.
An image flickers through our connection—my legs, bare beneath the silk of my drenched skirt as I knelt before Ryker back at the temple. I hadn’t realized how the fabric had gathered, revealing the elegant lines beneath. The thought isn’t mine.
Surely, Kaelzar hadn’t meant to share it. Most likely, it slipped through by accident because it vanishes just as quickly. But in that fraction of a second, I feel what he felt. Not just the image, but the unbidden wave of admiration that came with it.
It stuns me, the stark contrast between this and the expectations he carried when he was wrenched from his world. He had assumed he would be bound to someone plain, unremarkable.
But instead, he saw me. Something he hadn’t expected. Something that unsettled him. Beauty where he expected nothing worth noticing.
In that fleeting moment, his thoughts touched on a force more dangerous than desire.
He reached for hope.
A hope that if I had even half the intelligence to match my appearance, perhaps we’d stand a chance in this Trial.
By the time I reach the top of the wall, Kaelzar is silent, his presence in my mind wound so tightly, I almost believe he’s gone.
I balance on the broad, flat stone, my fingers steadying me against the rough edges. “There’s no need to hide your thoughts, Godbeast,” I say. “I already know you find me exquisite.”
“If you knew what I first imagined you to be, you’d understand that even a mud puddle would seem exquisite by comparison. So maybe don’t get too carried away with yourself.”
Whatever flicker of satisfaction I felt vanishes instantly. Of course, this insufferable, rude beast would chew off his own arm before sayingsomething kind to me.
