Page 14 of The Endless One

Her power had waned in the time that she’d been here. She wasn’t sure if that was the effect of the God King or if it was something far worse.

Like the coven had finally decided they were done waiting for magic, and they had decided to take what was owed to them. She feared without her standing in the way, the other women would sacrifice their god like they had in the old days.

The door slammed open, and a guard rushed in. His eyes went wide as he saw her standing there, a dark figure silhouetted by orange flames, before he ran back into the hallway screaming, “Fire!”

That left an opening for her. The guard was overcome by alarm that the fire would spread, and it certainly could in a castle like this. Fire had a way of finding fuel, no matter how far it was. And fire like hers? Oh, it could spread even farther.

She reached out her hand and cupped a small spark in her fingers. It made her palm look as though it were burning, but she didn’t feel the pain of it, even though she could see her skin blistering. Curling her fingers a little, she let the flames build in her hands as she headed out into the hallway.

“Burn,” she whispered again, tearing off a portion of the flames and flicking it toward the nearest door. It would spread into the room beyond. Leon, like his father, preferred wooden furniture. That was a mistake she would make him regret.

She walked down the hall after the screaming guard, setting fire to everything she could get her hands on. Over and over again, she sent flames into the rooms beyond. There was no sound of screams that followed her, but she was certain she looked like some mad, avenging demon who had arisen to take all of their souls.

The guard only turned once and saw her following him. His wide eyes grew even larger. She saw true terror in his gaze as his voice choked in his throat and he ran even faster.

From her. He ran from her now, not just the flames that were sure to overtake the castle if no one addressed them.

She followed him into what looked like the barracks. There were plenty of guards here in various states of undress, all of them staring at her as she walked into their midst. Cots lined the wall, each one neatly made. Wooden trunks were at the end of each bed, and a wooden nightstand between each cot. So much of it that could burn.

“You should have let me go when I begged,” she snarled, and then she set fire to all the cots that lined the room.

Their shouts echoed in her ears, and still, somehow, it wasn’t enough. She wanted them pleading for mercy. She wanted them on their hands and knees, coughing in the smoke and moments from death, where they would cry out to a god or goddess to save them. And there would be no one to hear them.

No one but her.

She encouraged the flames to burn brighter, hotter, all of it fueling her rage until suddenly she swore she heard the sound of laughter.

Then clapping.

Then all the flames burned out as one.

The sudden lack of heat seemed to suck all the rage out of her body with it. Jessamine stumbled, bracing an arm on the wall as she tried to get her bearings again.

What had just happened? Her hands shook as she looked at her burnt fingers. Her legs could barely hold her up, and she needed the wall just to remain standing. Why couldn’t she breathe? Jessamine had just been the avenging creature she’d wanted to be since Leon had stuck her in this castle, and now she felt like she could barely keep her head up.

“Ah, Jessamine.” The words were said in Leon’s tones, but she knew this wasn’t Leon speaking. “You prove day in and day out that you were the right choice. I am so sorry that this fool tossed you aside.”

He walked in front of her, the God King staring out through his golden eyes. She didn’t see even a hint of Leon left.

Elric had always seemed like himself, but now she had to wonder if she had never met the man who had once inhabited his body. Perhaps she had only met the god who took it over.

It was an unsettling thought.

“I have no interest in talking with you,” she muttered. “If you wish to make a deal with me, then I will only deal with Leon.”

“That’s not going to happen. You want to make a deal with the mortal because he is simple, easily distracted, and, frankly, beneath you.” He reached for a lock of her hair, dragging it closer to her face so all she could smell was burnt hair. “You need to be more careful with yourself. I want a beautiful goddess by my side, after all.”

“I’m not going to be here much longer, God King. I will escape.”

She watched as he pulled her hair to his own face. He inhaled the scent of burning, as though it was the best thing he’d ever smelled. Those golden eyes even rolled back in his head as he groaned. “Call me Ajax. I would like to hear my name from the lips of a beautiful woman once again.”

She leaned close enough to watch his pupils dilate before saying, “Never.”

She didn’t expect him to rear back and slap her. The crack of his palm against her cheek echoed throughout the room. It made her head spin knowing that he would dare touch her like that, as though it didn’t matter that it hurt, or that she was a princess, or that he was trying to woo her into being his queen.

She breathed through the pain and glared at him. He didn’t find her threatening, clearly, even though she had been doing a remarkable job of burning down his newly acquired castle.

Ajax’s chest rose and fell in anger, and his shoulders squared in a way she had never seen Leon’s before. “You are a hard one to crack, I see. That’s fine. You will fall in line like the rest of them.”