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“I thought you were dead,” I said, slowly backing away from the demon as he strolled further into the room. He wasn’t bothering to look human today. A pair of curling gold horns arced up from his head, and long, sharp claws tipped his hands.
He gave me a smile, but it was psychotic, rather than friendly. There was something in his weird demon eyes that said he wasn’t all there. “It pays to have friends in high places to pull you out of a tight spot.” He laughed at his own bad pun. “Get it? High places? Like heaven.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted my chin, trying to look unafraid. “This isn’t heaven. And...you sure as hell aren’t Egyptian. Do you get off on pretending to be a god? Is that some weird kink?”
He waved a hand in a graceful gesture, as if the way the gods manipulated human religion wasn’t important. “What?” he drawled, smoothing a hand over his blond hair, pale cheek, and sleek white suit. “You don’t like my new look?”
I huffed. “You look like an asshole.”
He winked. “I’m the lord of chaos, little girl. I take on whatever form best suits my role. Playing deity to a bunch of ambitious little human gnats was amusing for a time, but I could hardly hunt down Dumuzi looking like his long-lost brother. Where’s the flare in that? The contrast? The pageantry?”
Gods, he was insane. Every civilization on earth had some kind of deity of upheaval and destruction, and I’d bet he played at being every single one at some point in the past few thousand years. That wasn’t surprising. But what was surprising was that after his statement about Derek White, it was painfully obvious he was trying to paint himself as the darkly handsome demon lord’s exact opposite. Something was clearly wrong with his brain.
Or maybe all demons were this crazy and there was something wrong with Derek White.
“What do you want?” I demanded, trying to move this along so I could get Apophis out of my rooms as fast as possible.
He stopped grinning and just looked at me, assessing me for something I really didn’t want to know about. “From your little trick back on Earth, I assume you’ve gotten your powers back.”
I pressed my lips together and refused to react.
His lips twitched upward. “I just wanted to give you a little friendly piece of advice, from one person who’s been betrayed by Dumuzi to another. You’ll probably be tempted to call him here. To use your powers to get him to save you. Don’t bother. He’s lost most of his power since he left the demon realm. He’s far too weak to make the trip. And he’d never come anyway. He thinks you hate him, remember?”
I blinked at him, confused by this entire weird encounter. “Okay.”
He just shrugged. “You’re trapped here now. You can’t leave the god realm on your own. Heimdall is the only one in this area who can help beings travel between realms. Dumuzi once had the ability, but he’s not coming to rescue you.” He dragged his creepy eyes over my body. “You and I should get to know one another. We can bond over how to get rid of that asshole Dumuzi once and for all.”
Then he chuckled and made his way out the door. It opened easily for him. But when I tried it a few seconds later, it wouldn’t budge. I flopped down to sit on the edge of a bowl-shaped, basket-woven chair thingy and put my head in my hands. What the hell had that been about?
I thought Apophis was dead. But apparently, he was working with the gods. They must have pulled him away at the last second, before he got vaporized by Derek’s magic. But why had he come here to gloat? I recalled the feel of his creepy eyes devouring my body and shuddered. Maybe he was so crazy that he’d get some sick satisfaction in stealing White’s long-lost lover. I wanted to vomit.
I got up and paced the room for a while longer, looking for a way out. Nothing came to me. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself of who I was. Of the power that was given to me by the fates. I closed my eyes and tried to ground myself so I could call up that power, tap into my belief, and magic myself a way out of this room and this whole fucked up realm.
My fingers and toes tingled, and my whole body felt like it was made up of energy. But nothing happened. All I could hear were my father and Apophis’s voices. Who do you think is to blame? You’re trapped here. No one is coming to help you.
I sank to the floor and slumped to lay on my side on the thick fur pelt of some animal that probably didn’t exist on Earth. Apophis was right. Derek wouldn’t come for me. But Chike and Rhys would. They’d find a way to get to me, no matter how far-fetched it was. I curled into the fetal position, wrapping myself around that conviction in my gut that said the men I loved would come for me. I wasn’t alone. I was connected to them in ways the gods either didn’t know or didn’t understand. I had Chike’s song, and Rhys’ blood bond. Even being in different realms didn’t seem to have dimmed those bonds. I could feel them there, alive and as strong as ever. I wasn’t alone. They’d come for me.