“Yes, you saved the most humans and far more than any other team did. Four students have been lost, including Claude,” Finn tells me. I want to feel bad, but that fucker was an asshole. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, man. It was all Daesyn’s idea,” Ryker replies, stretching his arms above his head.
“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Finn comments and stands up. “In celebration, there is fae wine in the fridge. I’m sure Sword can help you.”
“Won’t you stay?” I ask when he tries to walk away. “I mean, drink with us. You trained us after all.”
“No, I did not,” he counters. “And it is best I leave. My place is not with mortals anymore, and I cannot keep pretending it will be when this test is over. My time with mortals will be over.”
“We won’t tell if you don’t,” Ryker suggests. Finn doesn’t reply to any of us, and he simply walks to the lift to leave, like he doesn’t belong here. “And you can walk away from us all you want, Finn, but you know as well as I do your home isn’t with the gods. Blood doesn’t always make family, mate.”
But he still walks away.
Chapter 26
Soft music fills my ears as I open my eyes and see that I’m lying on a floor, staring up at a glass ceiling, seeing nothing but stars above that. The stars are unusual, not the same as Earth or the Reaper Realm; these stars remind me of another home.
The Otherworld.
“A clue for a truth,
A lie for a rune,
Sweet Daesyn,
oh, how I love to sin.”
He sings to me as I sense his presence nearby, even before he is standing over me.
“Take off your cloak hood!” I demand, wishing I could move, wishing I could punch this motherfucker.
“You still aren’t looking for the answers, Daesyn. You can’t find me without them,” he coaxes, kneeling down at my side. I try to scream, but no sound comes out, and I try to move, but it’s pointless as he strokes his fingers down my cheek. His fingers drift down my jaw, slowly past my neck, and he stops right above my breasts. If this asshole feels me up, I’m going to never sleep again. Then how can he have me?
“One day soon, I will finally have you, and you will be mine.”
A hand shakes my shoulder as I wake up and open my eyes to stare into gold ones leaning over me. Finn’s eyes are full of concern, his expression darker than ever.
“What are you doing here?” I question, noticing I’m on the sofa and remembering that I fell asleep here at some point last night. Training for the last few weeks has been nothing short of brutal thanks to Finn’s bad mood, and my body aches. I want to hope Finn is training us all hard because he knows we will need to be fitter and stronger than ever for future tests.
And not just because a certain green-eyed monster has taken over. Finn looks almost normal in blue jeans and a white T-shirt, his cloak resting on a nearby stool. I don’t know what to make of this laid-back version of Finn.
“I sensed something…different when I passed here on my walk.” His brow furrows, and he straightens as I sit up. He sits on the sofa next to me, his whole side pressed against mine. It isn’t an unwelcome closeness. “But I found nothing here. It was gone by the time I came up in the lift.”
So my nightmare man leaves when Finn is near? Interesting.
“Thanks for checking in on me,” I reply, meaning it. He might just have saved me from another near-death dream experience.
His eyes narrow. “What are you not telling me, Daesyn?”
“Nothing,” I quickly reply. I clear my throat and look away. “Why are you up so late?”
“I need very little sleep,” he explains. “Two to three hours is enough to sate me.”
“Lucky you,” I say, leaning back on the sofa. “Are you still mad at me?”
He rests his head in his hands, his elbows leaning on his knees. “I was never angry at you, Daesyn, but at myself.”
“That doesn’t make much sense to me, Finn,” I gently reply.
He turns and looks at me. His stare is too much, too intense, too full of something I don’t think I’ve seen much before. “Gods are not allowed to love mortals.”
“Oh,” I whisper. “But your mother...”
“I am a forbidden child and born from a love that came at a high price. Why do you think my human father is dead and my mother could not be around me for most of my childhood?” he rhetorically questions.
“Finn,” I gently breathe out his name and place my hand on his upper arm. He tenses at my touch, but he doesn’t move away. He doesn’t look away from me, the tension in the room becoming so high it’s hard to breathe. But neither of us move, neither one of us tries to make this easier for ourselves.
I can see why mortals fall for gods now. Falling is the easy part, loving them is what makes it completely worth it.
“I told you once I would guide you through the darkness, Dae,” he gently tells me. “But I think you’re the one that needs to show me how to escape the dark. Every thought I have about you is dark. It’s forbidden and dangerous. Tell me how to escape this.”
“You don’t,” I whisper as I lean forward and press my lips to his. Fuck the gods. Fuck their rules. I will worry about them later. Finn freezes for a second, but that’s all the time he resists before he kisses me back. His hand cups my cheek as his lips softly brush against mine, like he is memorizing every inch of my lips. I deepen the kiss, and he groans, pulling me onto his lap. My legs spread around his large thighs as he sinks his hands into my hair.
“Not the angel fucker!” Mossy cries out, and like a bucket of ice-cold water is thrown over us, we both freeze and Finn breaks away from me. I climb off his lap, glaring at Mossy, who is sitting on the kitchen counter. “You have bad choices in men. First, you kiss the demon overlord, then you spend the night with the dog, and now you’re kissing the angel fucker. I’m judging you.”
“Says the monkey who sleeps with a tiny stuffed bear, who you hide under my bed in the morning. I know you love that thing as more than a friend! I’m judging you right back, buddy!” I counter, placing my hands on my hips as I stare him down. If monkeys could blush, Mossy is as he jumps off the counter and walks himself back to our room. Turning to Finn, I start talking even before I see his angry eyes. “Sorry about him...”
