Twilight of the Gods ✔️

Chapter 14: Unwanted Feelings

Their souls and bodies were made for each other. She realized this as he held her closely, enveloping her with his warmth as they watch the tide meet the shore in a foamy embrace. Hues of orange and pink melted into purple on the horizon as the twin suns descend into the sea. She liked to think they were like those two shining orbs, so utterly intertwined that their movements were in sync.

That was how it was supposed to be. He was her soulmate, her other half. It was a miracle that she found him. Too bad her family disapproved of his low birth.

She knew they only entertained him because she begged them to. It didn't matter that the Gods marked them for each other or that she felt complete in his presence. They saw him as the very thing that would bring their family to ruin.

She dreaded the day they would force them apart. It was inevitable given the way they bickered.

As she pressed her lips to his, she savored the moment, carving it into memory. If they wouldn't accept him, she would make plans to elope. Nothing mattered more than he did.

Daeva woke up carrying that warm feeling in her heart. For a while she sat there, wrapped in her sheets, paralyzed by that emotion. Then she turned her wrist over, staring at the blank skin where her soulmate mark was supposed to be.

She felt hollow. By becoming a God, she had left a life that was rich. She had a lover and a family. She had problems that she would kill to ruminate over. More importantly, she had passion, a love that burned hotter than Iris's flames on her flesh.

The person who stabbed her in the first memory had done more than kill her. He had robbed her of the life she deserved. If he still lived, it was her duty to do the same to him.

That was what replaced the good in her past life. Pure revenge. She let it consume her, allowed it to turn her into a killer, and twisted herself into whatever shape it desires.

Rogue of the Night. Child Killer. Blood Spiller. Her gory badges of dishonor. Behind those titles were hundreds of bodies, souls that no doubt clamored for her demise.

She was the last person anyone should expect to limit the death toll of the upcoming war between the Myranians and Ylivians. But she wasn't inherently evil. The Elysians had made her that way, poisoning her with their cruelty. Even so, she couldn't blame them entirely for her bloodthirsty nature.

She wished that she was pure. Maybe then she would be worthy of using the Board. But there was nothing redeemable about her. She was as polluted as her blood.

The thought lingered as she got ready for the morning. Uriel ran her bath, pouring buckets of steaming water into a copper tub. He scrubbed her body with lilac soap, carefully tending to her skin like the dutiful servant that he was. He oiled her hair, massaging her scalp. He gently took her curls and deftly braided her hair into two coils that resemble sleeping snakes. But no matter how pretty and neat he made her, she was still corrupted.

"Something's bothering you," Uriel said. He massaged her shoulders, using his metal arm to rub out most of the tension.

"Nothing to worry about," she said, dismissing his consideration. They needed to prepare to meet Nyx again so that the Board would give her the next task.

"You've been quiet the entire morning," he replied. "It's unlike you."

There was something in his tone that irked her. It was the way he spoke to her as if he knew her better than she did. She twisted her body to get a look at his face. His expression was blank, but there was something playful in his eyes.

"I have feelings for you. Romantic feelings," she said. "Do you have those feelings for me?"

He pulled his hands away from her, taken aback. His reaction pleased her. The words had the exact effect that she intended.