Cursed by the Gods

Chapter 11

           

This was all insanity. All of it. That I could be so forward with any boy, let alone a god-blessed sol, was crazy. But here we were.

Hugging.

In Topia.

Shit, maybe I was already dead, actually nope, I'd been to hell and it didn't feel as good as having Yael's arms holding me close. Again another accident and a long story so I wont get into that right now.

Yael's huge body rumbled beneath me, and an energy drifted from him toward me. It was warm. Then, in a flash, I was back on my feet. I found myself feeling a little bereft. He strode away. I stared after him, not sure what had just happened.

"We won't let you die, Riley." Coen distracted me, and I flinched back at the look on his face. He wore his hard, carved-from-granite face, which was ten types of scary. I associated it with the trying-to-shoot-me-with-a-crossbow incident. "We need you to help us, and then we'll make sure that no one at Blesswood or here messes with you again."

Sucking in deeply, I tried to gather up every iota of bravery inside of me. Its not like they were asking me anything that I couldn't do. The Abcurses weren't giving me much of a choice, but they were at least making it worth my while. If I managed to do this for them, I wouldn't be getting sentenced to death-by-sacrifice anytime soon by the Blesswood teachers or getting vaporized by the gods. And I appreciated Coen's promise that they wouldn't let me die in Topia. It showed that they didn't think of me as being completely expendable, only a little bit expendable—maybe like fifty-percent expendable.

I nodded a few times, the lightest of breezes ruffling the short tufts of my hair. "Okay, I'll try my best. Just remember that even though they might not be able to sense my energy, they might recognise me. So, I can't promise anything." My bravery was almost at a tablespoon now, so I asked, "What do the gods have of yours? What am I getting back?"

The others all glanced at Yael, as though he had magically persuaded me to cooperate. He met their stares with a smirk twisting his lips, but Siret was the one who spoke.

"It's just a little cup, nothing serious. Well, nothing serious to D.O.D., but it's very serious to us. D.O.D. took it the last time he was in Minatsol for the moon-cycle tournament. He won't even realise it's gone if we take it now."

"And who the hell is D.O.D.?" I asked.

"He's a god," Siret replied, as though I should have already known. And, well, seeing as we were in Topia ...

"I gathered that much." I deadpanned. "But which god?"

"You wouldn't know even if I told you." I was going to protest but Siret was suddenly in front of me, tapping against the side of my head. "You were getting stitches the sun-cycle they taught the dwellers about D.O.D."

I frowned, and not because he was insulting me again, but because he may have been right. There was every chance that I had no idea who D.O.D. was because of one of my many medical emergencies. Ones that Willa had most definitely caused.

"So where's Luciu then? It's been a while and you guys obviously know this place better than I do" I turned, looking up to one of the marble platforms. "And will we be done before dinner? I'm starving."

"She's starving," Siret repeated, shaking his head.

"You guys owe me a bowl of apples when we get back"

"You'll have to go through another pocket to get there." Coen stepped up behind me, his hand shaping to the curve of my spine, his softly-spoken words sounding just a little bit frightening. "I'm going to push you through, and then you'll be on Luciu's main platform. One of the gods hosts a feast there every sun-cycle, without fail—"