Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Kalos’s hands rest on the carved bone arms of his throne. His fingers twitch, as if he wants to touch me but doesn’t dare. I’ll be the one that reaches out, then. I’ll always reach for him. I put my head in his lap, letting my tears fall on his legs. I’m out of words. They won’t do any good. I know they won’t. I must prove myself, somehow. Some way.
A gentle hand touches my hair, and his fingers are still shaking. “Sunshine. My sunshine.”
I sob and close my eyes, feeling like a monster. “I’m here.”
“I thought you’d abandoned me. That the thought of eternity at my side drove you away.”
I shake my head slightly. “The opposite. I demanded Lachesis bring me back here. I might have gotten her into trouble. She threw a cigarette in my face. I don’t care, though. They can all hate me as long as I’m here with you. Just please, please don’t hate me forever. Maybe just a few years until I prove my devotion to you.”
His fingers trace my eyebrow delicately, then down the slope of my nose. “Do you truly want to spend eternity in this dismal place with me? The most misbegotten god there is?”
“It’s only dismal if you let it be,” I tell him, lifting my head. “And this place isn’t miserable. We can redecorate. Push the disease theme a bit. Add a garden. A couple of goats. A huge, huge bed somewhere.”
A rusty sound erupts from him. A chuckle.
“Just let me stay with you,” I rush out, breathless. “Please.”
He puts a finger under my chin and tilts my face up. “As if I’d let you leave my side again. I might be Apathy, but I’m not insane.”
My mouth wobbles. “Does that mean I’m forgiven?”
“Ask me after I’ve had you in my arms for a thousand years, when we’re in our bed together, surrounded by goats.” His lips edge into a smile, and he strokes my cheek. “My Elsie. If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.”
I get to my feet and climb into his lap, curling against him like I did the last day I was alive, back in the field. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight. “Not a dream,” I tell him. “You don’t sleep, remember?”
“I usually don’t get what I want, either.”
“Then it’s good for you that I’m here to be pushy and demand things.”
His fingers trail along my spine, his scent in my nose. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, sunshine.”
Epilogue
Ipush away the nose of the goat at my side. “Quit eating my garden, Ollie! I mean it!”
The goat gives me an indignant screaming “maaaah” in my ear and butts my arm, nearly knocking me over. He leans over my shoulder and deliberately eats another leaf of nightshade. I roll my eyes and push him aside again. At least he’s eating the leaves and not the berries. His sister is being awfully quiet, though, and when I look over, Belladonna (Bella for short) is eating the very berries I was just thinking about.
I sigh, giving up. “You’re both lucky you’re immortal pets and not real goats, or you’d be hurting right now.”
Ollie just prances away, thinking my tone means it’s playtime.
Because I’m a sucker, I get up and throw the deflated leather ball he loves to chase after and bring back. Goats are a lot like dogs, really. They love to play and follow you about…and eat everything they shouldn’t. Belladonna and Oleander are my pets, given to me by Kalos when I’d confessed how much I missed Dingle.
He’d offered to kill Dingle and bring his spirit to me, but I vetoed that. I’m happy to wait for my beloved pet to live out his natural life with Omos. He can come to us when he’s done with the mortal realm.
I play ball with Ollie a bit more and give both goats a good brushing. I try to add ribbons into their shaggy manes, but as soon as I tie the first, Bella pulls it free from Ollie’s head. I make a frustrated sound at their cute antics because now is not the time. “You two need to look nice. We’re going to have company shortly. Kalos’s brother is coming.”
Ollie just nibbles on the hem of my dress and I sigh.
This is what I get for not letting Kalos handle everything with a wave of his hand. As a god, he can manipulate anything and everything in his realm with a mere thought. I’m a more tactile person, though. I want to have a garden—a poison garden, to keep on brand—and a place for the goats to play and graze. Some of the swamp at the edge of the temple has been cleared away for my requests, but I won’t let Kalos touch my gardens. I want to grow things on my own. I want to learn everything I can about poisons, and I want to start a medicine garden, too.