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)
“Is it?” he asks, all fussy Kalos. He straightens and arches a brow at me, a look of pure distaste on his face. “Or is it a disturbing one?”
“Disturbing? Why?” I’m genuinely puzzled at his comment.
Kalos gestures at one of the goats, a pale white one with a fuzzy orange spot on her side and a hanging udder. “The monk yanked on their teats earlier and milk shot out. You do realize that’s what you’ve been drinking?”
I smother a laugh behind my hand. “I know where milk comes from, yes. How is it you weren’t aware?”
“Like I notice what humans are shoving into their mouths at all times?” He scoffs at me. “I have better things to do than to watch you all taste random animal body fluids.”
When he puts it that way, it does sound rather gross. Still, I know he loves Dingle, and the goat isn’t exactly a bastion of cleanliness. Maybe he’s just being surly this morning for the sake of being surly. Biting back my amusement, I move to his side, leaning on the fence next to him. “I’m really glad we’re staying here for a few days. I already feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
“Well, as long as you’re happy,” he says in a cranky tone.
“Did you want to leave?” I ask, bracing myself for whatever answer he gives. If he doesn’t want to stay, it’s not like I have a choice. We’ll move on, just as we always do, because my job is to be his companion.
He looks over at me and shakes his head. “We can stay. It’s not your fault I’m in a mood. I’m taking it out on you and there’s no reason for it.”
That’s as close to an apology as I’ve ever gotten from him. “Are you…okay?”
Kalos huffs. Dingle bounds over, butts at Kalos’s leg, and bounces away again. The god watches the goat frolicking with the others, and it’s like he’s deliberately trying not to look in my direction for some reason. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You tell me. Do we need to talk about something?”
He pauses long enough to scowl at me. “Do you have to be so delighted in everything the monk says?”
I’m taken aback. I didn’t think I was being ridiculous, just friendly. “Omos has been nice. It feels like a rarity these days.”
“I’m nice,” he mutters. “I haven’t killed anyone that’s annoyed me recently.”
Is he…jealous? Is that what this is? It’s unlike him to actually give a shit about anything, much less me. I touch a finger to his hand, tentative. “Do we need to talk, Kalos?”
He eyes my finger resting on his hand, and I wonder if my touch is bothering him, too. Then he shakes his head and groans, rubbing his free hand down his face. “I am in a foul mood. I don’t know how he can stand to live here.” The god gestures at the distance. “I can feel the throb of the land. The magic has been torn asunder and the world ripped open, just like this.” He indicates his sleeve, and sure enough, there’s a tiny tear there, near the cuff. “It’s affecting me.”
Oh. I didn’t realize that the proximity to the Dirtlands was going to bother him so much. With sympathy, I squeeze his hand, and when he doesn’t pull it from my grasp, I keep holding it. It feels like he needs comforting of some kind, even if it’s just a touch. “I don’t want you in pain. Should we go? We can pack up and be gone tomorrow.”
Kalos considers this, then shakes his head. “No. This is a good spot to hide. A safe spot. If it bothers me, no other god is going to linger here, either. It’ll be a good place for us to regroup and consider our next move.” He glances over at me. “If you are happy and content here, then it’s just as good as anywhere else.”
“Yes, but I’m here for you.”
He eyes me. “You do know that if it were up to me, I’d still be sitting in my chamber back at the temple?”
“And dead?” I point out, because one of his other aspects had pursued him.
Kalos shrugs. “It’s hard to care sometimes. Death gets all this over with a little faster.”
My heart hurts at his flat words, because he sounds so tired, so defeated. Like he no longer wants to fight. Like he never did. But he’s Apathy, I remind myself. This is part and parcel of who he’s been forced to become. I continue to hold his hand.
If he won’t fight for himself, I’m going to fight for him.
“I’m glad you’re still here,” I tell Kalos.
He looks over at me, his green eyes burning with a sudden intensity. His hand tightens on mine, and he stares at me for so long that a strange, curling heat unfurls in my belly. I think about our kiss. Not the one when we’d seen Gental’s people, but the one he gave me when he’d rescued me from Seth’s dungeon. The fierce kiss of claiming and sheer relief. It feels like it happened a million years ago.