Rogue Soul (The Mythean Arcana 3) - Page 18

It put her so close to him that her scent wrapped around him. She hadn’t showered, and yet she still smelled nice? He scowled.

“Anything interesting going on in Havre? Will we be there for a bit?” she asked.

“Keep an eye out on the shore.”

“I am. I can talk at the same time, you know. So, back to Havre. Is there a bar? Lots of people?” The hope in her voice was palpable.

“I thought you were looking to escape Otherworld, not find a party.”

“That’s why I want to escape Otherworld. It’s awful there.”

“You should be more worried about the gods finding you.”

“I am. But do you have any idea what it’s like to be out of that place? I can’t help it. I’ve been trapped forever. Alone. There’s no happiness, no friendship, no love, no sex. If I can’t get out, and I get dragged back to Otherworld and chained on Blackmoor, then this is all the time I’ll have had on earth. I can’t help myself. I want to enjoy it.” She emphasized enjoy, and he wondered how exactly she planned to go about that. If it meant what he thought it did.

Something in his chest twinged. He knew how she felt, even if it was stupidly dangerous.

“You remember what it’s like, don’t you?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“You do. You’re nothing like the other gods. They don’t feel anything, so they don’t care what it’s like. But you know it’s awful. Perfectly perfect and perfectly awful. There’s no feeling, no emotion, nothing. No excitement, joy, anger, lust. Just duty and responsibility to a nearly dead religion. No one feels anything, so no one cares for anyone else. But I still feel, and it’s the loneliest place in the universe. I’m like a ghost there, and it just feels wrong. It’s been two thousand years, and it’s like I’m wasting away. I can’t take it anymore.” Heaving breaths escaped her.

His jaw clenched and he realized he was gripping the wheel too tightly. But she was right. Something had been wrong in Otherworld, and he hadn’t realized it until he’d met her. Had they never met, he’d probably have turned to living stone like the rest of the gods. As it was, Ana was trapped there, and she was the farthest thing from stone. It must have been suffocatingly lonely for her. Guilt stabbed him like a sword of ice.

He’d done the best he could by her back then, but he never should have spent so much time watching her in that forest. His inability to resist her had brought her to the attention of the gods. He was directly responsible for the terrible years she’d spent there. It didn’t matter that he’d been trying to do right by her. He’d still left her in misery in Otherworld.

“But your brothers are there. You have family.” He knew he was grasping at straws.

A bitter laugh escaped her. “I wish. They’re shadows of their former selves. Automatons. Even Marrek, my favorite brother, hardly recognizes me. It just reminds me of what I’ve lost.”

Shit. She wanted to get out, and he understood that. But escape was nearly impossible. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t as worried about the gods. She didn’t truly believe she would escape, so she wanted to enjoy the attempt.

He pushed empathy aside in favor of practicality. “You shouldn’t go into the bar, not if you don’t want to leave a trail that the gods could follow. Your glow is unmistakable.”

The glow that emitted from a god’s skin was modest, unnoticeable to mortals. But Mytheans could pick it out, and they would remember she’d been there if anyone asked about the Celtic god making her way downriver. He’d been grateful to lose his when he’d left Otherworld. It made blending in easier.

“No, it’s already fading. Look.” A slim arm appeared at his side, stuck out over the half-wall.

He looked down at it, slender but strong. She was right. The glow had begun to fade. He stopped his eyes from following her arm back to the rest of her.

“I’ve been here nearly a full day. The longer I stay, the more it fades. I think it’s because I’m separated from Otherworld’s energy. It’ll be fine, really.” Her voice vibrated with excitement.

“It’s your fate. Go to the bar. I’m not responsible for you. Like I said, you’re just tagging along. One hint of the other gods on our tail and I’ll drop you.” But guilt tugged at him. Did he even mean that anymore?

Ana eyed the taut muscles of Cam’s neck as his fists clenched on the steering wheel. She’d annoyed him. She knew that her excitement sometimes did that to people, but it only really bothered her with Cam.

“Anyway,” she said, hoping to keep the subject light and unable to keep her enthusiasm tamped down. “Earth is amazing in comparison. I feel like a different person. Like my body is vibrating with all the emotion and life here on earth. Like I’m not alone anymore. I want to experience it all, and I don’t want to wait.”

“Haven’t you come to earth before now?”

“Yes. But usually for only a few hours to visit my friend Esha. I’d stay longer, but then I’d risk the gods knowing I’ve left. We go out in Edinburgh or hang out at her place. This is the longest I’ve been on earth since I was mortal, and I’ve never been to the Amazon. I wouldn’t mind meeting some South American men.” She grinned.

His head whipped around, and he pinned

her with an iron stare.

Her grin slipped away and she squeaked, “What?”

Tags: Linsey Hall The Mythean Arcana Paranormal
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