Chapter Seven (Part 2)

Um. Ew.

Idris didn’t seem to appreciate the display any more than I did, and he took a threatening step forward, completely blocking me with his body now.

“What do you want with him?” Idris growled at the intruder, and I frowned, confused. What was he talking about?

I peeked over Idris’s shoulder and the moment I did, the intruder met my eyes, grinned, and wiggled their fingers at me in a flirty little wave before dashing off, running through the swamp as though they were flying, the hem of their cloak flaring out behind them. Idris cursed and made to go after them, but I caught his arm and shook my head.

“You won’t be able to catch them. They clearly know the area better than you, and they’re moving too fast for us to keep up. What did they do, before I woke up? Were they trying to take more Butterfly Root?”

Idris’s jaw clenched, eyes locked on where the intruder had been standing a moment before. He didn’t answer me right away, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

“No,” he said at last. “They weren’t interested in the root. When I noticed them, they were climbing down the tree you were sleeping against, trying to get to you. They almost had you, Rook.”

That didn’t make sense. I would have noticed someone getting that close to me. Idris should have noticed them long before they even got into the tree. And if neither of us had noticed them…

How long had they been there, watching us? Had they been here the whole time?

The thought was chilling, sending uneasy shivers down my spine. Even worse, they had been going for me. Why, I didn’t know. I wasn’t a particularly useful hostage, considering no one really gave a shit about me except for Peace and Wisdom. What I did know is that this whole situation was F to the -ucked up.

I rubbed a hand down my face. “Any idea who it was?”

Idris shook his head, face still screwed up in agitation. “No.” Abruptly, he turned to me, a weird sense of urgency in those bright blue eyes. “You can’t stay here. What if they try again?”

I raised an eyebrow, putting a hand on my hip. “And what are you going to do? Stay here by yourself?”

Idris made another animalistic noise and turned away to pace, boots sloshing through the water. Honestly, it was making me wary. He was losing his cool again, and it was kind of freaking me out. I could maybe understand him being frustrated with me enough to snap the way he did earlier. I’m a vexing person, and I was aware of that. But this growling and snarling shit was very un-kingly of him. It was very un-Idris of him.

And I worried, for a split second, that it was because of me. Idris was right, all those years ago. I was a poison. Just being around me was dangerous because the more someone was exposed to me, the more likely they were to succumb to their darkness and ruin themselves. I’d seen it happen before. It wasn’t pretty.

It was kind of weird that it was happening to Idris already, though, considering we’d only been with each other for a couple days. When he had become corrupted, it had taken months of constant visits. Hell, Peace and Wisdom had been with me for centuries, and while occasionally I could see glimpses of their dark sides, they seemed to be managing rather well. It helped that I made sure not to prolong their exposure to me, spending as much time as I could locked away in my room. I’d taught them from a young age how to recognize signs that they were beginning to fall to the darkness and what to do when it happened. They were also demigods, which helped. Gods were more emotional, and more easily swayed. The process of their darkness consuming them was faster because they let it in, let themselves feel everything, the good and the bad.

That’s not to say that Peace and Wisdom wouldn’t eventually fall, just like anyone else, but I had a plan for if that ever happened. Said plan involved immediately relocating them to paradise and cutting off any and all contact with me.

It probably wasn’t because of me, I decided a moment later. It hadn’t been long enough. No, this was probably because Idris was angry that someone was disturbing his precious peace. Someone other than me was causing catastrophic trouble, and he was already on edge from our fight. So it made sense that he was letting his control slip a little.

Idris finally stopped pacing like a caged lion to contemplate me. “No. There’s no point in either of us staying here. They don’t want Butterfly Root. They want you, Rook.”

“I don’t understand that,” I said dryly, crossing my arms over my chest. “What are they going to do with me? I’m not going to help them. I may be a piece of shit, but I’ve never wanted to poison a whole bunch of people for no goddamn reason. Maybe Anastasia. I’ve wanted to poison her many, many times. But I’m too lazy to bother tainting a whole fucking river.”

Idris glared at me. “There are other things they could want you for. Frankly, I don’t want to even think about it. Which is why you’re going to stay at my palace.”

It took a full minute for those words to sink in, and when they did, I had to do a double take at Idris’s expression, unsure if he was being serious.

“I’m sorry,” I said, rubbing a pinkie in my ear as if my hearing was the problem, “what did you just fucking say?”

Idris’s mouth tightened stubbornly. “You’re staying at my palace. I can protect you there.”

“Uh, no. No, I am not staying in your pastel princess dream house. Fuck you with a candlestick. A lit candlestick.”

Idris ignored my crudity, taking a step into my space like he wanted to physically intimidate me into agreeing with him. I bristled, baring my teeth at him, and he paused, sighing exasperatedly through his nose.

“Rook,” he said sternly, making me roll my eyes, “you cannot stay here. Clearly, this person can traverse the forest without issue. It won’t protect you. It’s safer for you in paradise where I and the other gods can keep an eye on you.”

That same boiling rage from earlier was coming back, only ten times stronger. My breathing picked up, rushing fast and angry through my chest.

“Yeah,” I said with enough sarcasm to make Idris visibly wince. “I’m sure they’ll all be really gung-ho about keeping me safe. Not like any of them hate me and want me dead or anything.”

“They don’t want you dead – ”

I cut him off, holding a hand up. “Don’t even fucking try to give me excuses. They hate me, and while they may not all want me dead, I know for a fact that some of them do, and you know that too. Not to mention, how do you fucking know that that fucking freak who just waltzed into my forest isn’t one of those gods that you trust so completely? Hm? How do you know, Idris?”

Idris glowered at me, but didn’t argue. He knew I had a point.

“If anything, paradise is probably the worst place for me to be. And don’t think it’s escaped my notice that you’re fucking frantic about letting me into paradise now when it was you who kicked me out in the first place. I’m not welcome there. You said it yourself. I don’t belong there. So let’s not make this situation,” I gestured between him and me, “any more of a travesty than it already is.”

Idris flinched, something flickering in his eyes too fast for me to discern what it was. But then he steeled himself, determination hardening his features.

“You’re staying with me,” he said again, and I threw my hands up, exasperated. “Peace and Wisdom will come too. I know you won’t want to leave them unprotected.”

With that, Idris turned to gather up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. I glared hard at his back, wishing I could bore holes into it with my eyes.

“I’ll escape,” I said quickly. Idris froze, looking at me over his shoulder. “I’ll dash the first chance I get. You can’t keep me there, Idris.”

Idris’s hand clenched on the strap of his bag like he was imagining it was my neck. “I see. Let’s see what Peace and Wisdom think then. I’m sure they’ll agree with me when I tell them someone is trying to kidnap you.”

I stiffened. This son of a bitch.

Unfortunately, he was right. Peace and Wisdom didn’t fuck around when it came to me, a fact that both warmed my cold dead heart and frustrated me to no end. Once they found out someone was gunning for me, they would be all for Idris whisking me away like I wasn’t also one of the original gods and therefore, powerful enough to protect my own damn self. They would probably help Idris lock me up, and somehow, Idris fucking knew it.

Despite the bubbling anger in my veins, when Idris started leaving the swamp, I had no choice but to follow him. Worse, I had nothing to bribe him with to keep his mouth shut, and I wasn’t strong enough to incapacitate him.

So I guess I was vacationing in paradise. Against my will. Surrounded by gods that were just itching to tear my throat out with their teeth.

Yippee.