Aron chuckles again. “Is that…a yes?”

“It’s an ‘I don’t know.’ It’s an ‘it’s complicated.’ I’m sure as time passes, there will be a lot of things I miss. But right now? Right here, I can’t think of anything.” I’m too lazy, too happy, too content to be in this bathtub with him, cradled between big thighs as he washes my back. “Is that a bad answer?”

“It’s an honest one,” he says, and then I feel him touch my shoulder, and he presses a kiss to it a moment later. “You can return to your world, you know.”

My heart gives a funny little flip. “Gee, can I? Because I’m your anchor and last I heard, those sorts of bonds were set in stone.”

“They are for most, but the Spidae are different. If anyone can sever the bond between a god and his mortal anchor, it would be them.”

This sounds perilously close to what the Spidae told me when I was alone with them…when they were trying to manipulate Aron and me both by separating us and questioning us. Why is this coming up now? I turn and give him a worried look. “Have you been talking to the Spidae, Aron? Did they tell you I need to go?”

He arches a brow at me, surprised at my vehement reaction. “No. I have not spoken to them. I have been at your side, remember?”

Right. He hasn’t left me alone in days. My speeding heart slows down a bit. “Good. I just…I don’t trust them.”

“No one does.” He gestures at his scarred chest. “Lean back so I can continue washing you.”

I start to, and then hesitate, biting my lip. “I don’t want to leave you, Aron. Not to go home. I’m with you until the end, until the day you leave me.”

His expression grows solemn, and he stares at my shoulders, carefully lifting my wet hair from my skin and easing it over one side. “Part of me wants this to be over, because I am powerless on this plane. I chafe at the idea that the High Father feels the need to ‘remake’ me because I was so broken before. But part of me…part of me wants this to go on forever. Just me and you, always.” And he reaches up and cups my face. “I do not know what happens after I win, Faith. I wish I did. I wish that was still in my memories, but I can see nothing of what happens once this is over.”

My heart aches. I know what happens. If the Spidae weren’t lying to me, it’s not good. None of this is good.

“But I am a god,” he continues, voice low but firm. “I am the lord of storms and god of battle. I will bring you to my side and keep you with me, always. You are mortal and unimportant to the rest of the world.” He squeezes the cloth over my shoulder, sending sudsy water down my skin. “But not to me. To me, you are everything.”

Everything but winning, I want to say, but I bite back the words. I don’t want to ruin this good thing we have here. I don’t want to ruin the perfect few moments we have together. I’m going to enjoy every single one of them.

“It will mean staying in my world,” Aron says as I settle in against his chest. He dips the cloth in the water and runs it over my breasts, giving my nipples extra-special attention so they stand up. “Would you stay here with me?”

“Always,” I tell him, and I mean it.

OceanofPDF.com

67

A week passes. Maybe more. I lose track of days. All I know is that I’m happy. Sure, we’re in a creepy tower, and the Spidae lurk around every corner, and we’re out of our traveling supply of food so we’re now eating whatever we find in the pods the Spidae have scattered around the keep.

But every morning, I wake up in Aron’s arms. Every night, I go to sleep in Aron’s embrace. Every day, we spend together—making love, talking, or laughing.

And that’s worth everything. I don’t care if a million days pass by. If they’re all like that, then sign me up.

It’s easy to forget the world outside of this tower. It’s so easy to forget that out there, in this strange world, dozens of Aspects are roaming the world, looking to put an end to anyone that has the same face. It’s easy to forget that our lives were—and still are—in danger. Here, we’re safe from the world because no one wants to cross the mountains and that awful lake. I’m still not entirely sure how our woales got on this side of the lake with our supplies. Every time I ask, Aron just laughs and says “not easily.”

Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. If this is what happiness looks like, I’ll grab it with both hands.

One morning, though, I wake up to the sound of swords clashing. To male laughter. Aron isn’t in bed with me, and I frown to myself as I get up and pull on a robe. There’s no window in our room, but I know the sounds are coming from outside. I pad into the hall, where there’s a large, spiderweb-covered balcony and find Yulenna there. She nibbles on fruit, a pod half-opened in her arms.

“Hi Faith,” she says cheerily as I move to her side. “You hungry?” She offers me some fruit.

It seems that the pods are a bit more benign than I’d originally thought. The ones that we’ve split open have had a variety of food items—from vegetables to fruit—and though some had a bird or fish in them, it was alive. It’s like the spiders bring back food for the Spidae…who don’t eat.

It’s all very odd.

At any rate, the food has served us well enough, and I don’t feel weird about taking a handful of the small, purple cherry-like fruits and popping a few into my mouth. Down below, the men are sparring. Aron has a long sword in his hand and he’s got one arm tied behind his back, and he’s blindfolded. He’s fighting both Kerren and Markos and winning handily, it looks like. Each time one of them jabs, he’s there to parry it instinctively. As I watch, Solat creeps forward, half-hidden behind a large shield, readying to strike at Aron’s side. Before he can even get close, Aron whirls, knocks the shield free, and then spins around to block Kerren’s next attack.

They all laugh, and I hear the words “I yield” float up as Markos grins.

Aron’s smiling, too. His face is lit up with pure, unadulterated joy, and sometimes I forget that he’s a battle god. He loves a fight. As I watch, Kerren approaches Aron and helps him remove his bindings. Aron slips off the blindfold and immediately looks up at the balcony to me.

He grins, utterly pleased.

I wave back at him, then lean over to Yulenna. “What’s this?”

“The men were bored so they started sparring. Aron must have heard it and joined them. They’ve been at it for hours.” Yulenna picks up another piece of fruit and eats it daintily. “They want to be ready for war.”

War? My good mood sours. Aron says something with the guys below and points at weapons, discussing. As I watch, Aron talks with Kerren, showing him a sword move and how to block. It’s clear Aron’s in his element.

I don’t want him thinking about war or battles.

“He is a god of war, though,” an eerie voice says behind me.

Yulenna gasps and steps closer to me. I grit my teeth, turning to look at the Spidae who stands in the background. He waits in the hall, watching us out on the balcony. The phrase “waiting like a spider in its web” springs to mind but I bite it back. “Don’t you have threads you could be pulling right now?”

The smile that curves his mouth is unfairly pretty. “I do. But I sensed your mood. There is no need to be angry over things you cannot change, Faithful.”

Faithful. That was what Tadekha called me. It irritates me to hear it, but I know why he’s doing it. He’s showing me just how much he knows. Yulenna cowers behind me and I glare at him. “I haven’t forgotten who Aron is, all right? I just want him to enjoy his time here. We’re supposed to be taking a break from all this shit.”