Taken by the Blood God (Devil Springs #4)

Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

Talant

I braced my hands on the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. The porcelain creaked under my grip. I forced myself to relax my fingers before they broke right through. Power hummed in my veins, stronger than it had been in over a thousand years. Stronger than I’d been even before my long sleep. But it was nothing compared to the desire storming through me.

It was taking every bit of my control to stay exactly where I was instead of walking back into the bedroom and throwing Minerva back on the bed to see how many times I could make her come for me again. By the goddess, the look on her face when she came. I would never forget it, not if I lived another two thousand years. I wanted to see it again. And again.

I wanted her from the moment I saw her, but now, after seeing her—hearing her—come, I craved her. I needed her presence, her voice, every part of her. I wanted her with me every second of the day. Even the door between us was too much distance.

My arms trembled from the strain of holding myself back. I had to master this hunger. Master myself. Because I didn’t want to take what I needed from Minerva. I wanted her to give it to me. To submit to me.

Davian said I should use blood to bind her and force her to do my bidding, but everything within me rebelled against that thought. Now that I had taken her blood, I could do it. But I couldn’t bring myself to do so because I refused to harm her.

And that sort of violation would be something she would never forgive.

I speared my fingers through my hair, pulling it back from my face as I dragged air into my lungs—deep, ragged breaths that still didn’t seem to fill my tight chest.

I imagined what would happen when I told her about Cassia. About the origin of her power. The way she would look at me and what she might say. That was enough to inject ice into my veins. I would have to tell her. And soon.

But not yet.

I needed Minerva to trust me before I told her everything. Before I explained all the mistakes I’d made and the people I’d hurt. She had to see that I was a different man now before she learned who I’d been before.

Feeling calmer, I used the toilet and washed my hands and face before I walked back into the bedroom.

Minerva was no longer sitting on the bed. She had moved to the small round table in front of the window, and she was sitting in one of the chairs facing the view. The curtains were drawn back to reveal the beach beyond. The water was calm, glittering under the sunlight. There were people dotting the surface of the sand, some reclined as they read or just soaked up the sun. There were also children and young adults running and playing. It was beautiful to see. And it reminded me of what I’d once overlooked, before I locked myself beneath a mountain.

Life was finite and thus precious. Moments like this one were the ones that mattered.

For those people on the beach, today would be a golden memory. A time spent with family or friends to be cherished. For me, being alone in this room with Minerva was another. In Devil Springs, we were never truly alone. While Minerva might not have visitors very often, she received calls and texts all day long. She had friends. Family.

Here, we wouldn’t be interrupted. Maybe it made me a bastard, but I liked the idea of having her all to myself.

Minerva must have found the mini fridge because there were two packaged sandwiches on the table next to her as well as a bowl of cut fruit, a couple bags of potato chips, and two small bottles of water.

“If you’re done lurking,” she said, her back still to me. “We should eat and discuss our next moves.”

I walked to the empty chair and sat down, also facing the window. “As much as I would like to walk into the place where this coven is leeching the magic out of my brother and blow it up, that would draw too much attention.”

Her head turned toward me, and she arched a brow. “Not to mention the danger to any humans nearby and the fact that you would waste all that magic and end up crashing on me and your brother just when we needed you the most.”

I nearly bit my tongue to keep from telling her that wouldn’t happen again. Being restored as I was…I wouldn’t overexert myself again unless I was battling another god. I doubted very much this coven had access to one. Otherwise, why would they be using my brother as they were?

But that wouldn’t help me gain her trust. I had to be honest. About everything. Just not all at once.

“That won’t happen again,” I admitted.

She cocked her head and waited. I knew from experience it was an invitation to continue my explanation, so I did.

“As I said, you’ve restored me to full power. I have a sort of…equilibrium now. Unless I’m dealing with another god, it is highly unlikely that even a coven of witches could drain me to dangerously low levels.”

“You’re not joking, are you?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“Must be nice to have that sort of power.” It was little more than a murmur and held a sarcastic edge.

My lips twitched in amusement because she obviously didn’t know what she was capable of or she wouldn’t have smarted off.

“You should know. You have access to the same sort of power.”

Minerva had already turned her head to look out the window when I spoke, but it whipped around again at my words.

“I think I would know if I had that kind of magic,” she snapped, her eyes narrowed. “And that’s the second time you’ve insinuated that I’m just as powerful as you, yet you haven’t explained a damned thing to me. ”

She all but growled the last few words.

I reached for one of the water bottles and cracked the lid. Once I drained half of it, I placed it on the table and faced her.

“Minerva, I have no idea why you can’t feel your Conduit abilities. They should have manifested right along with your other magic. I can sense the power inside you. I can even feel you draw from it when you cast an incantation or infuse magic into a potion. It’s there, and you’re using it. Just not to its full potential.”

Minerva mimicked my pose, turning in her chair and resting her elbows on the table. “And I told you, Talant, that I can feel the limitations of my power. Once I hit the bottom of that well, there’s nothing else there.”

“I think that’s the problem, little witch. You’ve always expected your power to have limitations because the witches and warlocks around you have them.”

“So, you’re saying that I’m doing this to myself?” she asked.

“In a sense.”

“Why would I do that?” The question was snapped at me.

This was where being completely honest became tricky. She wasn’t going to like what I said next. But I had to say it. It was the only way to break through.

“Because that much magic is frightening. To know that you could level a city, raze an entire forest, or pull the clouds from the sky—it’s terrifying when you realize the full scope of what you could do if you can’t control yourself.”

Her eyes were wide as she stared at me, her anger forgotten.

“Is that how you felt?” she asked. “When you ascended?”

I sighed, shaking my head as I sat back in my chair. “Not when I ascended. Back then I was too arrogant and spoiled to realize the responsibility that came with godhood. It was only later, when I met—” I cut myself off.

I couldn’t mention Cassia’s name yet. Minerva didn’t trust me yet. If I had to explain it all now, she would run away and hide.

Before she could ask, I continued, “I met a female who showed me all the things I was missing. In life and in myself. That was when I realized all I had taken for granted.”

“You must have cared for her a great deal,” she murmured.

“I did. I loved her.”

Minerva said nothing else, only opened her own bottle of water and drank deeply.

When she finished, I expected her to ask me for more information about Cassia, but she surprised me.

“How do I break through this block I’ve created?”

Glad she hadn’t pounced on the information I gave her, I answered her question to the best of my ability.

“I don’t know.”

Minerva scoffed, rolling her eyes.

I reached out and put a hand over hers. She stilled, her gaze coming to me.

“The only person who knows how your mind and your magic truly work is you,” I explained. “I can try to guide you through breaking down the barriers, but I don’t think it would be effective.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t trust me. If you don’t trust me, you can’t open yourself up to anything I say.”

Her fingers tensed beneath my hand, and she slowly pulled away. “You’re right. I don’t trust you. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to trust you.”

Those words sank into my chest like a dagger. Hearing them from her lips hurt far more than I expected.

My hands curled on the table in an effort to stop myself from reaching for her. “Then, you’re going to have to figure out what’s holding you back and force your way past it.”

“I guess I’d better hurry up and do that,” she murmured, staring at the water bottle as she twisted it between her hands. “Since you want to free Davian as soon as possible.”

“Minerva, look at me.”

Her expression was unreadable when her eyes lifted to mine.

“I have no doubt that you are capable of anything and everything you wish to do. If you wish to access your Conduit abilities, you will.”

The laugh that passed her lips was little more than a gust of air and held no humor. It sounded sad and a little bitter.

“I wish—” She stopped talking and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what I wish. I’ll just have to figure it out.”

She sighed and straightened her back. “We should eat and get moving. I think we should spend some time watching the coven using your brother as their own personal recharging station. Then we can decide the best time to stage our rescue mission.”

“That sounds like the first step to our plan,” I replied, letting the subject drop.

Minerva picked up a sandwich and began unwrapping it. “Good. Does that mean I get to decide the rest of our plan?”

“Have you ever raided another coven’s facility while being seriously outnumbered before?” I asked.

She frowned as she stared at me. “No, why?”

“If you had, then the answer would have been yes. Since you haven’t, I think two heads will be better than one in this situation.”

Her eyes narrowed at my use of the cliched phrase. I knew she was beginning to suspect that I wasn’t as ignorant of the modern times as I pretended. Probably because of slip-ups like that.

It was another truth for a later time. In a place where there wasn’t a coven of warlocks who would notice if she tried to fry me with magic.