East of Ecstasy (Hearts of the Anemo)

  “I’m, um, I’m not all the way well.” Instinctively, she reached back for Devlin’s hand, which gripped hers immediately.

  Iris frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Anna shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. “Six months ago I was diagnosed with an incurable syndrome because I’m exhausted and in pain almost all of the time.”

  “The curse,” Iris gasped.

  “This can’t be,” Anna said, hearing her own voice as if through a long tunnel.

  “But it is. You are my daughter, and I am your mother. And you are a goddess.”

  A…a goddess? Anna shuddered out a breath. “And I’m going to die in fourteen days?”

  “They never expected you to make your way back to the Realm of the Gods, or even to learn what you really are. The curses don’t apply here, Anna. Here, you will live and in time, you will come into your full powers. Which is why you must not leave. Oh, gods, I cannot believe we are actually here together.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest, waves of pink light trailing her movements.

  Anna wished she shared Iris’s joy. But she couldn’t just take off living some new life and leave her old one behind. She had friends, family, responsibilities… “I can’t just stay here. I have a father at home who needs me.”

  Devlin gently squeezed her shoulders and stood right behind her. Anna sagged against his strength and warmth. “Iris, if I may,” Devlin said in a tight voice. “Who is her divine father?”

  Iris wrung her hands and paced a few steps away. Anna didn’t want the answer to this question. As it was, her world was being dismantled brick by brick until she barely recognized her own life. To be told her father wasn’t really her father? No. Anna didn’t want that at all. And then Iris returned again. “Though he never knew about you,” she said, “your father is the primordial god, Erebus.”

  Gasps rang out from around the group, followed by whispers that grew in volume. But it was all white noise against the roar in her head. Not because she recognized the god’s name, but because she was seriously engaged in a conversation wherein the parents she’d known her whole life weren’t truly her parents.

  Needing a break from the intensity of the beautiful goddess who might possibly be her biological mother, Anna turned in Devlin’s arms and buried her head against his chest. His hands went to her hair, stroking, soothing. Finally, she lifted her gaze to his. “Is it true?”

  He searched her gaze for a long moment. “She has no reason to lie,” he said. “In fact, as the messenger of the gods, she’s not capable of it.”

  “That’s right, rain god,” Iris said from behind Anna. “By Zeus’s decree am I unable to perjure myself.”

  “But that…that means…”

  “I fell for a goddess?” He shrugged with one shoulder. “Already knew that.”

  A sad chuckle bubbled up from within the massive wave of confusion building inside of Anna. “But my father, Devlin…”

  “Is still your father.” He looked over Anna’s shoulder to Iris. “She has two weeks?”

  “You love her, Devlin Eston?” Iris asked, tone suddenly no-nonsense. He gave a solemn nod that made Anna’s heart squeeze. “Then you cannot chance it. If she dies in the human realm, she would be lost to you forever. She would be lost to both of us.”

  Feeling like the walls of the cavernous room were closing in on her, Anna shook her head. “But—”

  “Hey,” he said, “look at me.” Anna brought her gaze back to his concerned face. “We will work this out somehow.”

  “Somehow?” He nodded. “Are we still lying in my bed? Maybe I’m dreaming.” He twisted his lips in regret, and it told her everything she didn’t really want to know. “Okay. Okay,” she said to herself. She heaved a long breath and turned to Iris. “So, uh, who is this Erebus?”

  “One of the oldest deities in the universe,” Aeolus said in a reverent voice. “The god of darkness. Son of Chaos, the being from which all life sprang forth.” Aeolus lowered to a knee. The woman wearing the scarf followed suit.

  “The god of darkness?” She spun to Devlin. “Is that why I can make the light come and go?”

  He brushed his knuckles along her cheekbone and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Very likely.” Anna felt like the amazing colors of the room spun around her until they turned into a multicolored blur. The daughter of the rainbow and the god of darkness? Her? And if it was true, did that explain why she was both color-blind and able to see and manipulate color while she painted? And did Iris’s belief that her powers would strengthen in the Realm of the Gods explain why she was seeing in full color now?

  Just considering these things as real stole her breath.

  And then the surreal nature of the moment escalated as, one by one, the other gods and goddesses in the room followed suit. Chrysander. Zephyros. Ella. Owen.

  Smiling, Iris sank into a curtsy so deep, her head almost touched the floor.

  Beside her, Devlin grasped her hand, pressed a kiss to her knuckles, and knelt. He laid his forehead against her fingers.

  Anna’s heartbeat tripped into a sprint. “What…uh…please get up,” she whispered. “I don’t…I’m not…”

  “Annalise,” Devlin said, looking up at her with abject awe. “You are the ranking deity in this room. By a long shot.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  And Devlin had thought he wasn’t good enough for Anna before.

  By Zeus and all the Olympians, her lineage as Erebus’s daughter was so rarefied that just the thought of it ran a shiver of wonder over Devlin’s skin.

  “Um, thank you, but please,” she said, tugging on his hand, urging him up.

  But as far as he was concerned, she deserved every bit of the honor being bestowed upon her in this moment. And he was damn glad to see that the others obviously thought so, too, because no one moved a muscle.

  Finally, Iris and Aeolus rose, and the others followed suit. Awkwardness washed over Devlin’s skin when he stood, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that every god in the room was silently thinking he had no business being with the daughter of one of the primordials. He withdrew his hand from Anna’s and crossed his arms over his chest, pretending not to see the question in her eyes when he did.

  “Iris,” Zeph said. “There’s something we were hoping you could help us with.”

  Standing next to her daughter, Iris arched a brow. “My darling sisters?” That made them sound way the hell too nice. Her sisters were the Harpies, a group of vicious, cruel, screeching bird-women known for abducting and torturing for the sheer fun of it. And as of a few days ago, they’d seemed happy to turn their treachery on Eurus’s enemies. How his father had gotten the Harpies as allies, Devlin had no clue, though from what he understood the bird-bitches were pretty cheap and easy.

  “They’re working with Devlin’s father,” Zeph said, and hell if it hadn’t felt like a purposeful jab. “And they nearly killed Chrysander and Boreas a few days ago when they caught us unawares. Would you consider putting a leash on them until we get Eurus under control?”

  Iris sighed and said to Anna, “Your aunts. I’m forever chasing and cleaning up after them. I’d like to say they’re harmless, but I can’t lie.” She scanned her gaze over the group of gods. “Keep Anna safe. Keep her here. And you can consider it done.”

  Anna gaped and her expression filled with displeasure. Devlin had to resist the urge to comfort her.

  “Thank you, Iris,” Zeph said, nodding.

  “Your helping level the playing field will not be forgotten,” Aeolus said with a small bow.

  “Bringing Eurus down has been a long time coming. I’m only too glad to see it finally done.” Iris’s gaze turned toward Anna, then to Devlin standing beside her. “You are fighting against your father, then?” she directed at him.

  “I’m fighting against evil,” he said, feeling the weight of the coming battle on his shoulders. “They happen to be the same thing.”

  Zeph coughed, a forced, skeptical sound
.

  Devlin’s gaze swung to the Western god. Same story, different fucking century. No way they could be successful in battle together with this bullshit creating a debris field between them. “Gods be damned, what do you want from me, Zephyros Martius? What will it take to put this behind us so we can spend our time strategizing the fight ahead rather than refighting the conflicts of the past?”

  Fists clenched, Zephyros nodded at Iris. “Pass the messenger’s test on every question I have.”

  Confusion had Devlin frowning. What test? But before he’d opened his mouth, Aeolus shook his head and said, “Absolutely not.”

  Which didn’t help Devlin’s confusion at all. “What test?” he asked. Without touching him, Anna stepped beside him as if lending her silent support. And damn if he didn’t need it, no matter how sure he was he didn’t deserve it. Not from her.

  Clasping the flask at her waist, Iris stepped into the middle of the three-way standoff. “This is easily enough done.” She tilted her head as if evaluating Devlin.

  “It’s too dangerous,” Aeolus said. “He already has the Styx flowing through him.”

  Surprise widened Iris’s eyes and mouth, and colors rippled on the air as she turned to Aeolus. “How did this come to be?”

  Aeolus held up his hand, the one still bandaged around his amputation. “Eurus stole the ring that holds ultimate power over the winds, the weather, and the seasons. I needed to regain some advantage against him, and Devlin agreed to let me turn him into the tool most capable of bringing his father down. He drank a potion made of the Styx and the Phlegethon.”

  Iris gasped and cut her concerned gaze to Devlin. Her expression was almost disbelieving. “How did you survive it? Drinking those together is a bit like swallowing a nuclear bomb.”

  “It was a rough few days at first,” Devlin said in what might’ve been the biggest understatement of his life. For the better part of a week, he’d thought he was going insane as uncontrollable fire had spilled from his pores and licked over his skin day and night, elevating the feelings of rage and hate inside him until he was no longer anything but rage and hate. Then, suddenly, the fire had seeped inside his skin and over the course of the two days that followed he regained his consciousness and sense of self.

  “Indeed,” Iris said. “Aeolus is correct, then.” She turned and addressed Zeph and the other Anemoi gathered behind him. “Normally, a drink of enchanted water from the River Styx,” she said, unhooking the flask from her belt, “will merely put a liar to sleep. But in Devlin’s case, because the river flows through him already, I fear the reaction would be volatile. And I cannot predict what that might mean.”

  Anna sucked in a sharp breath.

  Devlin nailed Zeph with a stare, and before he even allowed the other god to react to Iris’s assessment of the situation, Devlin said, “I’ll do it. Ask me your questions.” Otherwise, this shit was never going to be put to rest.

  “Devlin, no,” Anna said, putting her arm across his stomach like she was holding him back. Or shielding him. “Why doesn’t what Aeolus said matter to you all? I realize I know very little of what’s gone on between you, but you have to admit in the days that I have been here, Devlin’s been nothing but committed to this goal you all have in common.”

  “But for what reason?” Zeph said. “That’s what we’ve never known.”

  Anger and resentment clawed up Devlin’s spine. Why was it necessary for him to throw light on every humiliating, dark corner of his soul to earn some basic fucking respect? Fine. Let him ask his questions. This was it, though. Last time. If Devlin didn’t walk away from this test with their belief in his motives, he wasn’t ever trying again. “So ask me. I said I’ll do it.”

  Anna turned and clutched his sides, her grip on him warm and commanding. “You’ve been hurt enough.”

  “I need to do this,” he said, nodding toward the other gods. “We need for me to do this. But you should step back.”

  Instead, Anna came closer, her chest against his. So close she had to tilt her head way back to hold his gaze. “No, Devlin—”

  Zeph laid his hand on Anna’s arm. “Anna, you should—”

  The light in the room dimmed in direct proportion to her head turning to glare at him. “Back off. Please,” she gritted out, the room sinking into darkness. Tension buzzed through the air. As quick as it had gone dark, the light returned. Anna was looking at him again, and Zeph had in fact backed off. Devlin got perhaps a perverse amount of pleasure from that fact. Damn if Anna’s power wasn’t sexy as fuck—and clearly getting stronger, just as Iris had said. “I’m not going anywhere. If you’re doing this, I’m staying by your side. Just like the firestorm, Devlin. Watch me. Focus on me. Whatever this is, we’ll deal with it together.”

  He slid his hand around her neck and leaned down. “You are everything that is good and right and true in the world, Annalise.” Then he forced his gaze to Iris. “Now let’s do this.”

  “As you wish.” She unscrewed the flask. “You will take a drink. I will ask you a question. Answer it truthfully and there should be no consequence. Answer it falsely, and…” Iris shook her head, sparkles of color twinkling from her pale hair. So like Anna’s. “With you, I’m not sure what will happen, but the Styx will exact some consequence.” Iris stepped closer and offered the flask, but she pulled it back just as Devlin reached for it. “Since we don’t know what the consequence will be, I’m going to have to ask you to lie on purpose to a question that doesn’t matter so we can know what a lie will look like on the questions that do.”

  Joy. “I have some breaking and entering to do yet today, so let’s get to it.” Looking deep into Anna’s eyes, Devlin accepted the flask and took a swig. Sour bitterness filled his mouth and burned a trail down his throat to his gut. He wiped a drop off his lip with the back of his hand.

  Iris gave a nod. “What color is your hair?”

  “Black.”

  Another nod. “Is Eurus your father?”

  He chuffed out a disgusted halflaugh as an itching, cloying heat slithered along his nervous system and invaded every part of his body. “Yes.”

  “Where did you and Annalise meet?” Iris asked.

  “Her studio,” he said, his muscles going rigid and tight from the additional infernal water inside him. His heart pounded out a thunderous boom in his chest.

  “Drink again,” Iris said. He did, sending his body temperature up another couple good notches. “Do you want Anna to die? Lie this time, please.”

  Rage at the question, the thought, the very idea. “No, I do not want her to die. And I will not lie about that. Ever. Next question.” Anna’s hands rubbed his sides as if she was trying to soothe and calm him.

  “Very well,” Iris said. “Did you conspire with Aeolus to drink of the Styx and Phlegethon and defeat Eurus? Now, lie.”

  Devlin released a deep breath, bracing for…he didn’t even know what. “No, we didn’t—”

  Snap, snap. Breath-stealing, inescapable pain. Devlin dropped to one knee and wrapped his arms around the right side of his rib cage as Iris’s magic cracked his ribs.

  “Oh, God. Look at me, look at me, Devlin.” Kneeling beside him, Anna’s hands cupped his jaw and her thumbs stroked his cheek. He met her gaze, and it was only the love shining from her eyes that kept him from lashing out. Whether or not Devlin deserved that love was not a question that mattered in the heat of this moment. “I’m here,” she said.

  “Next,” he said, his voice like sandpaper.

  “Zephyros?” Iris asked.

  Zeph planted his hands on his hips. At least his broken ribs had earned Devlin something, because the smug self-righteousness of moments before was gone from the Western god’s face. “Did he double-cross Aeolus and purposely lead Eurus to Gibraltar the other day?”

  Iris repeated the question, and Devlin answered, “No.” No bones snapped. True.

  “If he’s on our side, why didn’t he help when the Harpies attacked at Gibraltar?” Zeph asked.


  Devlin swallowed against the acid rising up the back of his throat. “I told you. Eurus had chained me to the rock with his will. He wanted all of you to doubt my loyalty.” All of Devlin’s bones remained intact again.

  “Why did you agree to work with Aeolus?” Zeph asked, his tone a lot less aggressive than it had been moments before.

  “Because I wanted help putting an end to Eurus and freeing myself and my brother.” True.

  “I think that’s enough,” Owen said, his mismatched eyes flashing with silvery light. “He’s done more than enough to prove himself.”

  Devlin shook his head and nailed Zephyros with a hard stare. “Get it out of your system now, my lord, because I’m never giving you free rein like this again. That’s for goddamned sure.” The broken ribs made it burn like a bitch to breathe normally.

  “Drink again, Devlin,” Iris said. He did, anger humming inside his body now.

  “Did you obstruct Chrysander this summer in his efforts to find and apprehend Eurus?” Zephyros asked. Iris repeated.

  A single nod. “Yes,” Devlin said.

  “Why?” they asked in succession.

  Uncontrollable tremors racked Devlin’s body from the buildup of anger and preternatural power inside him. “Because Eurus commanded it of me. He expected it of me. He used a variety of ways of getting me to do what he wanted.”

  “Like?” Zeph asked.