If nothing came to him, perhaps they could all hibernate. The Astra had been willing to sleep for the next five hundred years to save Roc and Taliyah. Only fair they do the same for Halo and Ophelia.
Except, the success of this test led to ascension. Would the Astra receive another opportunity like it? With the ascension, they would gain the power to eliminate Erebus for good.
Ophelia yawned and stretched. Halo kissed her temple and eased out of bed. But only to gather the necessary materials. After he cleaned them both, he returned to her side.
“Am I your entwine and consort?” he asked, gathering her close. “I want to hear you say the words.”
“Yes, okay? Yes. I’ll admit it out loud. You are my entwine as well as my consort. What can I say? I’m a sucker for your obsession with me.” She lifted her face to smother his with kisses before she folded her hands on his breastbone and gazed up at him, vulnerable once again. “Am I your gravita?”
He pinched a lock of her hair. “You are absolutely my gravita. No matter what. So we won’t worry about the what-ifs, will we, harpy? We won’t serve Erebus’s purpose and allow doubt to grow between us.”
“What do you consider his purpose, exactly?”
“To keep me miserable as long as possible and garrison your resistance to my charms.”
She snorted, then blinked at him. “Oh, you’re serious. Okay then. So, you believe you have charms now? Kindly tell me when this miracle supposedly occurred?”
The corners of his mouth kicked up. “The first time we had sex, my software received an automatic update.”
She barked out a laugh. “Dang, I like you. But just to be clear, your software update understands that you can boss me around in the bedroom, but not on the battlefield, yes? Because I will fight alongside harpykind in combat.”
“I do understand.” Her skill and ferocity amazed him. If she was correct and learned how to fully control the beasts—some of the worst monsters in mythology—she would be a formidable opponent for anyone, including the Astra. “I won’t stand in the way of your desire to challenge Erebus or steal the Bloodmor.”
A familiar sense of foreboding pricked him, rousing dread. The next task involved a three-bodied giant with cattle. Another death match, he’d bet. But when? Erebus wasn’t supposed to act for another seven days, but the god did love his loopholes.
Halo scoured a hand through his hair. The Deathless was spiteful enough to provoke a fight between Halo and Ophelia immediately after they’d pledged their futures to each other. My nightmare. The ultimate misery.
“Hey! Stop jumping ahead to the next battle,” she said, reading him so well. “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it. We won’t mention the stardust again, either. If you say it’s a non-issue, it’s a non-issue.” She trailed a fingertip to his groin. “Agreed? Or maybe you require a little motivation first?”
His thoughts centered on her next actions in a hurry. “I must be motivated,” he rushed to tell her, threading his fingers through her hair.
“In that case...” Eyes hooded, she bent her head and flicked her tongue over his nipples, one after the other. “I think I’m going to drink straight from your tap.”
His body jerked. Yes! Want this. “I will graciously allow you to do this,” he said, his voice hoarse, “but you will owe me big.”
“Huge,” she replied, and licked her lips. “Tell me your demands.”
“You will give me another day of fun and allow me to introduce you to the Astra. As my gravita.”
All wicked carnality, she gave her lips another lick. “You want to show me off?”
“I’m desperate to.”
Excitement glittered in her emerald irises, only to dull a second later. “Will they doubt you? Without the...you know. The powder that shall no longer be named.”
“They might.” Truth was truth. “But there’s another way to irrevocably bond us together. A way that will let us communicate telepathically, as I do with the Astra.”
The excitement intensified, only to ebb again. “I’ll be able to speak to you always, in your head?”
“If I brand you with my insignia, yes.” The link would let him flash her to and fro without contact, as well as converse inside her head, no matter the distance between them. “Will you bear it?”
“I will...one day. Maybe.” She smiled and inched down his body. “But first you’ll bear my insignia. Two fang marks...”
29
Day 61-ish
7:04 p.m.
Ophelia and Halo. An official couple. So far, their forever commitment had lasted a week—or so—mostly spent in bed. Her longest romantic relationship to date and his first.
Tonight, they intended to celebrate their incredible accomplishment with an anniversary party o’ fun that he had kind of sort of requested. No better time for it. Neither of them felt the urgency of an upcoming labor.
Primping in a full-length mirror, Ophelia had to admit she looked pretty snazzy. After an amazing marathon of sex and a superquick six-hour power nap in Halo’s arms, she’d kicked him out of her bunk. Despite his man-pouting, thank you. She’d cleaned up and donned an ivory sheath dress with cutouts between her breasts and around her navel. The flowing, slitted skirt reached the floor, playing peekaboo with towering stilettos.