Fate of the Gods 01 - Forged by Fate (9 page)

The next morning, Garrit was sitting at the kitchen table. One look at his face told her he hadn’t slept, even if she hadn’t noticed his absence from her bed. His eyes were glazed, and barely tracked on her when she entered the room.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He blinked blearily for a moment. “
Oui
, fine. I’m fine.”

His shirt looked heavy and damp on his shoulders, and his hair was ruffled into a mess. He dropped his gaze to the teacup before him. There was a second one, across the table, and the chair opposite had been pulled out. His father must have arrived early and left before she had come down but it was barely eight in the morning.

The kettle began to whistle.

“Did you talk to your father? Was Adam found?”

“No. Not
Papa
.” He hesitated before going on, looking out the window. “I received word that Adam was still in the town, as you suspected. But he should be gone by now.”

She crossed to the stove and took the kettle off the heat. The idea of Garrit confronting Adam made her uneasy. The look in his eyes when he glanced at her only intensified the feeling.

“You didn’t see him yourself, did you?”

“
Non.
” He stood and cleared the two cups from the table, placing them in the dishwasher.

She opened the cabinet, retrieving her own mug; blue, with soft yellow baby chicks clucking at the sun. She filled it with hot water, and dropped in a teabag. Chamomile. It seemed like the kind of day that needed a little bit of extra relaxation. Garrit was still fussing over the dishwasher, rearranging the dirty items more precisely. She watched him, and worried, leaning against the counter. Something was bothering him, and if it wasn’t Adam—

“Did the tree catch fire?” Eve asked.

“What?” He shifted a cereal bowl to a different position, then turned a mug and moved the bowl back again.

“You said you’d check on the tree that was struck last night. You didn’t forget, did you?” She looked out the window, but nothing seemed to be scorched. In the morning light, she couldn’t even tell which tree it had been.

“Ah.” He cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the dishes. “The rain put out what was smoldering.”

She frowned into her mug, raising it to her lips and blowing across the surface of the tea. She had never had cause to mistrust Garrit. She had always respected the privacy of his mind. But if Adam had touched him, subverted him, none of them were safe.

There was only one way to know. She closed her eyes, letting her mind open and touch his softly. Just enough to know that it hadn’t been Adam he had found by the tree, but another man, tall and heavily built, standing in the rain as though he belonged there. Just enough to reassure herself Adam hadn’t tainted him, or poisoned his mind. She withdrew immediately, opened her eyes, and sipped her tea. It was still too hot, and burned her tongue, but she was too distracted to care. Her stomach had turned to ice at the silhouette she had caught from his memory.

“I guess if Adam’s gone, there’s no reason to call your father.”

Garrit’s lips were pressed into a thin line. “
Non
. Everything should be taken care of. You’re safe here, Abby. Safer here than anywhere else.”

She nodded once, and looked out the window again to where she had seen the lightning strike the night before. It couldn’t be Thorgrim. Not again. He was dead, and she was sane.

She had to be sane.

Chapter Eight: Creation

Light woke Eve the next morning, shining bright and warm on her face, in spite of the shelter of the cave. Adam sat nearby, staring out at the Garden. Another woman entered, bowed, and placed a large leaf down within his reach. Eve sat up, aware of a knotting in her stomach. Whatever was on the leaf, she wanted it.

Adam glanced back at her movement and passed her the leaf. She stared at rounded brown shapes, then looked up at him. Now that she had it, she was uncertain what to do.

“The nuts make a good meal. I’m sure you’re hungry.” He picked one up and brought it to his mouth.

It was just the two of them inside, now. She wondered where the man she had spoken with last night had gone. Reu. She put one of the nuts in her mouth and chewed. They tasted pleasant, earthy, and her stomach growled. The knotted feeling eased as she ate. “Thank you.”

“The storm knocked much of the fruit from the trees, and I’ve set our people to gathering it.” His gaze raked over her body and she dropped her eyes to the leaf, hating the way her skin flushed beneath his scrutiny.

She studied the nuts, the different shapes and sizes, each with its own individual flavor. She tried several, and then began sorting them. Anything to keep from thinking of him, of the way he watched her, of the heat that blossomed through her body.

“You slept well?” he asked.

“It reminded me of the void.” The wrinkled lumps of brown tasted the best, and she had almost finished them before she realized Adam was watching her fingers more than her body. She hesitated. “Do you want some?”

“I ate before you woke.” He was studying
her
again, lingering. “Tonight you’ll sleep with me in my chamber. You don’t belong with the rest of them, sleeping in the dirt.”

“They don’t seem that different,” she said, careful not to meet his eyes.

He laughed. “You’re still so new. The difference isn’t something you would see, I suppose. They’re far more fragile though. If not cared for, they’ll die. You and I won’t. We’ll keep living. Coming back again and again, life after life. Elohim made us immortal in ways they can only dream of.”

She ate a few more of the nuts and considered his words. “You said you saw the difference in me, yesterday.”

“Yes.” But he didn’t elaborate, and another woman entered the cave, bowed, and presented them with a second leaf. Adam took it and waved the woman away again, offering the leaf to Eve. “Here, try one of the berries. They’re very sweet.”

They were red and plump, dotted with seeds and capped with green leaves. She took one and tasted it. The flavor was almost overwhelming, and the moisture soothed her throat and mouth. She sighed with pleasure.

He smiled. “I thought you’d like them. They’re my favorite.”

It startled her. The smile. It changed his face and for a moment she thought she saw the person he had been when he was first made. When everything was new for him too. She smiled back.

He shifted closer to her, and their shoulders touched.
When she smiles, it’s like seeing the sun break through the clouds after a storm. Elohim outdid Himself.

She flinched and leaned away, lowering her gaze to the nuts and berries again.

“Why do you do that?” His voice was hard now, and his eyes were stone.

She swallowed. “What?”

“You cringe from me as if you’re afraid.” She could feel his anger, black and burning, even when they weren’t touching. “Why?” He grabbed her arm and jerked her toward him. “What did they tell you?”

The nuts fell from her hands when he grabbed her. She tried to pull away, but he only held her more fiercely. “I don’t know. I’m not doing anything!”

His fingers dug painfully into her arm. “Who spoke to you?”

She shook her head and clawed at his fingers. Her heart raced, thudding in her ears. “I don’t know!” Something in the way he stared at her made her keep Reu’s name to herself. “It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. Please! You’re hurting me, Adam.”

He searched her face.
Of course, they wouldn’t give their name. They know not to defy me.
His hand slid down her arm, gentle again. “You’re right to fear me. I am Lord now.”

She shivered at his touch, and that seemed to please him. He raised his hand to her face, cupping her cheek and drawing his thumb along her cheekbone. She forced herself not to look away. Not to move. But everything inside her twisted. She wanted to crawl away into the darkness, but there were no shadows now to hide her. His face was so close she could feel his breath on her lips.

“Lord Adam!” She jumped, though the voice was familiar.
Reu.

Adam closed his eyes for a moment, then turned his head slowly. “What is it?”

It was easier to breathe with Adam looking at the man, though he still held her face in his hands. She shut her eyes.

“The fruit has been laid out for your inspection, as you wished,” Reu said.

The fruit. Yes. The fruit first.
Adam’s hand dropped away from her face. “Excellent. Set the women to making a bed of fronds for Eve in my chambers. The others may do as they wish now. I have no more need of them.”

“Yes, Lord.”

She felt Adam’s breath against her ear. “Later.”

It made her shiver again, and she kept her eyes closed until she felt him move away. He brushed past Reu, leaving the cave.

“Are you well?” Reu was studying her with warm brown eyes. The same eyes she had dreamed of.

She was trembling. She pulled her knees to her chest again, trying to stop it, and hid her face in her arms. Later, Adam had said. Later, what? He kept touching her. He kept touching her and she didn’t understand what she was feeling.

She heard Reu step toward her. “You don’t have to let him touch you, Eve.”

“He was angry with me for pulling away.” She rubbed her arm, lifting her head to look at him. Her skin was red where Adam had grabbed her. “He hurt me.”

Reu dropped to the ground beside her. “I’m sorry.”

“The way he touches me—” she hesitated, brushing dirt from her hip. “It makes me feel cold, even though his hands are like the sun.”

“He hurt you because of me.”

She shook her head. “No. Because of me.”

“He has no right.” Reu’s voice was hard. “He has no right to force you. God’s laws are clear.”

“I wish someone would tell me,” she said softly. “What I’m supposed to do. How I’m supposed to act. I keep waiting for some understanding, but everything gets more confused.”

“Eve.” It was a sigh, more than anything. He covered her hand with his, just for a moment. Then the warmth was gone and he rose back to his feet. “It wasn’t meant to be this way for you. You shouldn’t have to fear, to weep. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“How was it meant to be, Reu? Please.”

He shook his head, stepping back, toward the front of the cave. “I hope someday to be able to show you.” But then he turned and walked away.

She spent the rest of the morning alone for the most part, though Adam made her leave the cave when the sun reached its zenith. She sat in the shade of a large tree in the thick, green grass spotted with small purple flowers, and watched the others, not knowing what else to do with herself.

Some of the women brought her food and water, and sat with her while they ate their own. They laughed often among themselves as they talked about the men.

“Seth promised to marry me. He means to speak with Adam this evening.” The woman’s hair was the color of the sun, and Eve thought her name was Sarah.

Another woman, Hannah, glanced to where the men stood together. Her hair was almost black, and her eyes were a darker green than the grass they sat in, almost brown at times. “I wish that one of them would marry me. If only to keep Adam from touching me. Every time he sends us off to bathe, I’m tempted to coat my skin with mud before I come back, just to disgust him.”

“You mean you wish Adam would marry,” a third woman said. Eve thought she was called Lilith.

All three of them glanced at Eve. She felt their eyes, even if she pretended not to notice. Sarah’s voice lowered. “Seth doesn’t think he’ll stop even if he does marry.”

“We’re his,” Lilith said. “To do with as he pleases.”

“Reu doesn’t believe that,” Hannah said, catching Eve’s eye. The dark haired girl smiled at her tentatively. “He says that we’re meant to be free.”

“Reu should be more careful what he says.” Lilith says. “If Adam hears him, he’ll be punished. Talk like this will only get us into trouble.” She stood and walked away.

Sarah sighed and watched her go. “I don’t understand her, sometimes.”

“Reu told me that Adam took her right after she was made.” Hannah spoke softly. “He isn’t sure what happened, but God was upset.”