So says the trickster god. I'm still not sure I want to put all of my faith in that one, but I'm not sure we have another choice. "I said I'd think on it, Kassam. Don't push me."
"Push you?" He laughs, and his hand goes to the wet necklace at my throat. He fingers one of the quartz crystals and leans in. "I could steal your crystals and make you want me. It would take nothing at all for me to convince you to come with me, just with a few licks of my tongue. We both know this."
I slap his hand away, angry and more than a little hurt. "You'd do that to me? What happened to us being friends?"
His expression grows sad. "I would do it to convince you if I must. My domain, my people, have been abandoned for millennia. I do not know what happens to me if I never go back. How can anyone worship an absent god? I fear I will dissolve into nothing at all."
My mouth goes dry. "But Seth…he said people don't worship him anymore…"
"No, he said only a few dozen do. But what happens when I am down to one? And that one loses their faith because I am not there to respond?" Kassam shakes his head. "So yes, I would push you into going with me, if I must, my Carly. Because I need you at my side to help me right things. I need a friend and a companion. I need someone that will tell me when I am too deep into my hedonism." His mouth ghosts a smile. "And I need someone I can trust. I need my wife." He gives me an imploring look. "Please, Carly. Help me."
Damn it. I'm being asked to put my trust in a god who I met two days ago. A god who lives for fucking and eating sticks of butter.
What's even stupider is that I'm probably going to do it.
23
After a full night of sleep (and a few more rounds of quick, itch-scratching sex with Kassam), I wake up the next morning with a sense of impending doom and determination both. This might be the most idiotic decision ever, but I'm going to help Kassam. Strangely enough, it's not the promise of eternal orgasms or immortality or any of that shit that has decided me. It's not fear that he's going to take my crystals away and like, give me oral sex until I give in.
(I mean, if that's the torture he's talking about, I'm going to volunteer.)
It's that he looked so hurt and lost when I said we weren't married. Like he'd been hoping for someone to count on, and he felt betrayed it wasn't me.
And I haven't finished a lot of stuff in my life, but I can at least see this through. Kassam's right. If the marriage vows keep me safe because he promised to protect me, it needs to work both ways. I can't pick and choose which part of being married to him applies. So even though I'm terrified of what the future holds, I'm going to go through with it.
"We need to see my mother this morning," I tell Kassam after I brush my teeth.
He looks up from tasting a bit of toothpaste he squirted onto his finger. "Why's that?"
My lip trembles. "Because I need to tell her I'm going with you. And if she doesn't see me again, she'll know why."
Kassam's beautiful silver eyes brighten with excitement. He grabs me and pulls me into his arms, hugging me tightly. "I could kiss you right now."
"But you won't, because we agreed no kisses," I point out. It's the hill I've chosen to die on, and I'm not kissing him until this feels less like scratching an itch and more romantic.
The god isn't deterred. He squeezes me against his chest, all boisterous affection. "You still have time to fall in love with me yet."
"It doesn't work quite like that," I tell him.
"You're right." He leans over and whispers in my ear. "I probably need to lick your cunt far, far more often."
Hot desire shivers through me. "I mean, that's not a bad start."
Kassam gives me another hug, then strokes my hair. "We will also pull your mother into my world after everything is settled. I have decided this."
I suck in a breath, because it's something I haven't even considered. "Really?"
He nods. "I will owe the Fates a dozen favors, but as long as I am home and ruling my domain once more, let them ask for what they like." A look of determination crosses his normally laughing face. "All that matters is my return."
"And me living," I chirp, feeling the need to point that out.
"And you living," he agrees.
My car keys are missing, and my car isn't in the parking lot. I'm pretty sure it's still back at the bar from the other day. When I ask Kassam how he got me home when I was unconscious, he shrugged and said he walked until someone offered to give him a ride. I find that incredibly odd but not surprising. It's just another bizarre aspect of how strange my life has become in the last week. We take another cab over to my mom's store, and I brace myself, trying to figure out what I'm going to tell her.
She's going to think I'm crazy for following him over, knowing that an anchor has to die for the god to return to his world. But like…if a god can't keep me safe, who will? For now, I'm going to put my faith in Kassam and try not to worry too much.
Ha.
Ha ha.
I twist my hands in my lap as the driver pulls up to my mother's psychic shop. He flicks his gaze at Kassam in the rearview mirror over and over again, but it doesn't bother me. It would have yesterday, before our shower discussion when Kassam told me that he considered our marriage to be a real one. That thought keeps turning in my head over and over again.
A real marriage.
With a god.
Who's cursed with hedonism.
And someone else tried to take out because he wouldn't marry them.
Yep, all of this leads to madness, but somehow I'm determined to race into it, face first. I force back my worries and pay the cab driver in the last of my cash, then get out of the car. Kassam follows behind me, and when he steps onto the sidewalk, he holds his hand out to me.
I take it, not thinking—and he zaps me with an instant orgasm.
A whimper escapes my lips and I turn to him, eyes wide. "What the fuck, dude?"
Kassam just grins at me. "You looked so very serious and sad. I wanted to give you something that felt good."
"I am about to tell my mother that I'm leaving this world," I whisper to him. "Maybe don't make me come while I'm trying not to cry?"
His expression immediately changes to one of consternation. "I forbid you to cry, Carly. I won't like that." He shakes his head, as if that decides it. "Your sadness makes me unhappy."
If only it were that easy to turn it off and on, like a switch. Kinda like he does with the orgasms. I give him a stern look, squeezing his fingers. "You can keep holding my hand, but if you give me another orgasm, I'm changing my mind about going with you."
Kassam's mouth twitches, and he does his best to look serious. "I will be on my best behavior."
Somehow I doubt that.
I head inside the shop, the neon PALM READING sign in the window bright and flashing. It's early in the day but my mom is open already, and I think guiltily of the stack of cash she gave me. Her shop runs on a tight budget, and I know she barely makes the bills. It's a labor of love for her and I hate that she's having to pass me money and even more that I can't pay her back. Ever.