5. Luce

5

LUCE

I lay next to Rissa on the plush king-sized bed, our bodies still glistening with sweat. In that moment, nothing mattered except the magnificent woman in my arms. Even though we'd just finished, I wanted to start all over again.

"I'm starving," Rissa said.

"Well then, let's see what I can put together?" I jumped up from the bed, my muscles flexing as I stretched.

Rissa watched me with a satisfied smirk, her green gaze raking over my body appreciatively. I couldn't help but feel a definite rise in interest.

She laughed and licked her lips. "Down, boy. Food first."

"Let's see what's on offer."

While I'm a power among daemons, I've picked up hobbies over the millennia. Cooking is important, especially when people keep trying to poison you, one of the Council's favorite maneuvers.

Besides, there was something deeply satisfying about the thought of Rissa letting herself be provided for, even in this small way. Lowering her guard a bit.

I pulled the pair of loose linen pants back on, not bothering with underwear or a shirt, and padded barefoot down the short hallway. Rissa followed close behind, her footfall silent against the smooth stone floor.

The kitchen was compact but well-equipped, with gleaming copper pots hanging above a large farmhouse sink. Bundles of dried herbs dangled from rough-hewn wooden beams, perfuming the air with their earthy scent. The curved wall glowed, illuminating the space with a warm light.

I ran my hand along the cool marble countertop, taking stock of our supplies. "Not bad for a prison cell," I remarked dryly.

She rolled her eyes but couldn't quite suppress a smile. It felt good to slip back into casual banter.

I ducked my head into the fridge, rummaging through the unimaginatively stocked shelves. "Looks like we've got the makings for a vegetable frittata here. Spinach, mushrooms, goat cheese..."

"Sounds fancy." Rissa's tone was teasing as she moved to peer over my shoulder. "But I like meat."

"I can probably help you there, after we eat." I flashed her a grin, grabbing a carton of eggs and nudging the fridge door shut with my hip. "I make killer scrambled eggs, too. They'll keep your strength up."

She laughed, a rare, unguarded sound that made my chest tighten. "Fair enough. Pass me a knife, I'll chop."

We moved around the tiny kitchen in a clumsy dance, bumping elbows and reaching across each other for utensils. It should have been awkward, but somehow, it felt almost comfortable. Familiar, even.

I cracked eggs into a bowl as Rissa chopped veggies with deft, precise strokes. She wielded the knife like an extension of herself, all coiled grace and focused intensity. It was mesmerizing to watch.

"You're pretty handy with a blade." I whisked the eggs with a fork. "Picked that up during your shifter-warrior-fury days, I assume?"

She snorted, scooping a pile of mushrooms into the bowl. "Nah, Food Network. You'd be amazed what you can learn at two in the morning."

I barked out a laugh, caught off guard by her deadpan delivery. "Well, thank the gods for late night cable."

We worked in companionable silence for a few minutes, the sizzle of the sauteing vegetables in the pan filling the small space. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this at ease. When was the last time I'd cooked with someone? Never, actually. I didn't trust people near my food.

Rissa bumped my hip with hers, jerking me out of my reverie. "This smells amazing. I'm impressed."

"I live to exceed expectations." I winked at her. "Just wait 'til you taste it."

I set the plates on the small kitchen table, and we dug in. The frittata was light and fluffy, the veggies lending a nice freshness. Rissa made an appreciative noise as she took a bite.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, but a question was burning in my mind. I'd suspected it for a while now, but I had to know for sure. I swallowed my mouthful of food and kept my tone casual.

"You're the goddess Sekhmet, right?"

Rissa's fork clattered onto her plate as her jaw dropped. She gaped at me, her brow furrowed in shock.

"Why in the world would you ask me that?" she demanded.

And that wasn't a denial.

I shrugged, watching her mobile face. "I've been around a long time. So have you. Under another face, I knew you when you were Sekhmet, though I've just now put two and two together that you and she are the same. You've made a few changes to your appearance."

Her expression shuttered, vivid green eyes narrowing.

But I pressed on. "I've suspected for a while that you were one of the old gods."

Pausing, giving her a moment to consider what she wanted to say, I studied Rissa. The tense set of her shoulders, the guarded look on her face. Magically, her aura was similar to Sekhmet's, but somehow...less. Muted. Like a faded echo of the raw power that used to radiate from her.

Rissa leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. She scrutinized me for a long moment, her gaze calculating.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag now," she finally said, her tone wry. "With my luck right now, everyone will know soon, I'm sure."

Silent, I waited for an answer.

Rissa's shoulders slumped slightly as she came to a decision and met my gaze head on. "Yes. I'm a goddess."

I nodded slowly, processing this confirmation of my suspicion. Could this help the situation we were in? "Well, that explains a few things."

She snorted, rolling her eyes at my understatement. Tension eased from her frame, the air clearing between us.

"Glad to help," she muttered, picking her fork back up.

"What was it like in the beginning?" I asked, unable to stop the question. The revelation of Rissa's true identity had my mind spinning with possibilities. I leaned forward, my elbows resting on the table.

Rissa laughed, a rich, throaty sound that filled the small space of the kitchen. She shook her head, her short black hair brushing against her angular cheekbones.

"In the very beginning, I wasn't really big on thinking," she admitted, her tone full of dry humor. "It was more about feeling back then. Before the humans, before the Neanderthals, when most life was in the ocean..."

Her gaze turned distant, as if she were peering back through the eons. "It was so peaceful. Just messy growth, stretching out endlessly in all directions."

My mind boggled for a moment. I was old, but she was implying a level of ancient I'd never encountered.

A small smile played at the corners of Rissa's mouth. "And sometimes, fighting with my siblings."

I couldn't help but grin in response to that. The image of ancient gods squabbling like children was both reassuring and strangely humanizing.

Internally, I marveled at the sheer scope of her existence. What would it have been like to witness the dawn of life on Earth, to feel the ebb and rise of primordial seas... it was almost beyond comprehension.

And yet, here she sat, sharing a meal with me. A goddess, yes, but also undeniably a woman. Complex, sarcastic, and utterly captivating.

I found myself wanting to know more, just to know.

"Well, how did you feel when the first people became cognizant?" I asked, still unable to contain my curiosity.

Rissa's expression shifted, a dreamy look settling over her angular features as she reminisced. Her fork dangled forgotten from her fingertips as she stared off into the middle distance.

"That was such a fun time," she murmured, a note of wistfulness in her tone. "That's when things started to become more focused, more about thinking and less about being."

I leaned forward, my elbows resting on the small kitchen table as I studied her. It was a rare glimpse of the person beneath Rissa's sharp exterior.

In my mind's eye, I tried to picture it. The world in its infancy, primitive humans taking their first tentative steps towards self-awareness. And Rissa and her siblings, watching it all unfold with the fascination of a child with a new toy.

"It must have been incredible to witness," I said softly, not wanting to break the moment. "To see the birth of consciousness, the dawn of a new era..."

Rissa's lips curved into a smile, but there was a tinge of melancholy to it. As if the weight of all those memories pressed down upon her in that moment.

"It was," she agreed, her gaze finally flickering back to meet mine. "But it was also the beginning of the end, in a way. The end being stuck in a bottle."

I nodded, hoping for a little more time of her reminiscing. My hope was answered.

A gleam of humor settled over Rissa's face as she continued. "It was fun to think in the beginning, but it got old quickly. That shit's for the birds."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her assessment. "I can understand how you would feel that way."

"Watching people learn how to crawl, then walk, then run—it was a fascinating time. I became a bit obsessed with the progression of all the monsters and humans, and how they interacted." A wistful smile played at the corners of her mouth.

I shrugged one shoulder. "That's understandable. To see a species evolve and grow like that, it must have been fascinating."

Rissa let out a short laugh, shaking her head. "Not to my siblings. A couple like Tezcatlipoca wanted to kill them and start over, Zeus wanted to breed with any of them who couldn't run away fast enough, and Raven wanted to interfere in everything they did, just to see what would happen."

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. The dynamics between the ancient gods had always been a source of mystery and speculation. The elders of Daemonkind had always suppressed that knowledge after the banishment. "Tell me about your siblings."

Rissa's demeanor shifted at my words. Her gaze hardened, her posture stiffening almost imperceptibly.

"If you recall," she said, her tone sharp as a blade, "it was you daemons that banished them. How involved were you with that, exactly?"

I tensed, the air between us suddenly charged with many undercurrents revived by memories. I needed to tread carefully here.

I met her challenging stare head-on, refusing to back down. "You know it wasn't that simple. There were extenuating circumstances."

She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Isn't that always the case with you lot? Always an excuse, always a justification for meddling."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair in frustration. How could I make her understand? The decisions made back then, the actions taken, the elders hadn't been made lightly. I'd been very young then, allowed to voice an opinion but with no power over the outcome.

Looking at Rissa, seeing the hurt and betrayal simmering beneath her facade of anger, I knew that words wouldn't be enough right now.

Buying time, I leaned back in my chair, studying Rissa's face across the small kitchen table. The silence hung in the air between us.

"If you remember, someone had to be involved," I said, trying to keep my tone even. "Your brother, Set, decided to get rid of humanity and you and your siblings didn't stop him. Then Tezcatlipoca had started that big flood, remember? It took a lot of cleaning up to keep humans and a lot of the monster peoples from all being killed off."

I paused, gauging her reaction. Her jaw clenched, but she remained silent, so I pressed on.

"Humanity and some of the other monsters couldn't survive in the same world as the wildest old gods. Back then was when the Council decided to use humanity for when the formless ones show up to give the formless ones fodder so they didn't try to possess us. Sacrifice a portion of the world to save the rest of it, was the justification."

The words tasted bitter on my tongue, a reminder of the choices I'd argued against. I wasn't proud of everything we daemons had done, but I stood by the necessity of most of our actions.

Rissa snorted. "Yeah, we had our problems, but you guys don't get any brownie points for spending hundreds of years trying to figure out a way to feed pretty much everyone else in the world to the formless ones."

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I wanted to argue, but she had a point.

We sat in silence for a long moment, the weight of our shared history hanging between us. I wished I could find the right words to bridge the gap between us right now. Birth past wasn't so easily overcome.