Read Online Dark Gods Rising by Mark Eller, E A Draper - Free Book Online

expression, and the same strange wintery look Larson held in his eyes blew dangerously within Calto’s. His, however, held a winter storm, merciless, cold, and cruel. Would they really fight one another, two grown men, priests and brothers?
    The moment stretched on painfully. The air was charged with a prickly energy, making the hairs on Simta’s body stand on end.
    “Go take care of Arlot,” Larson finally said. “I’ll see Simta safely home.”
    Just like that, Larson’s anger dissipated. He looked back at Simta, dismissing his older brother as if he were a servant.
    A look of shocked rage came over Calto’s face, and then solidified into cold anger. “This is not over, little brother. You need to remember who is the head of our family. I will enjoy showing you.”
    With a quick turn, Calto stomped off like an angry child. Watching him, Simta fought back the insane urge to laugh. After all the blood, death, and horror transpired but moments ago, the church’s supreme leader was acting like a four-year-old. This was a side of Calto she had never seen. His petulance helped put things in perspective, reminding her no one was perfect, not even his supreme snobbiness, Lord Calto Morlon.
    A soft chuckle brought her attention back to Larson. A barely suppressed smile teased his mouth. “He really can get into a twist when he’s mad. I think I’m the only one who can truly get away with pissing him off.”
    A giggle escaped Simta’s mouth before she could stop it. Quickly, she clamped her hand over her lips and turned her face into Larson’s chest so he wouldn’t see her fighting a laughing fit. Had she finally gone crazy, fallen over the edge? If she had, at least this kind of crazy was better than the screaming kind this situation deserved.
    Larson’s body shook as he, too, suppressed his mirth. All too quickly though, reality reasserted itself. Sadness and fatigue crept back into them both.
    “Is Calto right? Am I going to Hell, Larson?” Sniffling, Simta wiped at her eyes. “I don’t want to go there, but I don’t know how to stop being me. I feel like I’m fighting the world, and I’m all alone.”
    A puzzled expression crossed Larson’s face, and then he shook his head. “Anothosia says all sins can be forgiven. If you truly repent in your heart and soul, there is the promise of salvation for you. No one is ever alone if they believe in the power of faith, love, and forgiveness. Simta, you will never be alone if you believe not only in the power of the gods, but also yourself.” He gave her a quick smile. “Besides, you really haven’t done all that many bad things. At least I don’t think you have. Why don’t you marry your man and settle down?”
    Larson must have noticed the look of distaste upon Simta’s face, because a sharp laugh escaped him. “Oh, come on. Marriage isn’t all so terrible, and if you marry more for love and a little less for money, you may actually enjoy being Charmaine’s wife.”
    Simta shook her head. “No, Larson, I can’t. I just can’t. It’s not that my life’s ambition has been to disgrace my family, but I feel there’s something missing, something I’m supposed to be, know, or have. I can’t make the feeling go away. I might not know what I want. I may not know my destiny. I do know marrying that simpering, money grubbing idiot is not it.”
    Despair washed over Simta anew as she realized Charmaine was the only option left to her. After tonight, she could no longer steal, drink, or whore around. Larson had given her a second chance. She would take it, but by the Seven Gods and Two, she didn’t want to marry Charmaine even to save her soul. There had to be some way out of it.
    “Hmmm,” Larson said, nodding thoughtfully. “I might be able to help you delay matters. Trelsar’s church needs young women to do charity work. It’s a one year commitment, and only single men and women can do it. Trelsar’s priests don’t want married people because the