Read Online Theta by Lizzy Ford - Free Book Online Page A

headed.
    Fitting, I thought, amused for the first time in
weeks.
    They’d placed him in the livestock barn,
which was constructed out of material left over from one of the
destroyed anchor stores. Safe inside the defenses, we didn’t guard
the livestock except to place young men and women in charge of
making sure the animals were well. Four guards stood in front of
the barn doors, confirming my suspicion the god was inside.
    The guards opened the doors when we reached
them, and all four of us entered.
    The barn smelled of horses, cows, pigs,
sheep and hay, and light glowed from the lamps ensconced along one
wall.
    In front of the bales of hay and straw, a
man in his twenties sat bound to a chair. He appeared the worse for
wear, as if my men had beaten him before he managed to talk his way
out of the fate I declared for every deity. His clothing was ripped
and bloody and his dark hair mussed – but he bore no bruises or
signs of injury. He was relaxed and dozing.
    “ Is it one of them?”
Herakles asked me quietly.
    I nodded.
    “ Give her room,” he
instructed the others and waved them back, towards the
door.
    Ever my protector, he stayed close to me
when I stepped forward.
    Who are you? I demanded of the god.
    He jerked awake and lifted his face to see
me. His skin was dark caramel – but his eyes were brilliant
blue.
    “ Your Majesty,” he said and
dipped his head. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
    I repeated my question.
    “ Paeon.”
    My eyebrows lifted.
    “ Who?” Herakles
asked.
    The god appeared surprised
briefly before he responded. “I am … I was the personal physician to the gods
and goddesses,” he replied.
    “ A god doctor. I didn’t
know they needed such a thing.”
    Paeon didn’t seem to know how to respond. I
waved Herakles back a step, impatient to interrogate the prisoner
before I put him to death for stealing a human body.
    “ But I didn’t steal
it.”
    I blinked. For several weeks, no one around
me had been able to hear my thoughts. I was becoming lazy in
guarding them.
    “ He was dying. I offered to
heal him, if he volunteered to host me,” Paeon
explained.
    Volunteered? I repeated skeptically. Your kind has been usurping the rightful spirits and forms
that belong to the humans!
    Paeon blinked – and his eyes turned from
brilliant blue to dark brown.
    “ He’s telling the truth.”
His voice became deeper, softer, and the sense of being near a god
… changed. Became fainter. “My name is Kyros. I was beaten and left
for dead by thieves after my food.”
    Was it possible for someone to be
half-possessed?
    Has he hurt you? Tried to
eject you from your body? I asked
warily.
    “ No. Never. We take turns,
and he keeps my body healed and healthy, no matter
what.”
    I studied him critically. The sickly sweet
scent of rotting flesh was not present, and there was a healthy
glow to this man’s features. I had never heard of a god possessing
a body and allowing the human soul to remain.
    So you share? I asked.
    “ Yes. We both needed
help.”
    I perked in
interest. Why would a god need
help?
    Kyros shook his head. “He says I shouldn’t
have said that.” He smiled, a strangely unguarded display. “We
don’t always agree. It’s been a learning experience, having someone
else in my head.” He blinked – and his eyes turned blue. His
expression became more guarded, and he sat up straighter.
    I had never considered the possibility that
a god could co-exist with a human soul inside one body. It left me
even angrier with those deities I’d murdered. They didn’t give the
humans a chance to share but stole the bodies.
    Why is your kind doing
this? I demanded.
    “ I’m not here to discuss
this,” Paeon said firmly. “That is not for you to know.”
    Startled by his words, I stared at him. If
my men doubted me, they at least kept their feelings quiet and
obeyed my orders. Not even Herakles would challenge me. How had I
forgotten the natural arrogance of a god? Perhaps because those