Accidentally…Cimil? (Accidentally Yours #4.5)(13)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

I stumbled out of Narmer’s temple, fisting my hand over the gaping, raw hole in my chest. Yes, my new body had a new heart, but that mad holy man had ripped away part of my soul and given it to Narmer. The ironic part was that these past months, I’d found comfort in the hope that Narmer might feel a connection and know I was making my way to him.

I am such a fool. I’d believed that he truly cared for me. I believed that when he’d taken that vow, it had actually meant something.

But it hadn’t. Or if it had, the Narmer who’d cared for me no longer existed. I could not begin to process the overwhelming despair, the anger, the confusion over what I’d seen. It was too much. I had to bury it, lock it up where it couldn’t hurt me.

I made my way across the small city to the Temple of Bastet, hoping I’d find Minky. I’d set her free and retreat back to the cenote, back to my world. But what would I tell my brethren? That I fell in love with a mortal and then allowed some decrepit Mayan priest to turn him into a monster with my light?

I entered the eerily vacant temple and began searching the chambers. One, two, three empty chambers. “Godsdammit! Minky! Where are you?” I needed to get out of there. I needed to run from the pain.

“You will not find her here.” Narmer appeared out of thin air right before my eyes, dressed in a simple piece of cloth wrapped around his waist.

I shrank back. “What are you?”

He smiled and wiped away the fresh blood still stuck to his lips. “What are we?” he corrected.

“We?”

“Oh yes, there are many of our new species. My five brothers and sisters were affected by Mitner’s evil sorcery. I can only assume because we are connected by our blood. Of course, the struggle for power began almost immediately, so each of us has created children. My army grows the fastest because I am the strongest.”

“Army?” Great. What had I done? I needed to get the hell home and tell my brethren. I needed to get the hell out of there before I had a breakdown. The man I loved was dead. Dead! Replaced by this cold, power-hungry monster. “My blessings to you and your new scary family. Where’s my unicorn?”

Narmer snarled in my face. “Where the f**k were you?”

“Me? Oh, you know. Here. There. I found a couple of hotties down in the Caribbean,” I lied. “If the palm tree is a rocking, don’t come a knockin’. Where. The. Hell. Is. Minky?”

Narmer slammed me against the wall, knocking the breath from my body. “Your beast is dead.”

Bastard. “You can’t kill a unicorn; they’re made of pure light.”

“I had Mitnal fix that, right before I sucked the blood from his body. Then I drank your little unicorn, too. She was”—he sucked in a breath—“delicious.”

Motherfucker! “That’s impossible. You’re lying!”

“Impossible? Impossible,” he screamed. “Look at me! Look what you have done to me! Nothing is impossible.”

“But I…” I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t about to admit that I’d loved him and tried to save him. “I think you got what you deserved for f**king with a goddess.” And killing my Minky!

I turned away. But then another thought hit me. He was evil. I was a goddess. I could undo the wrong and make it all right. This was not the man I’d loved. This was some dark, twisted version of him.

I reached out my hand, calling on my gift of soul claiming, and placed it on his chest. I’d take back what was given to him.

Nothing.

I stared at him. He stared back, apparently pleased with himself.

“Looking for something?” he asked.

“Your soul? It seems to be missing.”

“I’m dead! I have no soul for you to claim, goddess. You lose.”

Smug jerk! I slapped him across the face. Now, normally that would send a man flying across the room. But not Narmer. His head barely moved. And my hand kind of hurt.

“You cannot injure me,” he said. “I am strong. I am immortal. Just like you.”

He gripped my shoulders, pulled me into him, and kissed me hard. I squirmed and released a surge of energy to ward him off. It did absolutely nothing.

He broke the kiss and laughed.

“Let me go!” I wailed.

He did and then bowed his head. “As you wish, my goddess.”

“This isn’t over, and once the other gods learn of you—and they will—you will be exterminated.”

His eyes glittered with arrogance. “By now, I am certain they already know. Your brother Kinich happened to make an appearance the day I was transformed. He spent many months with me, studying our new species. He did not seem bothered by us at all. To the contrary, we’ve become quite the best of friends.”

What? Kinich approved of these soul-sucking demons? “I don’t believe you. Kinich is kind and sensitive. He’d never—”

“He sees us as proof that change is possible.” Narmer casually waved his hand through the air. “He is inspired by our kind. So much so that he’s returned to take his rightful place as your leader to bring forth a new era.”

“You’re lying,” I scoffed.

“You do not need to take my word. Ask him.”

“Oh, I will! You can bet on it, bub! After I take your head!” I lunged, and he threw me to the floor, pinning me beneath him.

Rage flickered in his eyes. “You are so weak. What did I ever see in you?” he growled.

“You saw something you’ll never have. You’re not good enough for a goddess. You never were. And now, you’re nothing but a lowly, bloodsucking insect, no better than a leech or mosquito.”

“Can a mosquito do this?” He moved so fast that all I saw was the blur of his hand as I felt my head detaching from my body.

* * *

Son of a bitch! The rat bastard actually removed my head. Sure, I’d tried to suck the soul from his body and end him, but that was after I had seen that he’d apparently killed that woman by draining her dry and confessed to murdering Minky.

Revenge. It pounded inside my mind, demanding to see the light of day. Revenge was the reason I’d elected to have the cenote create yet another body and spit me out rather than return me to my realm where I was certain my brethren wondered what had become of me. Revenge had replaced every ounce of love I held for Narmer.

What had I been thinking to become so absorbed in this man? I had behaved like a love-starved child, jumping at the first person who came along offering affection.