My bellow of fury matches the ferocity of the storm. Wind lashes me, but I have control of my wings. I know how to fly against a storm. The storm is relentless, raining so hard that it's as if the Euphrates is lifting into the sky to try and drown me.

I clutch my beloved Flame to my chest. "Please," she whispers. Her haunted gaze strikes me like an arrow through the heart.

"Nanto!" I roar.

"Captain," he tumbles through the hole I ripped in the roof. Like me, his feet immediately begin to sink into the mud under the floodwaters. "Fuck, Thelios!" he shouts, eyes so wide I can see the whites all around.

"Get control, Recondite," I snap. I have no time for panicking assholes. Not with my sweet female in my arms.

With one arm clutching her tight, I use the other to pry the beam off of the drowning male. Grabbing his shirt, I pull him back to the surface of the water.

"Can you shift?" I shout. My wings extend, battling the cruel wind and rain for me, keeping my balance.

"Claws," he gasps.

"Then fucking extend them and start climbing," I snap. "Nanto, take the babes."

"No, want my pa," the little female chokes out.

"Do what he says, now," my female says in a faint voice. I look down at her with a soft smile that probably makes me look like an idiot.

Her face is too pale. Her eyes... as dark as night with an elfin tilt at the corners. They hold secrets that my entire soul yearns for. I can't wait to learn them all, preferably naked.

The house starts to slide, mud and water bubbling up from the floor.

"Fly," my Flame whispers.

"Don't worry, Sprite. I'm not ready to meet your father, yet. We should have dinner first. Get to know each other."

She blinks at me with not even the slightest amusement flickering in those eyes. I guess it's not the time to make jokes?

"Captain! Wind's too strong!" Nanto shouts. He's trying to fly out of the roof, but the storm is beating down through the hole, trapping us in a watery tomb.

Turning on my heels, I kick at the wall opposite the river. The panel goes flying out, revealing the face of a half-shifted cat. The smile Belen sends me looks more like a threatening grimace with the fangs, but I just laugh.

"Belen, rope!" I order.

My friend is fast, thank fuck. I catch the rope, tieing it to Nanto, then the male. Nanto has both babes clutched in his arms, their faces white in fear.

"Pull you fuckers!" I holler at the males standing on more solid ground.

They yank, and the piece-of-shit shanty my sweet Flame decided to play hero in rips apart and falls into the river.

I have to fight the wind. Exultant, I roar again, taking my female into the sky with me with her scream ringing in my ears.

Water whips into my face, threatening to blind me. I fold my wings, knowing that it's a fight I'll lose if I don't go on the offensive. That's the key, use what your opponent tries to throw at you to your advantage.

I tuck my Flame close to me as the ground comes up, fast. The water is a torrent of muddy whirlpools just below us when I let my wings unfurl again.

Laughing, I set us down on solid ground. "What an adventure, my love, eh?" I tuck her to my chest, smiling down at her.

Her gorgeous eyes travel over my face, to the tattoo of the Recondite hawk on my throat, then lower, to fasten on my collarbone and look at the image of her own eyes staring back at her.

She pushes away from me, suddenly. "Sprite?" I ask her, confused at the expression of sorrow and pain on her face.

She shakes her head and takes another step backward.

I follow, my hand coming up to grasp her to me again. I feel cold without her in my arms.

"Mara!" the elderly priest who comes toddling over to her looks like the god he serves... death.

"Patriarch," she goes flying into his arms.

I take another step forward, but Belen grabs me. "Thelios, we need to move. The entire riverbank is being swallowed up!"

I don't want to let her go. My demon snarls, flexing our wings in agitation. Her eyes go to my wings, and confusion crosses her face.

Does she not like my wings? I can't control them, I am a skinwalker, and I hide my wings. Does she want one of those pure fuckers from the hill?

I stiffen my spine. Too fucking bad, princess. You're mine. I let her know with my gaze. She'll get used to the wings.

"I am Thelios, Sprite. I will see you later. Go home, get dry. I don't want you to sicken."

"Take her home, priest," I tell the elderly male. He gives me an appraising look, but wraps my Flame into a clean, dry robe and hustles her away.

She doesn't look back at me. It makes me uneasy. As soon as I have this storm under control I will find out why my sprite stares at me with such agony in her dark eyes.

"She's beautiful," I shout to Belen over the storm.

"You're absolutely fucked."

I just grin, wiping the rainwater off of my face.

"Captain, the male we saved..." Nanto comes over to me. His eyes look toward the direction my Flame disappeared to. "He says he wishes to speak with you. Seems desperate, actually."

I scowl at the male. "Now? It's a fucking disaster and he wants to have a little chat now? If it's a 'thank you-'"

"No, Captain, it's about the Death Priestess."

"Fuck."

My strides eat the ground as I stomp over. "What?" I snarl at the shaken male.

He coughs. "That female. I seen her before. I can't forget her, Sir. Her face is seared into my head."

"Where did you see her?" I snap out. I don't have time for this.

"Over a year ago, Sir. I saw her. That little female... that poor, little bit. I remember her face. Her hair. Such pretty hair..."

"Where did you see her?" I ask him abruptly.

"In the trash heaps," he whispers. "In... here. In the garbage. I took her to the temple. Thought they could bury her nice."

"Bury her?" my voice descends into the hiss of the viper.

The male flinches. "Sir... She were dead, Sir. Cold and... lifeless. Dead. I know she was," he whispers.

Dead. Cold. Lifeless. It's all I hear. My demon has this male's throat in his hands a moment later, applying just enough pressure so he knows, he understands, we are in charge here. "You are mistaken," I say softly. I won't have viscious rumors ciruculating through this city about my female. Gods, fuck that.

"Alright, Captain," he mumbles in fear. "She is the Daughter of Death, now. She's... she... that hair-"

I lean in, still speaking quietly, "shut up. Tell no one else. She saved your life today. Your children's lives. Don't make me take them back. And make no mistake, if I hear you spreading tales about my female, I will not hesitate to slaughter your entire family."

He nods rapidly. "Right, sir. I just... how is it possible?"

I stand up straight and smirk down at him cruelly. "That's not your concern, is it?" I walk away, cutting off Nanto when he tries to speak.

"Shut up. Check out those apartments. Make sure no one is left inside."

We all fan out across the stricken portion of the city. The water god must feel wrathful, today. He is not easily angered, that one, but when he loses his temper he's a complete bastard.

I pause as I shift a broken piece of wall paneling out of my way. How the fuck do I know that about a god?

Shaking my head, I go back to clearing debris so that we can check for stranded survivors. The wind is dying down, at last, and the rain is steady but no longer a vicious downpour.

I find two more bodies inside the building. "Nateos, bless these souls," I say solemnly. I try to keep on task, I do, but it's hard when just the mention of the Death god makes me think of my little fire sprite. She wasn't dead. Just the thought of losing her so completely makes me feel sick.

---

"This is insane," I mumble to myself, hurrying down the hallway to the sacred pool. "I have completely lost my mind. I hear grief. I see it, too. The god of Death is my father and speaks to me. My friends are gargoyles come to life. I'm crazy. That's the only explanation."

Mishu huffs at me as he scurries along the ceiling, hanging upside down but keeping pace with me. He has a small piece of rope in his mouth with several knots tied in rows.

"Sorry, Meesh. You're amazing," I soothe his ruffled feathers... stonework... It's not his fault that I'm a lunatic.

I hurry inside the chamber and cross to the pool. Usually I take my time, greeting my father with prayers and incense. Or, at least, I fold my clothes.

Today I just rip everything off and leave it in a pile by the pool. Harku will probably lose his mind when he sees the mud and debris I tracked into the chamber. We can lose our heads together, he and I.

Because I am going crazy.

I practically collapse into the pool.

"Why, father?" I ask the god, praying for an answer that makes sense.

The War

"He's back because of the war? Why... who? Who brought him here? Was he... was he not dead?"

Daughter... he is not Thane

"So he says. I know those eyes, father. I know that face. I can feel it... I can feel my bond with him. As if it never broke. As if I never died. As if we just met today for the first time," I am sobbing, sinking under the pink waters to lay at the bottom of the pool.

Careful of gods, Daughter

Of their bonds

They will try to fool you

"You are a god."

I am your father... and he is Thelios

"So... Thane is gone and Thelios has taken his place?" I ask. "That's his body, father. He has tattoos now that he didn't have... a new haircut doesn't... but... but, that's him."

Flesh is flesh

I pop up from the water, wrinkling my nose at my father. There is something eager in his tone, his manner. I have this sense that he is presenting this male to me, trotting him out as if he is a new horse to inspect.

My father won't stop him from courting me. With a huff, I rise from the pool, grabbing a clean robe and wrapping it around me as I think.

There is a slow unfurling of something deep inside me. I want to pass off the feeling as fear or even the leftover hope of a silly little girl, but I know the truth. The odd sensation filling me up is the bond between us, fragile and weak as a newborn kitten. This male, Thelios, is my Fated. Thane of the First House did not die, after all, and he has returned to my life with a force to be reckoned with.

I crumple to the floor and let hot tears wash down my cheeks as I think and pray. I slap the flat of my right hand against the stone floor, relishing the sting because it hides the tingling sensation of the mate bond. What do I do? Can I escape him?

"I don't want a Fated. My heart can't take another rejection."

My father sighs

You can reject him

If he allows it

He's laughing at me. I let out a soft scream. He... Thelios... won't let me reject him. I saw it, the possession in his eyes when he stared down at me. He told Patriarch Salbin to take me home. He's the new Recondite Captain.

I feel a sickening lurch in my gut as I stand and leave the sacred chamber. Lier died in the desert from vipers. Vipers that are known as a symbol of death because of their fatal bite. He died of poison, then merely months later a new Captain, with the face of Thane, arrives.

"Don't trust gods, father? Maybe you are the one playing games."

Do not sass me, Daughter

"I don't want him," I say softly.

That is your choice

His voice is softer, sad.

I don't want him, I repeat to myself. What should I do? Leave this place and serve Nateos somewhere else? Go to the desert people and their nomadic life?

I know that's not really a possibility. I belong here, in this temple. This is my calling, my life. Without serving Nateos then I cease to have any meaning. I may still be Thane's... Thelio's... Fated, but I am not his bride, his bonded. I never was and never will be his bonded.

I want nothing to do with the First House. After today, after seeing the terrible conditions those in the Mother House streets live in, I want nothing to do with any of the other Houses. I am a priestess of Nateos. The only one. This is a test of my resolve. I can not and will not be weak to this bond.

I slump back to my room and get dressed. Lying on my bed, I gather my gargoyles around me, clutching Mom in my arms. Even Harku is here, instead of cleaning my mess.

A soft knock on the door brings my tear-soaked face up. "Mara? We are all waiting for you to sup, dear."

"Come in, Postite," I call out.

The door opens on a new face. Acolyte Santros offers a weak smile when he gapes at me, no doubt wondering why I look so upset.

"Do you need a minute to compose yourself? I can ask them to wait a few minutes," he offers. Tears are nothing new, here, in this temple. Even being startled, Santros knows how to handle a weeping woman.

"No, Santros. Thank you, but I'll be fine," I claim. He nods and leaves as quietly as he came. I almost call him back. It's only my sniffles and choked breath that I hear. There is no comfort in being alone right now.

I stand on shaky legs. My knees are weak, maybe bruised by how hard I sank into the unforgiving stone of the temple. It's been a hard day on my body and all I want to do is sleep. Unsteadily, I walk to my wardrobe.

My fingertips trace the shallow carvings etched into the wooden doors. They tell my story, sort of. Patriarch Rimon commissioned all of the furniture in my room especially for me. He told the cabinet maker part of my story. A girl, left for dead on the eastern steps of the temple, where the sun rises. A door that no one ever uses was left unlocked so that a daughter to god of Death can be reborn.

The scene of my body is carved into the left-hand door. My "awakening" is carved into the right. Around the edges of both doors are the faces of my brother priests. My gargoyles appear every once in awhile, as whimsical in this artwork as they are in reality. At the bottom are carvings that I never paid too much attention to. Recondites, twelve of them, six to a side, each armed with an individual weapon and tattooed with their vows.

I kneel again. At least in front of my wardrobe there is a soft fur rug. I do not think my knees could take more punishment at the moment. I peer closer at the faces of the Recondites.

"Silly girl," I say out loud, when I see that none of the Recondites looks exactly like Thelios. I have no idea what I could have done if any of them did look like him. Hack out the image's eyes?

I stand back up, steadier now. I am being ridiculous, looking for conspiracies in my furniture. So, Thane-Thelios is masquerading as a Recondite. I hardly ever see them. They are 'shadow warriors' after all.

My stomach grumbles. It's dinnertime, but I ignore the burning hunger in my gut. Food is not what I want. I've refused to think about it, but now it swims back into my mind with a vengeance. It's worse than my father being apathetic to Thane-Thelios. Worse even than our new bond.

My head swims dizzyingly. When I think of hunger, I think of Thane-Thelios. I want to sink my teeth into his perfectly sculpted vein... and drink.