Tempting Fate (11 page)

“Those Lions won’t even know where to begin,” he agreed.

“You really don’t care for them, do you? Is it just because they’re French?”

He shook his head. “Nothing like that.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t care for how they’ve treated you, for one.” He leaned forward, kissing her forehead. “They have no right to dictate anything to you about your life, and neither does your sister. It’s yours to live, now. Consider it a wedding gift.”

“And of course the fact that you’ve stolen me right out from under their noses doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

He grinned. “Nothing at all, of course.”

“As long as we understand one another,” she said, peeking up at him over the rim of her coffee cup, her eyes just as dark and liquid as her drink, and filled to the brim with invitation.

He took the cup from her hands and kissed her again. Because she was his, and the Lions, even the gods, could do nothing about it.

In this one thing, if nothing else, he had won. And he meant to take full advantage.

For both their sakes, of course.

Fate of the Gods Trilogy

by Amalia Dillin

“This story was absolutely amazing. It’s like nothing I’ve read before… a complete game changer. You won’t be able to deny Miss Dillin is a genius.”—Parajunkee

Every god, from each of the world’s pantheons, mythologies, and religions—they’re all real in this enthralling fantasy romance that spans centuries.

After Adam fell, God made Eve to protect the world.
—Adam has pursued Eve since the dawn of creation, intent on using Eve’s powers to remake the world with himself as God. The last immortal child of Elohim, Eve is charged with the protection of all humanity, and she has spent an eternity hiding from Adam and thwarting his plans. But this time, Adam is after something more than just Eve’s power—he desires her too, body and soul, even if it means the destruction of the world. Eve cannot allow it, but as one generation melds into the next, she begins to wonder if Adam might be a man she could love. And if he is, if he’s given up his quest to make himself a new god, it could change everything.

Eve’s struggle and Adam’s hopes have not gone unnoticed by the Council of Gods, who have forged a Covenant of Peace to protect the world and the dominion they stole in Elohim’s absence. Unknown to Eve, the Norse god Thor has been sent by the Council to protect her from Adam’s influence, and more, to protect the interests of the gods themselves. An alliance between Adam and Eve could undo everything they’ve worked toward. At the least, it could bring about Elohim’s return. At worst, the destruction of the world itself would cast the gods out to wander the void, ever weakening. With nowhere else to go, they cannot risk either option.

After watching Eve for millennia upon millennia, witnessing her fight against Adam’s will and her capacity for love and forgiveness, even in the face of her own misery, Thor will have to decide where his loyalties truly lie: with his fellow gods, or with Eve.

Forged by Fate (book 1)

Tempting Fate (novella, book 1.5)

A Fate Forgotten (book 2)

Beyond Fate (book 3)

“A beautiful, sweeping story that puts on display the power of every interpretation of love, and the truth of what can be accomplished when people choose peace over strife. I couldn’t put it out of my mind for days.” —Trisha Leigh, author of
The Last Year
series

“Amalia Dillin is a fresh, exciting voice and Forged by Fate is not to be missed!” —Saranna DeWylde, author of the
10 Days
series

“One of the more fascinating and haunting books I’ve read in quite some time.” —JC Andrijeski, author of the
Allie’s War
series

“I was hooked!”—Jeep Diva Reviews

Fate Forgotten Sneak Peek

Fate of the Gods Trilogy, Book Two

Present Day, Adam

The minute the car was beyond DeLeon lands, Adam stopped and pulled over. He glowered out the windshield, one hand rubbing at his face, the other still on the steering wheel. Damn it! What the hell had just happened? What had he just let happen?

What had he expected Eve to do? Profess her undying love, just because he couldn’t control his? He, more than anyone, was aware of her devotion to her husband. To her DeLeon family. Eve would never turn her back on them. Not for him. Probably not for anyone. Not that it was any comfort.

Thunder rumbled in the clear sky, and he swore aloud. Bad enough this so-called god had the nerve to cut him off mid-thought while he spoke with Eve, but now he had to suffer another lecture? He got out of the car and slammed the door shut.

“I’m not on their lands!” he shouted at the thunder.

Lightning made him flinch, bringing with it a flash of smoke, and soot, and memory so strong it overwhelmed his present. He could almost feel the electricity crawling over his skin, as he relived that last moment in the Garden, before everything had been taken from him. The lick of fire inside his thoughts, burning everything in its path. Ash clung to his skin, and pitch glued his fingers together around the brand. One tree, then another, then another, dropping scorched branches into the dryer deadfall until the flames spread without his help, and laughter, ringing in his ears. Adam shook his head, pushing the broken memory away, and forced himself to focus on the present. On Thor.

The light turned liquid, then solid as the god emerged from the plasma. Lightning strikes always unnerved him. Ever since the day Michael had stolen his memory, leaving him in a field of soot he had not even had the wit to recognize as the Garden itself. Adam was sure Thor got some sick sort of pleasure out of tormenting him this way; he had seen the god arrive and depart without the display. But no matter how frequently he witnessed it—and his encounters with Thor were far more frequent than he wanted, to be sure—he could not shake the disquiet, could not stop his stomach from twisting into knots at the sight.

He should have known. He should have realized the burned ground was the Garden. But that he would set it alight with his own hands? He still couldn’t believe it was true. Not even after seeing the memory in Eve’s mind, feeling her honesty, her fear…

Thor glared at him, his eyes white with anger as he approached the car. “When you were given your memory, you made certain promises.”

“Yes. Promises. And have I broken them? Do you see a baby in my arms?” He leaned against the hood and slipped his hands into his pockets so that Thor wouldn’t see them balled into fists. The gods had returned the memories of his past lives, difficult though they might have been to sort through, but they couldn’t give him what Michael had taken. His life in the Garden, before he’d woken in the ash was still lost, but for the impression of... something he still couldn’t name. And Eve. He remembered her green eyes, blinking up at him, all innocence and confusion. “Not that any of you can do anything about it when I do renege. And I will. If only to spite you, personally.”

“You really think she’ll ever let you touch her?” Thor sneered. “Do you think her so weak?”

“Why else are we the only two to be reborn, if not because we’re meant to be together?” He shrugged, forcing himself not to glare. Seeing Thor always brought out the worst in him. He made himself smile, instead. “It must kill you to know you can’t have her. That she doesn’t even know you exist. You’re like some neutered puppy, leashed by your father, by the Council.”

“For her own good!” Thunder. Always thunder accompanied the god’s anger. And a flare of white in his eyes. Thor was about as subtle as a rhinoceros mid-charge. “If you violate her mind that way again, Adam, I’ll take pleasure in finding a way to make you suffer for it. Rest assured that no power will stop me in that purpose.”

Adam ground his teeth. Having been a guest of Thor’s already, he knew the threats weren’t even remotely idle. It had required a bit of experimentation, but Thor had found dragging him to Asgard or Olympus a convenient way to beat him to a pulp without causing Eve harm. Nor did the angels interfere on his behalf. They had made their distaste clear when they had washed their hands of him at the dawn of time and set him to wander the earth without any of the knowledge that had been his by right of creation. Son of God, they had called him, as he picked himself up from the ashes, his mind as shattered as his body. First Made.

It wasn’t difficult to put it together even without his memory, and Ryam’s journal had more than confirmed what he’d suspected about Eve. And of course, that the gods had feared he would search Eve out at all had been enough to compel him onward.

“Do you really think I’d do anything to drive her away?” Adam asked, keeping his voice low and even. “When I’ve only just stopped being a pebble in her shoe?”

“You have sworn yourself to our terms, forsaken Eve for money and power. For the right to remember yourself.” Thor’s eyes burned so hot they were almost blue. “The Council has already considered wiping you and your sister from the earth once, Covenant or no. Do not tempt us a second time; you will not be spared.”

“You’re not
my
god, Thor. I don’t think I’ll be obeying any more of your commands.”

Thor smiled, the all too familiar war-hammer appearing in his hands. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Adam glanced at the hammer and swallowed. He hadn’t done anything to deserve a beating though, and while there was no love lost between them, Thor wouldn’t strike at him on earth without reason. Especially not while Eve was pregnant. Still…

“You do realize she’s in labor? She’s probably already given birth to an heir. The next generation to benefit from your personal protection and aid. Shouldn’t you be off haunting DeLeons to ensure the right vows and promises are made?”

Mjölnir
vanished, and Thor’s gaze seemed to lose focus for a moment. “The baby came early.” Then his eyes narrowed. “Because of you.”

“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Had I stayed you’d probably be saying the same thing. But I left for her, Thor. Don’t forget that.”

He opened the car door and got back in, starting it up and pulling away without a backward look. He had better things to do than waste his time fighting with gods who, for some reason, felt compelled to interfere with men. And Eve.

Eve. The only woman who could understand him. Who could ever really know what it was like to live with all those lives in his head. All the wars, all the death; life after life, century after century. The gods spared him no sympathy, but Eve—Eve knew.

Damn it. How had this happened? He had been happy, married to Mia!

Until he saw Eve, radiant with her pregnancy. He cursed Mia for not warning him that Eve was with child. Something inside him had shifted at the sight of her. It wasn’t about the godchild anymore. It was about Eve. It was about how amazing it would be if he could share this with her, as Garrit did. To have her mother his own sons and daughters. It was about having her as his wife to love and cherish and knowing death would never truly part them. And neither one of them would ever have to hide their true selves again. He could give her so much more. He wanted to give her everything. The whole world, wrapped up with a bow, to make over in her image.

He had married Mia for fun more than anything, because she had spirit, misguided though it sometimes was, and because he could not stand to see that spirit crushed under the weight of what was
expected
of her. He had learned to love her. To appreciate her. To care about her, perhaps all the more because through him, she no longer need live beneath her sister’s shadow. Just not enough. Whatever those feelings were, they were pale and empty in comparison to what had broken into his heart when he had felt Eve’s child move within her womb, his hand pressed against her swollen belly.

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife,” he said, staring into the patch of highway revealed by his headlights as he snaked through the mountain roads. Of course, he never had cared for the rules. It was an instinct he hadn’t ever been able to shake.

But what if she wanted him too?

He had felt her jealousy, when she had first seen him with her sister. He hadn’t imagined that. And when she had thought of Paris, or her life as Helen, there was a fondness in those memories he hadn’t expected. She had longed for that part of him, whether she realized it or not.