The island wasn’t on a map, at least not on any human’s map.

It was a tiny little thing in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. At least it wasn’t as cold here.

I transported myself to it and ended up on a long wooden dock that reached deep into the sea. Torches lined the beach, shining upon the white sand and casting eerie shadows over the crashing waves.

Taking off my jacket, I walked down the dock, approaching the beach. My wariness was on high alert, ready for any booby traps. I could feel the power of the island. I knew the test was coming at any time.

I halted at the end of the dock and scanned the sand. No booby traps, no attacks, no sound, nothing.

Did the Fates send me to the wrong place? They wouldn’t do that. If they did, oh, I wou—

“Lord Mitrus, welcome,” a sensual voice said.

I turned to my left. A beautiful woman paraded on the sand, coming to me. She had generous curves and a translucent dress to cover them. As she approached, showing me an inviting smile, the torches illuminated her face. She was gorgeous with long, red hair, hazel eyes, tanned skin, and plump pink lips. I could see why she had instantly enchanted the protector. The woman exuded sex, and she definitely looked like she was going to try to trick me.

Let her try.

“Nasya,” I said, stepping on the sand.

She stopped in front of me, and I confess it took every ounce of my will to gaze at her eyes and her eyes only.

Her smile widened. She reached one hand to my shoulder and sauntered around me, her fingertips touching me at all times, her honey scent wrapping around me.

“I don’t receive many visitors,” she meowed. “And the few visitors I have are usually humans who mistakenly stumbled upon the legend of the Cup of Life, or lesser gods trying to achieve more.” She halted before me again. “I never thought I would see one of the almighties at my humble place.”

Almighties? That was what they called us?

I shook my head and concentrated. “Is it true you still have the elixir of immortality?”

“Yessss,” she purred.

“What do I have to do to get it?”

“Why would you want it?”

How insolent. A lesser deity questioning me. “It’s none of your business.”

“Ouch.” She recoiled, feigning to be hurt. “I like it.”

I counted to seven before asking again. I would have gotten to ten if it weren’t for my lack of patience. “Will you tell me how to get to the Cup of Life?”

“Lord Mitrus, I heard stories about your beauty, your confidence, your”—she ran a hand down my chest—“masculinity, and I must say I’m not disappointed. In fact, with the current guarded expression you carry and the taught muscles on your arms, I’m enthralled.”

I wanted to reach to her throat and squeeze the crap out of her. “Nasya, I’m here for the Cup of Life and only that. Now, tell me where it is.”

She tsked. “You’re not fun.” She retreated a short step. “It’s here, on the island.”

“Where ex—?”

“But you can’t simply take it. There are spells around it, preventing anyone from getting too close, even almighty gods. You won’t get within a mile of it if you don’t pass my test.”

I inhaled, bracing myself. “What would be my test?”

She leaned closer, blinking her eyes at me, grin widening. “Sleep with me.”

The woman was delusional, clearly.

“What?” I asked, taking a step back.

“A second ouch.” Nasya waved her hand as if she had burned her fingers somewhere. “Oh, Lord Mitrus, you make me sad. You’re the only man who has held on this long without looking at my body and drooling, and now you seem appalled by my simple test. You should have seen the tests I offered to others.” She stepped closer again, purposely brushing the side of her hip on my thigh. “You’re getting it easy—and good, I promise. I’m not that ugly. You can’t tell me you don’t want it.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. No, she was not ugly. In fact, she was the opposite of ugly. Her voice, her eyes, her posture, everything about her screamed sex. Yes, I wanted to have sex. Who didn’t? I had gone a long time without any release, and I wanted it badly. But when I closed my eyes, the one I saw brushing her body against mine, touching me, squirming under me, and gasping in my ear was Nadine. Only Nadine.

I opened my eyes and stared at Nasya. “You’re crazy if you think I’ll accept it.” It was a bold move, but I didn’t have too many options here.

“A third ouch. My, oh, my, Lord Mitrus, I like you more and more by the second.” She turned away and stopped again several feet from me, posing her body in a way that flattered her curves. She pouted her lips and batted her lashes. “Unfortunately, that’s the way it is. Your test is to sleep with me. To pleasure me.”

My jaw tightened. I couldn’t do this. I would never forgive myself. Nadine would never forgive me. However, if I didn’t sleep with Nasya, she wouldn’t let me have the Cup of Life, and leaving without it wasn’t an option.

“A question,” I spoke up, and she perked. “I thought your tests would be challenges, physical or mental. Sex is pleasure. Why that?”

She blinked at me apparently pleased with my question. “One. I can’t leave this island, and I don’t get many visitors. After so many nights using only my hands, I’m bored. I want something new, something better, and you are definitely that.” She licked her lips, her eyes scanning my body. “You’re more than that.” Then her smile turned evil, and I saw a little of Imha in her. “Second, it is a challenge, isn’t it? I can sense it, you know. Your heart. It belongs to someone. A human, I think. That’s why you are here. You love her so much, you decided to come here and face whatever test I imposed on you. And yet you’re hesitating, proving that sleeping with me is indeed a challenge.”

Fuck. She couldn’t be more right.

I could easily say yes and be done with it in thirty minutes—or less, taking into account how long it had been since the last time I had some. So simple. Do it, turn my back on this woman, grab the Cup of Life, and leave. Go back to Nadine and offer her the elixir. She would never know.

But I would.

Still, if I said no, I would go back empty-handed. Nadine wouldn’t live forever. In fact, she wouldn’t live another month, depending on how eager Ceris was to defeat Imha. And I couldn’t deal with it. No fucking way. Nadine couldn’t die. Not now, not ever.

I wondered what Nadine would do in my place. Being kind and loyal, she would never accept this test. She wouldn’t betray someone she loved like that. She would put her love above everything else, and then she would find another way. Because Nadine was fantastic, and she always found another way.

And if Nadine was here with me, if she knew how much I cared for her and her feelings for me were mutual, if she knew about this test, she would tell me she would rather die than have someone she loves betray her. She would smile at me and tell me we would try to find another way, and if we didn’t, she would die in peace. But until then, we wouldn’t rest until we found another way.

Could I find another way?

I had to have faith. In the Everlast energy. In Nadine. In me.

“It seems I have wasted my time coming here,” I said, retreating. “Farewell.”

With the weight on my shoulders increasing by a ton, I turned and stepped onto the dock. By the Everlast, what a way to have my hopes crushed. I had been so eager, so sure that I would walk out of here with the Cup of Life. Fuck. What was I supposed to do now? How could I go back to the apartment and face Nadine after the way we parted without some peace offering?

I stepped to the other side of the island’s protective shield.

“Wait,” Nasya said. I glanced over my shoulder as she sashayed down the dock toward me. “I’ve always appreciated a loyal man.” Her smile was gone and a new, gloomy light shone in her eyes. “When my man went on his quest to transform the water from the Lake of Life into something I could drink, he went through many rough paths, many tests, and many challenges. One of them was to sleep with a deity. He didn’t hesitate. He slept with her, and he told me because in his mind he was doing it for me, so I could live forever with him. But I despised cheaters. Still do. That’s why I killed him when Imha told me that was her wish in exchange for my powers. I did it, and I’m ashamed to confess I enjoyed taking that cheater’s life. However, Imha always has the advantage. She gave me powers, powers that bind me to the Cup of Life and to this island. In the end, I’m her prisoner.”

It all made sense now. Why she demanded a test for the Cup of Life. Why she had asked me to sleep with her, even after she had sensed my feelings for someone else.

“The question was the test,” I said, astonished.

“Not exactly,” she said, an almost innocent smile on her lips. “The question was the first part of your test.”

“What?” I asked because I hadn’t heard it right. “Two tests?”

“One test, two parts. Besides, I can ask for as many tests I want.”

I looked around still wary of booby traps. “Is this some kind of trick?”

She offered me an innocent smile. “Lord Mitrus, I would never trick an almighty god.”

I raised my eyebrows at her, suspicion spreading through my senses. “What’s the next part?”

“I need proof of your intentions. I need proof that you, the god of death and the dead and the underworld, are indeed a good god, not an evil one. I need proof you really have changed this much and now love a human. I need proof you would do anything for her, that because of her, you’ll be the most kind and just god there is.”

I gaped at her. First, how the hell would I prove that? Second, kind and just? I thought she knew who I was.

I crossed my arms. “I just said no to you, doesn’t that prove my feelings?”

“Forgive me, my Lord, but when it’s so easy to lie, words don’t mean anything. I need to see it, to feel it.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

“It would take a little trip inside your head.”

“What?”

“I need to see your thoughts, search your memories, feel what you felt.”

I ground my teeth. “And you have the power to do that?”

“I have the power to do whatever my tests require of me,” she explained in a proud tone. “So, Lord Mitrus, will you let me perform the second part of your test, or not?”

I didn’t want this woman probing my brain, looking into memories and moments I wasn’t proud of. Once she saw my past and how evil I was, I would fail the test. I knew it. However, that gave me a chance. Maybe she had an evil bone in her—after all, she did kill her lover for power—and searching my past maybe she would sympathize with me. If I denied her access to my mind, it was a certain fail.

Sighing, I uncrossed my arms. “Yes.”