“Can we do it in the shower again?” she asked, her hands eager on his shoulders. He swung himself out of bed, scooping her up and striding into the bathroom with her.

“I like the shower. It’s messy and clean at the same time.”

She laughed. “That makes no sense.”

“Hummingbird, if you’re waiting around here for things to make sense, then you definitely are with the wrong guy.”

She smiled at that, pulling herself up closer to him so she could kiss his cheek gently.

“Oh,” she said, “I am very much with the right guy.”

He stopped his progress toward the shower and looked into her pretty blue eyes.

“I love you, too,” he said. “And don’t you ever stop making me say it to you.”

“You have a deal,” she breathed.

Epilogue

“Where is it? I wonder where it has gone!” sang the deviant god. “Where has the priest hidden? I think I know. I think I do!”

“He ran away with my toy,” Chatha said with a pout. He plopped down on the floor ready for a good sulk.

“Oh, do not despair,” the god soothed gently. “I can find him and your toy very easily. Shall I do it?”

Chatha nodded furiously, clasping his hands together and rocking back and forth with excitement.

“Where? Where?” he asked.

“Let me see …” the god drew out slowly, obviously thinking as he seemed to search the ceiling. “Aha! There it is!” He pointed to the ceiling. “The flat lands, warm like the desert, and so close by. Like our homeland. Hiding away!” The god sighed. “We shall get him later. Him and your toy. I must wait until I have a better hold over this corporeal state. If I should go and they should kill this mortal body I will be banished back to where I came from. The place with no name. The darkest Ether where only the damned survive.” He shuddered. “Those who dwell there are my disciples. Much like you my friend. But I do not like it there. No. It will be much more entertaining here I think.” The god moved forward and patted Chatha on the head. “And I think I would like some followers. I am in the mood to be adulated. Yes. Very much so. Adulation brings a god power. Adulation manifests my strength. I will mold these Templars into my acolytes.”

Chatha nodded. “That’s a great idea!” he said eagerly, beaming up at the god with his innocent smile.

The praise pleased the god greatly. But suddenly something scraped at his subconscious. It was not a pleasant feeling. “There is something out there,” he whispered to Chatha. “There is a great power. I feel it. I fear it.” He wondered what it was and was frustrated that he could not see it. But perhaps in time, as he grew ever stronger, he would.

But in the meantime, he would find Chatha’s toy and the priest that had escaped and correct them for their disloyalty to his magnificence.

Yes.

That would do just fine.