Embrace the Desire by Spring Stevens

tried to concentrate. A curse echoed around him as he looked down at his shaking hands.
    Physically, he was in a lot of pain and mentally he was somewhere in fucksville. His six foot six frame, hard as steel and full of powers he still did not understand, was on a slow burn to exhaustion. His muscles ached, his face was bloody, and his lips cracked. He ran his hands through his long white hair, his index finger tangling in the red braid that now hung from his temple.
    He turned, pressing his back to the cool stone wall. One deep breath after another, his body relaxed as he turned over the latest situation in his mind.
    He had a sister and she was innocent. Gyth had agreed to release Payne, but now would only confirm that he was missing. And on top of that, his body was not tolerating his new powers very well. He could not control them very long at a time and damn sure didn’t understand them. Every time he used them, he crashed hard.
    It was as if they were rejecting him, as if they truly didn’t belong to him.
    Sweat beaded his forehead as visions swamped his mind. Images of Payne being tortured, broken, and bleeding flashed before his eyes. Payne being chained and humiliated and his most inner secrets revealed.
    Something inside his mind popped, careened around his skull, and came to a skidding halt before his eyes. Payne’s godhood, Payne’s powers were inside him demanding to be set free, were punching his eyes out of his skull screaming in utter rage. The power was refusing to be controlled, refusing anyone’s demands except for Payne’s.
    Varick’s fangs punched out of his gums, his rage boiling his blood by degrees. A scream, a curse ripped out of his throat as he looked upward to the star filled sky. Gyth had taken Payne’s powers as well as countless other Destroyers when he converted them. And they were all inside Varick now, all of them swirling faster and faster out of control.
    All this power, all this rage and he could do nothing!
    Black smoke misted from nowhere, surrounding Varick. He crouched as the smoke grew darker and the smell of sandalwood and vanilla filled his lungs. From out of the obsidian depths, a female stepped forward. Her solid black eyes boring into his, she cocked her head to the side and pointed at him.
    When she spoke, Varick wanted to shield his ears from the toxicity in her voice “I am Ania, an envoy from Lord Isten. If you want Payne, come with me.”
    Turning her hand over, palm up, she offered her hand with an evil grin. “I must warn you Varick Ta Farg, my touch won’t be pleasant, at least not for you.”
    His guts twisted as he recognized her face from the visions he had of Payne. She was one of his torturers. One of the Algea, she was one of Gyth’s hounds of misery.
    Lunging forward, he grabbed her hand and a vicious roar left his mouth as his past slammed into his backbone. As she pulled him into the smoke, her unmistakable laughter brought a chill to his bones.
    She was misery personified.
    Even though seconds passed, it felt like an eternity in his mind as the years of his life whipped through his thoughts. He clung to her hand, refusing to give in to the over whelming emotions.
    “Such strength,” she whispered on a sigh. “I would love to spend more time with you, but alas, we are here.”
    Varick winced as her voice filled his mind. “You must learn how to control yourself Varick Ta Farg. There are so many lives dependent on you and so many enemies equally dependent on your not controlling yourself.”
    Varick stepped from the smoke and swallowed hard. What did she mean? Things were already bad and what he was seeing before him could only mean it had gotten worse.
    In the dark chamber, seated on a throne of black marble and silver, Isten stared straight at him. Gyth was to his left and Charon was to his right. Clenching his teeth, Varick listened in silence as they spoke unemotionally about the oncoming destruction if things weren’t righted. They spoke of