When He Takes -fallen God 2- - Gabrielle Sands -

I threaded my fingers through his. His skin was cold. It had been cold since the day they carved out his grace and left him to rot in the void between worlds.

“I took everything from you,” he reminded me. His voice scraped the air like stone on stone. “Your kingdom. Your family. Your mortal name.”

But the texts never mentioned this—the way his hand trembled when I reached for it. The way his divine fire banked low, afraid to burn me. The way he said my mortal name like it was the only prayer left in his hollow chest.

Instead, I watched him kneel among the ruins of the celestial court, his massive wings—once white, now the color of bruised storm clouds—folded tight against his back. The other gods had fled. The mortal army had scattered. Only the two of us remained in the great hall, surrounded by fallen pillars and the soft, terrible sound of ash drifting through broken windows. When he takes -Fallen god 2- - Gabrielle Sands

He finally turned. His eyes—one silver, one gold—held the weight of every god he’d devoured, every realm he’d unmade. But beneath that ancient hunger, something else flickered. Something that looked almost like fear.

“You left me my breath.”

“I do,” I lied back.

For the first time in a thousand years, the Fallen God laughed.

“Good,” I answered, and pulled him closer. “So am I.” Because some falls aren’t endings. They’re the first step toward something the gods never anticipated: A monster loved. And a monster who loves back.

“Then devour,” I whispered. “But you’d better leave room for me to devour you back.” I threaded my fingers through his

“To speak.” I stepped closer, my bare feet pressing into cold marble stained with divine blood. “And I’m telling you now—you don’t get to fall alone.”

“I am still a monster,” he said against my pulse.

“To scream.”

The moment the chains fell from my wrists, I knew he was lying.

Valdís went utterly still.