Free After the Fire (After the Fire: Book the First) by J.L. Murray Page A

what I can do.
How could I possibly be a target for anything? People run when they
see what I am.”
    “These
aren't people, Eleni,” said Fin. “They're something very
different.”
    “Monsters?”
said Eleni. She snorted. “I killed monsters every day before
you came and scared them all off.”
    “Not
monsters either,” said Fin. He looked scared, nervous, just
from the talking.
    “Just
tell me,” said Eleni, exasperated. “What should I be so
afraid of?”
    Fin
swallowed. He breathed noisily out of his nose as he looked at her.
“God-eaters,” he said.
    Eleni
shook her head, confused. “God-eaters?”
    “They
stalk the gods,” said Fin. “I don't know how they do it,
or how they learned, but they've found a way to absorb a god's power.
It is supposed to go out into the universe and the god starts all
over again in some fortunate woman's belly. But they have learned how
to take the essence, the soul. Everything that makes that god a god.
And they get stronger with every kill. Their targets keep getting
bigger and stronger.”
    “This
is the danger you were talking about?” said Eleni. “You
think I am the target for these...these creatures?” She
laughed. “I am no god, Fin.”
    Fin
was quiet for three heartbeats. Eleni knew because she could hear her
pulse in her ears. She didn't know why. She felt like she had just
run through the forest. “Eleni, when were you born?”
    “I
told you,” she said. “After the fire.”
    “I
just want you to think about that for a moment,” said Fin.
Eleni couldn't tell if he was angry or worried or scared. Maybe all
three. “You were born just after
the fire. Just after the death of Zaric, the great god of fire. Just
after his power, searching the earth for a place to go, burned
everything in its path so deeply that it took ten summers for
anything to start to grow again. That is how powerful he was.”
He looked at her, intensity in his eyes that Eleni didn't quite
understand. “And that is how powerful you can be.”
    “Stop
it,” said Eleni.
    “It's
the truth,” said Fin. “You keep asking for the truth, but
you don't really want it. You want to run around the forest with your
wolf. You want to believe your mother is being held prisoner. You
want to believe that you don't need anyone else. All those things
were fine before. But now it's too dangerous, Eleni. You are angry
with me for saying this, but it's the truth you want, and it's the
truth I'm giving to you. You cannot beat these god-eaters. If they
find you, if they sense you, they will come after you. And you can't
fight them on your own.”
    “Words,”
said Eleni.
    “What?”
said Fin.
    “All
you have are words,” she said. “I have not seen anything
with my own eyes. Why should I believe you? I am no goddess.”
    “Then
what are you?” said Fin. “Do you know any other girls
that can wield fire? Any other mortals that can burn a village to
dust in minutes? Anyone else that can spend all night fighting
monsters and hunting and slinging boars and deer over their shoulders
and carrying them for hours?”
    Eleni
looked away. “You mock me,” she said softly.
    “No,”
said Fin. “I am telling you who you are. You just don't want to
listen.”
    “I'm
listening,” she said.
    “Eleni,
you have to trust me,” said Fin. Eleni looked sharply at him.
“I know you're feeling betrayed right now. Everything you
thought you knew was false. But I'm not lying to you. I'm here to help you. Do you understand?”
    “I
have been lied to all my life,” said Eleni.
    “I
know,” said Fin. “Mortals lie to make themselves feel
better. They lie to each other, themselves, their children. But I am
not a mortal. And neither are you. You're not even human. You are so
much more.”
    “I
have always thought of myself as human,” said Eleni. She pushed
a strand of hair off her face. “You do not think my mother is
human either, do you?”
    Fin
shook his head. “She is not.”
    “Is
she a goddess