Nanowrimo Day 6 - Word Count and Favorite Bit (Patreon)

Today I added 3,965 words to Match.God, making my current total word count 15,218!

“My dears. My darling clients. I’m afraid I’ve kept a secret from you.”

Hannah’s gripped on Lindiwe’s hand tightened as her blood ran cold. No. She hadn’t wanted to be right. Please, if not for her sake, than for Lindiwe and Clara and Vanessa and Lamia! Please don’t let her have actually been right.

“I am no simple matchmaker,” La Signora continued, though Hannah had to struggle to hear her over her own heartbeat. “And I have brought you here not to meet mortals such as yourselves, but beings far beyond such constrictive bounds.”

Lindiwe glanced down at Hannah, her confusion clear on her face. Clara was already stepping in between Lamia and La Signora, taking on a protective stance. Vanessa’s grip on the flute of prosecco she’d nabbed earlier tightened incrementally as La Signora continued. This sounded like the ramblings of a crazy woman. What, exactly, was happening?

“My dears, I am not a mortal woman, but the very personification of the thing you seek!” La Signora exclaimed. The aura around her shifted, as if a curtain had been thrown open. Her beauty, which was eye-catching before, took on an unearthly quality. Her larger than life stature became even more pronounced as her hair took on a luster unlike anything that even the most skilled hairdressers or photo editors could achieve.

There was a word for the radiant presence La Signora took on in that moment. A word that now echoed in Hannah’s mind as if she’d known it all along, and just hadn’t been able to pull it from the deep recesses of her memory.

Divinity.

“I,” La Signora announced, “am Love – desire and affection incarnate.”

Hannah didn’t know whether she wanted to laugh or cry. This was ridiculous. Absolute insanity. Grandmother, in her dogged quest to marry Hannah off to the first man she could pay to say yes, had gotten her mixed up with a goddess. She couldn’t even deny La Signora’s status as literal divinity. Her mind wouldn’t let her rationalize her way out of it.

The crowd burst into conspiratorial whispers and disbelieving murmurs. What did this mean? How could a goddess such as herself exist? Did anyone know the truth of who she was? Hannah glanced across the pool to where Giotto was standing on the veranda, watching. If anyone knew, it had to be him.

“Then,” Vanessa said hesitantly, “when you say you brought us to meet beings far beyond mortal…you meant…?”

La Signora – Love – beamed brilliantly, painted lips stretching in a way that edged toward the uncanny. “That’s right, my sweet Vanessa. I have watched over eons as humans such as yourself met and fell in love, and I grew to wish the same for my siblings and I. As such, I have decided to bless you five in a way no other mortal could imagine. I have matched each of you with one of my siblings.”

She paused, reaching behind her to grab at the door handles. “Would you like to meet them?”

Without waiting for a reply, Love threw open the double doors, revealing a lavishly furnished sitting room with a roaring fire. But it wasn’t the expensive armchairs and couches that caught the eye, but those who occupied them.

No mere mortal could possibly be as beautiful as the collection of men and women that gathered behind Love. Hannah’s eyes couldn’t decide who to stare at: the woman with earth-colored skin and flowers in her hair, or the man with stormy eyes and static rolling over his skin. The woman with golden starlight freckles dotting her ebony skin, or the androgynous person with midnight black hair that faded into moon glow silver as it fell over their shoulders.

“Sweet Jesus,” Lindiwe whispered, a hand covering her shock-slacked mouth.

“I don’t think he had anything to do with them,” Vanessa said, her tone sharp with a barely-contained desire.

“If I might have a volunteer,” Love cooed, holding out her hand. “Perhaps someone particularly eager to meet their match.”

Hannah’s occupied hand suddenly became unoccupied as Lindiwe reached forward and gripped Love’s outstretched hand. Hannah wasn’t even sure she could blame Lindiwe for abandoning her. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to be placed in the arms of a deity?

Well…who other than Hannah, that is.

Love smiled, eyes sparkling. She led Lindiwe into the sitting room and towards the woman with flowers in her hair. The air filled with the smell of something sweet and floral as the crowned woman smiled warmly.

“Lindiwe, this is Spring. I do hope you are happy together.”

Love passed Lindiwe’s hand off to Spring, who took it readily. “Hello, Lindiwe. Why, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mortal as pretty as you.”

Though Lindiwe’s back was turned, Hannah could see the tips of her ears turn red. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Love returned to the group, extending her hand once again. This time, Vanessa reached out, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. Hannah wrung her hands as she watched Love lead Vanessa over to the man with stormy eyes.

“Vanessa, this is my brother Thunder. I just know you’ll enjoy each other.”

Vanessa settled herself on the arm of Thunder’s chair without hesitation. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

Thunder’s face broke out in a grin, breaking the serious air around him. He rubbed a thoughtful hand across his bearded chin. “I like the spark of this one, Love. Where on earth did you find her?”

Vanessa’s sultry smile shifted to a playful smirk. “Manhattan.”

Love took Lamia next, leading her to the woman with starlight freckles and golden hair to match. Lamia hesitated, her expression taking on a fearful quality.

“B-but,” she stuttered, “my mother requested a man.”

Love patted her hand reassuringly, her expression gentle. “I know, dear. But you would not have been happy with a man. Star will make your every day bright, I promise.”

Lamia nodded, murmuring her thanks. She took her seat next to Star, who immediately took both of Lamia’s hands into hers. Hannah couldn’t make out what the goddess was murmuring, but she knew it wasn’t hers to hear.

Clara was next, Love shepherding her to the androgynous person with the black and silver hair. “Now for you, my precious Clara, I tried to find one of my siblings who would meet your every desire. And I could think of no one other than the charming Moon, who is male, female, neither, and both depending on the current stage of their cycle.”

Moon smiled shyly up at Clara from their seat. “Hello there. I hope do not find my…inconsistencies off putting.”

Clara flashed Moon a half-cocked smile. “Trust me, darlin’, that won’t be a problem.”

And now it was Hannah’s turn. Love swept back over with a level of drama that Hannah had quickly grown to expect from the goddess, offering Hannah her hand. Hannah hesitated, flinching back from the extended hand. Her eyes flickered from Love’s hand to her face, and the pleading look that flashed across it. Swallowing thickly around the bile in her throat, Hannah rested her hand in Love’s open palm.

“Now you, my dear Hannah, were a tricky one,” Love explained as she pulled Hannah into the sitting room. “But that’s alright, I don’t mind. I think, after much internal debate, I have found someone who will make you happy.”

Love led her up to the shadowy corner beside the fireplace, where a figure that Hannah hadn’t even noticed behind the radiant auras of the other deities stood. Glacial blue eyes stared down at her from under inky black hair. Pale skin made the shadows under those eyes stand out all the more. The air around this man was frigid, even with the roaring fire nearby. While the other deities had inspired something akin to awe, this one filled her with a primal terror.

“This, Hannah, is my eldest brother: Death.”