[BL]Hunted by the God of Destruction-Chapter 222: Divine tyranny

Victor didn’t wait for an answer. He scooped Elias up in one smooth motion, earning a startled response from the smaller man that was equal parts protest and disbelief.

"Victor... put me down!" Elias hissed, trying to wriggle free. "I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own."

"I know," Victor said mildly, "but I don’t trust you not to faint dramatically halfway there just to prove a point."

"That never happened," Elias muttered, glaring at him from the cradle of his arms. "I might be pregnant and hormonal, but I know when it’s too much."

Victor glanced down, expression unreadable except for the faint amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You are hormonal and adorable."

Elias scowled and crossed his arms, a gesture that might have looked dignified if he weren’t currently being carried across the hall in rumpled pajamas. "You’re enjoying this far too much."

"Immensely."

Victor set him down carefully on the edge of the bed and adjusted the blanket with meticulous movements, as though tucking in a particularly argumentative patient. Elias tried to swat his hand away, but Victor merely caught his wrist mid-motion and pressed a brief kiss to his knuckles.

"Don’t you dare romanticize nausea," Elias muttered, cheeks warming despite himself.

Victor looked positively sinful in the early light, shirt still open, collarbone gleaming faintly, eyes bright with unrepentant amusement. "I’m not romanticizing it. I’m weaponizing it. You’re too busy being mortified to argue with me."

Elias’s eyes narrowed. "That’s manipulative."

"I prefer effective."

Victor straightened, studying him with the kind of attention that always made Elias feel seen and exposed at once. "You’re flushed," he said quietly, brushing a thumb over Elias’s cheek. "And cold. That’s quite the combination."

"It’s called suffering," Elias said dryly. "A concept I’m sure you’re unfamiliar with."

Victor hummed, leaning down to press his lips against Elias’s forehead. "On the contrary. I’m married to it now."

Elias groaned into the pillow. "You are insufferable."

Victor took that as permission to sit beside him, the mattress dipping under his weight. "Drink something," he said, handing Elias the glass he’d brought from the nightstand. "Small sips. You look like you’ve been through divine warfare."

Elias took the glass with a glare that promised future vengeance but obeyed anyway, sipping cautiously. The cool water helped, a little. Enough for him to exhale without wanting to strangle anyone.

"Better?"

"Marginally." Elias set the glass down with exaggerated care. "If I die of dehydration, I’m haunting you."

Victor’s tone softened. "I would resurrect you if that would ever happen."

Elias shot him a flat look. "You’d resurrect me just to kill me again for the inconvenience."

Victor smiled. "Exactly. See? You understand me perfectly."

"Unfortunately," Elias muttered, sinking deeper into the pillows. "I should’ve read the fine print before saying yes to divine matrimony."

Victor stretched out beside him, propping himself on one elbow, his expression deceptively casual. "There wasn’t fine print. I made sure of that."

"Of course you did." Elias rolled his eyes. "Gods never do small print. Only thunderous declarations and emotional blackmail."

Victor pretended to think about it. "Emotional blackmail might be too strong a word."

"Really?" Elias arched a brow. "You forgot how I got to move in?’"

A low laugh escaped Victor. "And you did move in, didn’t you?"

"I moved in because I value structural integrity, not because you’re persuasive."

"Semantics," Victor said, tracing a lazy line across the edge of the blanket near Elias’s thigh. "The outcome was the same."

Elias swatted at his hand, but his voice lacked bite. "You’re impossible."

"I’ve been called worse," Victor murmured. "Usually by you."

Elias hummed in quiet defiance but didn’t argue. His head turned toward the window, where pale daylight slanted across the sheets. The calm was fragile but real until Victor broke it with a tone that meant he’d been waiting for the right moment to drop something inconvenient.

"There’s one more thing," Victor said, deceptively light.

Elias groaned. "That’s never a good beginning."

Victor leaned back slightly, giving him space that didn’t feel like distance. "You’re coming back to work with me."

That earned a sharp blink. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Victor said smoothly. "You’re not staying here while I handle everything. You’ll return to the project, to the labs, to the team. Just not as the reluctant omega everyone thinks I’ve tucked away like a relic."

Elias frowned, slow and wary. "And what will I be, then? The willing omega shielded by a possessive god with a control complex?"

Victor’s lips curved. "No. You’ll be my partner. Officially. Professionally. Which means you’ll take assignments from me..."

"Oh, wonderful."

"...and from Ego," Victor continued without pause. "He’s insisted, and frankly, it will be entertaining to watch him try not to patronize you."

Elias’s head snapped toward him, incredulous. "Entertaining for whom?"

"For me," Victor said simply. "And perhaps for the staff. You have quite the reputation for dismantling egos the way other people dismantle machinery."

"I dismantle machinery more gently," Elias muttered.

"Exactly my point."

Elias narrowed his eyes, but the faintest flicker of reluctant amusement tugged at his mouth. "So this is your grand plan? Integrate me into the divine family through forced employment?"

Victor’s tone softened, but the weight beneath it was real. "Well, it’s more necessary than anything. You can’t live beside us forever without touching what we are. You’ve already touched me, and that changed more than either of us admits."

Elias fell silent for a long beat. Then, quieter: "You mean you’re not giving me the choice to hide anymore."

Victor shook his head once. "No. You’ve hidden long enough. You’re part of this now, Elias. And you’re strong enough to stand in it."

For a heartbeat, Elias said nothing, he only stared at him with that dry, thoughtful expression that so often preceded either a brilliant idea or a full-scale argument.

"Fine," he said at last, voice careful. "But I’m choosing my own desk, and I’m not fetching coffee for anyone."

Victor’s grin was pure satisfaction. "Deal."

Elias gave him a long, suspicious look. "You agreed too easily."

"I intend to assign you as my supervisor," Victor said, deadpan. "That should balance the power dynamic nicely."

Elias let out a quiet, incredulous laugh before burying his face in the pillow. "You’re a menace."

Victor brushed his fingers through his hair, gentle and amused. "And you’re mine. Which means you’re working tomorrow."

Elias groaned something muffled into the pillow that sounded suspiciously like ’divine tyranny.’

Victor only smiled wider. "I’ll take that as enthusiasm."