Fate Forgotten

To win the world Adam will defy the gods, but his fate rests in Eve's hands.

Since the gods returned Adam’s memory six hundred years ago, Thor has been a scourge on his lives. But when Adam learns that Thor has been haunting his steps out of love for Eve, he is determined to banish the thunder god once and for all. Adam is no fool: Eve still loves the man she knew as Thorgrim, and if she ever learned he still lived, that he still loved her, Adam would lose any chance of winning Eve to his side, never mind liberating the world. But after everything Thor has done to protect Eve, everything he’s sacrificed, the thunder god won’t go without a fight. Not as long as Eve might love him again.

Which means that Adam has to find a new ally. The enemy of his enemy, complete with burning sword and righteous resentment of the gods. But in order to attract the Archangel Michael’s attention, he needs Eve—an unmarried Eve, willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to find her in the future. Not now that he knows how to look.

Praise for
Forged by Fate
, first in the Fate of the Gods Trilogy

“This story was absolutely amazing. It’s like nothing I’ve read before … a complete game changer. You won’t be able to deny that Miss Dillin is a genius.”

—Parajunkee Reviews

“A beautiful, sweeping story that puts on display the power of every interpretation of love, and the truth of what can be accomplished when people choose peace over strife. I couldn’t put it out of my mind for days.”

—Trisha Leigh, author of
The Last Year
series

“Amalia Dillin is a fresh, exciting voice and
Forged by Fate
is not to be missed!”

—Saranna DeWylde, author of the
10 Days
series

“Inspired! An amazing fantasy world.”

—Book Chick City

“I was hooked! I can’t wait until the second book comes out so I can find out what happens next.”

—Jeep Diva Reviews

“A unique, hauntingly beautiful story.”

—JC Andrijeski, author of the
Allie's War
series

Fate Forgotten

Fate of the Gods Trilogy: Book Two

Amalia Dillin

World Weaver Press

Copyright Notice

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of World Weaver Press.

FORGED BY FATE

Copyright © 2013 Amalia Dillin

Excerpt from SHARDS OF HISTORY Copyright © 2013 Rebecca Roland

Published by World Weaver Press

Alpena, Michigan

www.WorldWeaverPress.com

Editor: Eileen Wiedbrauk

Cover designed by World Weaver Press

First edition: November 2013

Also available in paperback - ISBN-13: 978-0615873688

ASIN (mobi): B00GFX68CK

B&N ID (ePub): 2940149009183

Kobo eISBN (ePub): 1230000194112

This is a work of fiction; characters and events are either fictitious or used fictitiously.

Please respect the rights of the author: Do not copy. Do not distribute. If you like this book and want to share it with a friend, please consider buying an additional copy.

For Drew the Third, because when I said, “I’m never going to get published!” he said, “Do not make me buy a publishing company to publish your books, because I’ll do it, Savage!”

I might be paraphrasing, but it’s still true.

Fate Forgotten

Prologue: Present Day

The minute the car was beyond DeLeon lands, Adam stopped and pulled over. He glowered out the windshield, one hand rubbing at his face, the other still on the steering wheel. Damn it! What the hell had just happened? What had he just let happen?

What had he expected Eve to do? Profess her undying love, just because he couldn’t control his? He, more than anyone, was aware of her devotion to her husband. To her DeLeon family. Eve would never turn her back on them. Not for him. Probably not for anyone. Not that it was any comfort.

Thunder rumbled in the clear sky, and he swore aloud. Bad enough this so-called god had the nerve to cut him off mid-thought while he spoke with Eve, but now he had to suffer another lecture? He got out of the car and slammed the door shut.

“I’m not on their lands!” he shouted at the thunder.

Lightning made him flinch, bringing with it a flash of smoke, and soot, and memory so strong it overwhelmed his present. He could almost feel the electricity crawling over his skin, as he relived that last moment in the Garden, before everything had been taken from him. The lick of fire inside his thoughts, burning everything in its path. Ash clung to his skin, and pitch glued his fingers together around the brand. One tree, then another, then another, dropping scorched branches into the dryer deadfall until the flames spread without his help, and laughter ringing in his ears. Adam shook his head, pushing the broken memory away and taking no pleasure in its belated return. He forced himself to focus on the present. On Thor.

The light turned liquid, then solid as the god emerged from the plasma. Lightning strikes always unnerved him. Slowly, it was becoming clear to him why. If Michael had stolen his memory with lightning, leaving him in a field of soot he had not even had the wit to recognize as the Garden itself, at least he had a reason for fearing it. Adam was sure Thor got some sick sort of pleasure out of tormenting him this way; he had seen the god arrive and depart without the display. But no matter how frequently he witnessed it—and his encounters with Thor were far more frequent than he wanted, to be sure—he could not shake the disquiet, could not stop his stomach from twisting into knots at the sight.

He should have known. He should have realized the burned ground was the Garden. But that he would set it alight with his own hands? He still couldn’t believe it was true. Not even after seeing the memory in Eve’s mind, feeling her honesty, her fear…

Thor glared at him, his eyes white with anger as he approached the car. “When you were given your memory, you made certain promises.”

“Yes. Promises. And have I broken them? Do you see a baby in my arms?” He leaned against the hood and slipped his hands into his pockets so that Thor wouldn’t see them balled into fists. The gods had returned the memories of his past lives, difficult though they might have been to sort through, but they couldn’t give him what Michael had taken. His life in the Garden, before he’d woken in the ash was still largely lost, but for the impression of… something he still couldn’t name. And Eve. He remembered her green eyes, blinking up at him, all innocence and confusion. “Not that any of you can do anything about it when I do renege. And I will. If only to spite you, personally.”

“You really think she’ll ever let you touch her?” Thor sneered. “Do you think her so weak?”

“Why else are we the only two to be reborn, if not because we’re meant to be together?” He shrugged, forcing himself not to glare. Seeing Thor always brought out the worst in him. He made himself smile, instead. “It must kill you to know you can’t have her. That she doesn’t even know you exist. You’re like some neutered puppy, leashed by your father, by the Council.”

“For her own good!” Thunder. Always thunder accompanied the god’s anger. And a flare of white in his eyes. Thor was about as subtle as a rhinoceros mid-charge. With a visible effort, the god bit back his fury, but his tone was rich with contempt instead. “She is heavy with another’s child, and you thrust yourself upon her—while you are married to her sister, besides! You violate her very mind, after she has warned you against it, after I have already made plain the laws which govern your stay within
my
lands. If you dare impose yourself upon her again, Adam, I’ll take pleasure in finding a way to make you suffer for it. Rest assured that no power will stop me in that purpose.”

Adam ground his teeth. Having been a guest of Thor’s already, he knew the threats weren’t even remotely idle. It had required a bit of experimentation, but Thor had found dragging him to Asgard or Olympus a convenient way to beat him to a pulp without causing Eve harm. Nor did the angels interfere on his behalf. They had made their distaste clear when they had washed their hands of him at the dawn of time and set him to wander the earth without any of the knowledge that had been his by right of creation. Son of God, they had called him, as he picked himself up from the ashes, his mind as shattered as his body. First Made.

It wasn’t difficult to put it together even without his memory, and Ryam’s journal had more than confirmed what he’d suspected about Eve. And of course, that the gods had feared he would search Eve out at all had been enough to compel him onward.

“Do you really think I’d do anything to drive her away?” Adam asked, keeping his voice low and even. “When I’ve only just stopped being a pebble in her shoe?”

“You have sworn yourself to our terms, forsaken Eve for money and power. For the right to remember yourself.” Thor’s eyes burned so white-hot they were almost blue. “The Council has already considered wiping you and your sister from the earth once, Covenant or no. Do not tempt us a second time; you will not be spared.”

“You’re not
my
god, Thor. I don’t think I’ll be obeying any more of your commands.”

Thor smiled, the all too familiar war-hammer appearing in his hands. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Adam glanced at the hammer and swallowed. He hadn’t done anything to deserve a beating though, and while there was no love lost between them, Thor wouldn’t strike at him on earth without reason. Especially not while Eve was pregnant. Still…