Page 7 of Damned and Broken Gods (Labyrinth of Gods #2)

Back Off, Bitch

LEELA

T he earth barrack’s kitchen was twice the size of the one in the newbie barracks, and it was more than a little intimidating walking into it.

I was grateful that I didn’t have to enter alone.

Dharma and Joe were with me, but Sylvie had developed a headache and opted to eat in her quarters with her drohi Pylar to tend to her.

Looking around at the impassive faces of the native demigods now, I wished I’d stayed in my quarters too.

“I thought earth barracks was meant to be the friendliest,” Joe whispered from the corner of his mouth.

“That’s what Chaya said,” Dharma replied.

“You guys aren’t the issue. It’s me they’re wary of.” But like hell was I going to let anyone intimidate me.

I spotted Araz at the far end of the room, tending to something on the stove. Chaya and Mahira were working close by him.

I strode into the room, diving into the delicious aromas, aiming for the other side of the kitchen.

A figure stepped into my path.

“Hello, again.” Bina gave me a closed-lipped smile. Her cropped hair was slicked back, her athletic form on display in fitted undershirt and tight slacks. “I hear you rejected my room.”

“I didn’t reject it, I just?—”

“Felt sorry for me?” She made a faux sad face, but the expression quickly smoothed out to something hard and unforgiving. “You think you can buy loyalty by acting magnanimous?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why would I have to buy loyalty?”

Her eyes narrowed, and she studied me for several beats before her expression relaxed into something that looked suspiciously like pity. “You truly have no idea, do you?”

“Why don’t you enlighten me?”

“Enough.” Her drohi stepped in. “Bina, we spoke about this.”

“She deserves to know,” Bina said.

“It’s not your place to enlighten her,” the drohi replied.

Bina looked like she wanted to say more, but her drohi steered her away from me. She muttered something that sounded like lamb to the slaughter before her drohi hushed her, urging her to the far side of the room.

Araz strode over as they left. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Come. We have a table.” He led us to the opposite side of the kitchen where Chaya and Mahira were setting down bowls of chicken, rice, and meat curry.

Everyone grabbed a seat, and I took a spot on the end of the bench.

Araz sat opposite me, his brow furrowed in concern. “What did Bina say to you?”

I filled him in on the cryptic altercation. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

Araz shook his head, looking to Chaya and Mahira.

“I have no idea,” Chaya said.

“I’m sorry,” Mahira added.

A shadow fell over me, and I looked up at a young man with dark hair pulled up in a knot. His warm brown eyes, ringed in kohl, had the kind of intelligent spark that reminded me of Nani’s.

He smiled, lopsided and disarming. “Hi, my name’s Vick. Mind if I join you?”

“Go away,” Araz said.

Vick kept his attention trained on me. “Do you want me to go away? And before you answer that, consider the fact that everyone is watching right now. So the real question is, do you want to make friends here?”

“Are you threatening my demigod?” Araz growled.

Vick looked genuinely stunned by the question. “Gosh, no. I just…I know things, okay, and it’s been a while since I met someone from the mortal world.”

“You’re not native?” Dharma asked.

He shook his head. “Nope. Can I join you?” He aimed another smile at me. “Pretty please.” There was a hint of desperation in his tone now, and I got the impression that he’d benefit from joining us as much as we’d benefit from hosting him. Either way, what harm could it do to let him sit?

I indicated the empty spot on the bench next to me. “Sure.”

Vick took a seat, his arm bumping mine, and across the table from me, Araz’s eyes glowed brightly. He dropped his gaze for a beat, and when he raised it again, the gleam was gone.

“What things do you know?” Joe asked from across the table.

“Oooh, can I have some chicken?” Vick asked, eyeballing the plate loaded with roasted drumsticks.

“Answer the question,” Araz ground out.

Vick pouted. “Fine. Bina is seedborn or will be once she ascends. Her sire is an official with Pavan Ghar in the Shahee Kshetra. She told me some stuff about the political divide there. How there are those loyal to the monarchy and those who want the Authority to have full control and the concept of monarchy to be abolished.”

Guru Chandra had hinted at the same. “There’s nothing shocking about that.”

“Maybe not, but there are also rumors of an underground rebel faction. A movement that believes that neither the Authority nor the regency should have control. That the power should be handed back to the people. Your arrival means a focus for the various factions. You’re a pawn they can seduce and use to their own ends. ”

Ice trickled through my veins. “I’m no pawn.”

“Not saying that you are, just that Asura might see you as one. To be used and then disposed of…” He eyed the plate of chicken again, and I nudged it toward him. He plucked a leg off the pile and bit into it with gusto. “Wow, this is good. You make it?” He pointed the leg at Araz.

Araz responded with a grunt.

“Been a while since I ate anything that I haven’t cooked myself, and I’m a terrible cook.”

“What about your drohi?” Chaya asked softly. “Where is she…or he?”

Vick swallowed his mouthful and shrugged. “She died,” he said, nonchalant, but the bobbing of his throat spoke volumes. “There was an incident a few months back.”

Mahira’s hand went to her mouth. “The sea incident.”

“What sea incident?” Joe asked.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Araz said, his demeanor softening. “I didn’t know Gia personally, but she was spoken of highly, as were the other drohi and demigods who passed away.”

“Others?” Joe looked to Mahira. “What happened to them?”

It was Vick who answered, chicken leg hanging limply from his fingers now.

“It was during the sea test. There was an unexpected storm, and our ship capsized. There were three of us from the mortal world on one ship. I was the only survivor. Gia…” He swallowed hard.

“She got me a part of the ship that was still intact and made me promise to hold tight. But she had nothing to cling to, and the current was too strong for her to fight. I watched her drown.” He exhaled shakily.

“So here’s the deal. I don’t have a drohi.

The powers that be haven’t been able to match me with anyone else.

So I’m stuck here. I can take the tests, but without help, I’m sure to fail.

So here is my proposition. Share your drohi with me, and I’ll get you information.

I know things, and I can find out things. Whatever you need.”

“Why can’t the natives share their drohi?” Dharma asked.

Vick smiled wryly. “No one wants to share their drohi with a bad luck charm.”

“What?” I frowned. “Why would they think that? You survived when so many didn’t. Surely that makes you a lucky charm?”

“Superstition,” Mahira said. “He was the only survivor, and some may believe that dark forces allowed that to happen, or his presence somehow caused the storm that killed his crew.”

“Pretty much that,” Vick said. “But you guys are from the mortal world. You’re a little more enlightened than that, right?”

“No,” Araz said.

I shot him a glare. “Why not?”

“I’m not cooking for him or helping him train.”

Vick stuck out his bottom lip. “Oh, come on. You’re one of the best.”

Araz gave him a flat look, unfazed by the blatant flattery.

Vick sighed. “It was worth a try, I guess.” He made to get up, but I grabbed his arm.

“Wait…” If we didn’t help him, he could die in the tests or remain trapped here, training forever. Pashim would have helped him. He would have stepped up, just like he did for me. It was time to pay it forward. “I’ll help you.”

“Leela…” Araz glared at me, and I glared right back.

“It’s the right thing to do. It’s what Pashim would have done, and you know it.”

Araz’s shoulders slumped.

I looked across at Joe, who nodded. “Mahira and I will help too.”

“You can eat with Dharma and me,” Chaya said to Vick.

I arched a brow at Araz, and he sighed heavily. “Fine. You can train with us.”

“Yes!” Vick fist-pumped the air before polishing off his chicken. “I best grab a plate, then, hadn’t I? Got to keep my strength up now.”

It looked like we had a new addition to our group.