Page 8 of Damned and Broken Gods (Labyrinth of Gods #2)

A Little Firelight Conversation Goes A Long Way

LEELA

“ T his is much nicer than Pavan Ghar,” Priti said, looking around the humungous sitting room dotted with earth affinity demigods.

We’d claimed a spot by the hearth, pulling up chairs to make a cozy seating area just for us. Vick crouched, stoking the flames and feeding kindling into the fire.

His cheeks were flushed from the heat, making him look younger than his nineteen years.

He was the youngest of us, brought here when he was barely eighteen.

Like me, he’d been raised by his grandmother.

She’d died when he was fifteen, putting him into foster care.

Being kidnapped into this world had been a step up for him, and from what he told us, Gia had been like an elder sister to him.

And now…Now he’d have us to take care of him.

“What’s Paani like?” Dharma asked Remi.

“They have a fountain in the sitting room,” Remi said.

“I mean, I guess it’s cool. Eve is settling in well.

Her drohi Ima is friends with a couple of drohi there, and she’s been pulled into a group of native demigods.

” Remi made a face. “That Alia chick from the affinity ceremony is part of the group.”

“What about you?” Joe asked. “Have you made any new friends?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’ve got you guys.” She beamed at us.

“Crag will get you new friends if you want,” her drohi said in his deep, gravelly drawl. “All you need do is ask.”

I bit back a smile as I imagined him grabbing demigods and throwing them at Remi’s feet. The guy was a tank, and I doubted anyone would say no to him.

“I’m good, babe,” Remi said, her smile softening as she looked up at him.

His eyes darkened, mouth curving gently. My pulse thudded in my throat as I recognized that look.

A look I’d seen in Pashim’s eyes on more than one occasion. A look I’d decided to ignore because acknowledging it would have meant confronting the shift in our friendship, and that…that could have meant losing him.

Chaya and Keyton returned from the kitchens carrying trays of cocoa which they handed out.

Vick watched everyone take a mug, waiting until there was only one left on the tray. His gaze flicked around, checking that everyone had a drink, but he still didn’t take the one left.

“Go on,” Chaya said kindly. “I made it for you.”

He blinked rapidly and took the mug. “Thank you.”

“I’d be careful if I were you,” Bina said, coming to stand on the periphery of our group. “He’s bad luck.”

Anger licked at my belly, but I didn’t have the quick wit and quippy power that Blue did. “Fuck off, Bina.”

Joe choked on his drink, and Remi snorted.

Bina’s eyes narrowed. “How eloquent. How…queenly.”

I lifted my gaze to hers, my eyes hot in their sockets. “I know you’re not deaf, so you must be shit at following instructions.”

“Bina…” Her drohi appeared at her side. “Come on.”

“You need to be making friends with the natives, not alienating us by taking him under your wing. Did he tell you what he did?”

“He survived a storm. That isn’t a crime.”

Bina let out a harsh laugh, fixing Vick with an incredulous look. “Is that what you told them?”

Vick went ashen. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“You were the navigator. It was your job to watch the skies, to steer the ship. You sailed your crew into danger, and when your ship sank, you fled in the only lifeboat.”

“No, it wasn’t like that. Gia told me…she said?—”

“You can lie to yourself, but don’t lie to your new friends.”

Vick shot to his feet and bolted across the room and out into the night.

“Wait!” I tried to grab his hand but missed.

“Let him go,” Araz said, his attention on Bina. “Why are you so interested in who we befriend?”

Bina’s eyes twitched. She shrugged. “I’m not.” She walked away, her drohi in tow.

Silence settled for several beats, then Dharma said, “She wants something.”

“I’m sure we’ll find out what that is in due course,” Araz said. He lifted his mug to his lips and sipped, his gaze finding mine over the rim as if to say, We need to keep an eye on her.

Or not.

Heck, what did I know? I set my mug on the table. “I’m going to find Vick.”

“I’ll come with you,” Araz said.

We were almost at the door when Ravi’s familiar figure filled the frame.

He was dressed differently to his usual fitted undershirt and loose trousers.

Today he wore a cream tunic with embroidery on the collar.

His hair was a disheveled mess, though, and his emerald eyes were bright with concern as they raked over me.

“I heard what happened at the affinity ceremony,” he said.

“She’s fine.” Araz stepped forward so he was bracketed between us. “No need for you to be concerned.”

Ravi’s gaze flicked up to meet Araz’s. “Excuse me if I don’t take the word of a drohi who has no interest in keeping his charge safe.”

Araz smiled tersely. “You’re right. I have been lax in my duties, but not any longer.”

“Of course not. Now you know she’s royal blood, you’ll do your job, huh?”

Araz’s jaw flexed, but the smile remained. “Yes. It’s my duty to be close to Leela. You, however, have no reason to be.”

“Leela is my friend.”

“Oh? Was she a friend before, or are you claiming her as one now that you know that she’s a royal?”

Ravi’s eyes narrowed, and he took a menacing step forward. I slipped between the two males, pressing a hand to Ravi’s chest. “I’m fine. And of course we’re friends.” I frowned up at Araz. “Can you please go find Vick?”

Araz tore his gaze from Ravi and fixed it on me. “Of course.”

He slipped away, and I stepped outside onto the porch with Ravi.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” Ravi said. “I had to visit Jangal domain. Alpha duties. I got back an hour ago. I heard about Pashim. I’m so sorry.”

Heat pricked my eyes. “Thank you.”

He blew out a breath. “Look, Leela, I know we’re from different worlds, and our paths…they might not be the same, but I care about you. I meant what I said to your drohi. I see you as a friend, and if there is anything I can ever do to help you in any way, you need only ask.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “I appreciate that, and same goes to you.”

“A favor from the future queen, huh?” He grinned. “I’ll take it.” He glanced over my head, into the warmth of the house.

I followed his gaze to see my friends chatting by the hearth, the scene wreathed in good vibes. “You want to come in?”

He shook his head. “Maybe another time. I have to get back to the forest and prepare to leave.”

“Leave?”

He offered me a crooked smile. “Yes. This wasn’t just a hello; it was a goodbye…for now.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m not sure yet. We’ll get our posting soon. But I’ll be back for leave, and I’ll find you.”

My scalp prickled. “They’re sending you to the ground?”

“Yes.”

My chest grew tight. “Are you…Are you going to have to fight?”

“Only if revenants attack our posting.” He stepped closer and lightly cupped my cheek. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”

But he didn’t know that. Pashim was meant to be fine, and he’d died, and?—

“Leela…” He pressed his forehead to mine. “I promise you I’ll come back. You have my word.”

“You can’t give me your word for that.”

“Yes. Yes, I can.”

I drew back to look into his eyes. He meant it. Of course he meant it, and fuck it. I’d take the vow.

“You better not die.”

He grinned. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

I wasn’t about to let him lighten the mood. Not for this. I pressed my palms to his chest, pushed up on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek. “For good luck. Be safe. I’ll see you soon.”

He stared at me, his gaze hot and soft at the same time. “You too, Leela. You too.” He backed up a step, then changed his mind, bridging the distance between us to pull me into a hug.

I’d barely had time to settle into the embrace before he was gone, loping across the garden and vanishing around the side of the water house.

I wouldn’t have made it through the gauntlet without Ravi.

I may not have completed it, but all the training he did with me netted me the points required to pass the test, but more than that, I liked the guy.

I cared about him. He was genuine, honest, and fun to be around, but the way the rakshasa were treated, the way the Asura used them was wrong.

Yet another injustice that I’d need to fight against if I ever made it to the throne.

I snuggled into my bed across the room from Araz’s, limbs already heavy with sleep. Araz was downstairs talking to some of the other drohi, and I’d probably be fast asleep by the time he returned.

He’d found Vick earlier and brought him back.

It turned out that the truth of the storm and the deaths lay somewhere in between his and Bina’s accounts.

Vick had been charged with navigation, but the storm had hit unexpectedly, and he had taken the lifeboat, but only after everyone had drowned.

His drohi had made sure that he survived.

Still, Vick’s guilt was large enough for him to allow himself to be treated abysmally. But not anymore. Vick had us now.

A yawn cracked my jaw, and I pulled the covers tightly around myself and closed my eyes. Silence settled, my blood cooling, ready to sleep. I drifted, and I heard his voice.

I love you, Leela, and I would have continued to love you with every fiber of my being.

Pashim…I miss you…so much…

Tears slipped down my cheeks, and I let them fall, let the memories come, bathing in the ache of loss and the twisted grief of knowing that it wouldn’t be over until I freed both Nani’s and Pashim’s souls from the monsters that had devoured them.

I’d succeed. Even if I had to kill every single pishacha in this world.

If they wanted me to be queen, that would be my price.