Page 22

Chapter 21

EVERYONE HAS A STORY TO TELL

“ A re you ready, Leela?” Padmini asked from beneath my platform.

Potentials worked the gauntlet on either side of me. Their yelps and screams as they fell or got knocked off echoed around me.

Araz stood a few meters away, arms crossed, face a clean slate showing no emotion as he watched the scene.

He’d been in the shower when I’d woken this morning but came out fully dressed, thank goodness, because I doubted that early morning Leela would have been able to handle all that arrogantly sexy skin.

He’d sat at breakfast with me, watching me eat so that I’d barely been able to manage a couple of mouthfuls of porridge, then he’d walked to training with us, silent and broody.

Pashim’s brows had shot up at the sight of him at hand-to-hand training, and it had been hard to focus with him shadowing my every move. I’d have to work on not allowing his presence to distract me.

Like it was doing now.

Breathe, Leela. Focus on the course. Remember what Ravi taught you.

Where was the smooth spot on the log? I waited, thighs bunched, ready to dash across. There it was. I broke into a run as it rolled out of view, closer and closer, until it rolled back into view in time for me to leap over it and continue to the platform ahead. I landed safely and let out a whoop.

“Good work,” Padmini said. She glanced over her shoulder at Araz. “Don’t you think, Araz?”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Yes, it is, but you won’t have time to stop and cheer on the real gauntlet. Keep moving.”

The spikes were next, and I knew the timing to these. Wait, what had Ravi said? wait till the farthest spikes slipped down then count to five, if the first lot of spikes shoot up then count to five and run.

I waited for the end spikes to drop, but the first spikes remained down. The middle lot shot up instead. I was mid cycle, it seemed. Long seconds passed as the spikes did their thing and finally the last lot slipped down again. This had to be it. I waited, thighs bunching for the spikes right in front of me to shoot up.

Whoosh .

I counted to five, the spikes slipped down, and I ran.

I made it past the first two sets of spikes just as the last bunch slid out of view. I had time before they shot back up, but I gave in to the panic, and it caused me to falter and slow my pace. The spikes slammed into my frame and held me like a trapped bug. They were far apart enough on this course not to impale, but fuck, it still hurt like a bitch.

“I’ve got you.” Araz was on hand to extricate me and carry me, cradled in his arms off the course. “Are you hurt?”

I knew his actions and words were for show but answered regardless. “Just my pride.” Which was a lie. My ass ached, and my inner thigh burned where a spike had rammed it. He had to know it too.

“A shame,” he muttered, the insincerity clear for me to hear.

I shoved at his chest, wanting to be free, but he held me tighter, leaned in and whispered, “Play along, little mortal. Don’t make me punish you.”

With kisses? No. Do not think that. I allowed him to carry me up to the platform and set me down. “Again,” he ordered.

“I need a break.”

“No breaks. You told me to be hard on you, so here it is. Go again.”

I’d said no such thing. But he knew that pain was a distraction that might lead to another fuck-up and more pain.

He just wanted to hurt me.

Bastard.

I smiled up at him, sweet as sugar pie. “You got it, boss.”

It was going to be a long three weeks.

The next week passed quickly. Araz watched me from the sidelines and instructed me when needed but knowing that it was all fake left me with a pit in my belly. I focused on the Guru’s instructions. Guru , a word I’d come to learn meant teacher.

In the evenings, I’d slip out after supper to meet with Ravi and run the gauntlet again and again until my body ached, and I was ready to drop. Araz was never around unless he needed to put on a show. He was gone when I got back in the evening and absent when I woke. The only evidence that he’d visited the room at all was the steam from the washroom and his distinctive cranberry scent hanging in the air.

He was true to his word, though. Minimal assistance and minimal contact, and I should have been happy, but his distance left me hollow and empty.

I posed the dilemma to Ravi one night after our secret training session. We were lying on the platform to watch the stars, a thing that we’d started doing a couple of nights ago.

“I don’t understand it. Araz hates me, and so I should be good with this arrangement.”

“It’s the bond,” Ravi said. “Or so I’ve heard. It makes you yearn to be close. To connect. I guess the Asura believe that love makes more committed warriors.”

“Love?” I laughed. “There is, and never will be, any love between me and Araz.”

“There are different kinds of love, Leela. Some jodis form romantic unions, of course. But most become like siblings or the best of friends, and others adopt a parent-child dynamic. It’s love, all the same.”

“And what about you? What about the rakshasa? Do you have a jodi dynamic?”

“We have mates,” he said. “Our beast knows when we find a potential match. We’re encouraged to procreate to swell our ranks.”

“So there are female rakshasa in your barracks?”

“Once a month.” He smiled wryly. “They come from Jangal domain for a three-day visit. Any offspring are then raised to be warriors.”

I pushed up on one elbow. “Wait a second. What about love and family? I mean, do you have that?”

“My pack is my family. The only one I will ever have or need.” His tone was flat, though, as if the words were rehearsed and ingrained into his psyche .

I shouldn’t push, but my curiosity got the better of me. “What about your mother and father? Siblings?”

“I have a younger brother. We were raised in the cradle on Jangal domain like all the rakshasa who fight for the gods. The packs we were born into gave us to the gods as part of an oath, and we’ve grown in number from there.”

First the drohi and now the rakshasa—was there any faction that the gods weren’t exploiting? I understood the need to protect the world from this devouring force, but they were acquiring manpower by conscription, at least that’s what it looked like to me, an outsider, and maybe that was why we’d been kept separate from the other demigods.

Ravi closed his eyes, as if the sight of open space was too much for him.

“Do you want to be here?”

“Here?” He turned his head to look at me, moonlight kissing his features. “Here right now, with you? Yes.”

That hadn’t been what I’d meant, but the words to explain dried up in my throat beneath the intense look he was giving me. His gaze dropped to my mouth, and my stomach tightened in panic.

Had I given off the wrong signals? I needed him to stop devouring me with his gaze. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “What happened to her?”

His gaze flicked up to meet mine, losing the intimate intensity. “Her? ”

“Your friend. The one that I remind you of.”

He turned his attention to the stars once more. My relief mingled with guilt, because had I diverted his focus from my lips only to push him into painful memories? The tightness around his mouth and the way his throat bobbed now indicated as much.

I was about to apologize for being nosy when he spoke.

“She died,” he said.

Oh shit. I was an idiot. “I…I’m sorry. Can I ask…how?” What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut? “Forget it. You don’t have to tell me. I shouldn’t have asked.”

He exhaled and forced a smile. “No. It’s all right. I’m glad you asked about her. I don’t get to speak of her often, and sometimes it feels like she never existed at all.”

Would that happen to me with Nani? Would she begin to feel like a dream? No. I wouldn’t allow that to happen. “What was her name?”

“Devi. It means goddess, you know? And she would have been a formidable one. She was fiercely determined. A small female with a big heart. We connected immediately. We were…happy.”

“What happened?” I really needed to put a sock in it. “You know what, forget I asked.”

He chuckled softly, the sound warming and wholesome. “It’s all right. I truly don’t mind talking about it.” He was silent for a beat before continuing. “You remember when we first met, I told you to be wary of the native demigods, that they would take down anyone who was too strong?”

“Yes, I…Oh…”

His throat bobbed. ”Yes. She was strong. Skilled. And she was found dead the night before the labyrinth. Her throat cut. They never caught who did it. Never really investigated it, and I…I still don’t know…” He blew out a breath. “Anyway, I won’t let that happen to you. I would remind you to tell your drohi to watch your back, but after what I heard him say to you, I doubt you want to give him any ideas on how to get you killed.”

“I’m hoping he’ll come around. I mean, you said that the bond makes us want to be close.”

“I did, but only if you’re open to it, which I don’t think he is. Do you?”

The bird of hope that twittered in my chest fell silent. “No. I suppose not.”

He looked over at me and smiled. “But I love your optimism. Don’t lose that.” He caressed my cheek with the tips of his fingers, leaving a trail of tingles in their wake. “You’re strong of heart as well as body. Just continue to be strong of mind and—” He broke off with a frown and sat up slowly, looking off into the shadows.

“What is it?” I pushed up on my elbow to search the night.

He remained still and watchful for several beats. “ My pack. I have to go. Will you be all right getting back to barracks?”

“Of course. I’m sure I can manage to make my…”

But he was already loping toward the wall, where several figures sat waiting for him. How long had they been there watching us? Creepy much?

He got to the wall and climbed up it easily. His pack vanished onto the other side, but he stopped to look back, eyes gleaming like silver pennies in the dark before dropping out of view with them.

I stood and stretched my aching muscles. A shower wouldn’t do tonight.

Tonight, I needed a hot bath, and I knew just where to get it.

It was time to pay the Empire Baths a visit.