Page 48 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)

Lucy

Lai had defended her. Lucy was stunned. He had done nothing but lash out for the past few days, and she’d lost track of who was even in the wrong by now.

He trusted her. Now Lucy needed to give him a reason to. She was going to be honest.

Starting with how she felt.

“I’m terrified. I’m in over my head. That first trial was a complete fluke. We didn’t use our magic; we bullied the forest into giving us what we wanted.”She said all in one breath, taking another before plowing ahead.

“I don’t know if I’m passing the next one if it’s anything like the first. I’m just coming to terms with the fact that I might not be in as much control as I thought. I force things. I don’t work with them, and–”

“That’s how we got into this mess?”Lai laughed, and she let out a sigh.

“Yeah. I’m tired, and I just want my friends close. I’m sick of all the drama.”

“Do you want me close, or are you sick of me?”Lai asked, one brow raised.

She knew he was joking, but she wasn’t kidding about being tired. It was hard to make light of a hopeless situation.

“A little bit of drama, maybe, in bite sizes. You’ve been a full buffet lately, and I can’t eat that much with my stomach in knots.”She gave him a weak smile. “I just want to get our home back.”

“So, is that really it?”Freya asked, her eyes darting between Lucy and Lai. “You aren’t an envoy of the goddess of Death?”

Lucy had to do a double take. Where had that come from? Is that what they thought of her? It did sound kind of bad-ass, but...

“I didn’t know Death was a god des s,”she mumbled, glancing curiously at Klein.He shook his head.

“As far as we know, Death is gender-neutral,”he assured her.

“Right. But, no- I’m not an envoy of them. If anything, I’m a goddess of fucking up at every opportunity. I’m a goddess of bad decisions and poor employment choices. A goddess of being a bad friend, and a goddess of meltdowns.”Her voice cracked on the last word, shoulders trembling.

Klein was the first to arrive by her side with another cup of tea. She appreciated the gesture but couldn’t possibly drink any more leaf-scented water; she was sick to death of the taste of dirt.

She needed four shots of tequila. Tequila tasted like dirt too, but at least it packed a punch.

“Hey, you got anything stronger?”She asked Freya, and the other woman grinned, offering Lucy her hand.

“No, absolutely not.”Klein shut the door before they had a chance to escape. “Didn’t we just decide we were going to prove how trustworthy we are? You aren’t sneaking off to steal booze. What are you, sixteen?”

“Spirits are for special occasions. Passing a trial is definitely a special occasion.”Freya giggled, caught up in the spontaneous fun.

“Klein, pull the stick out of your ass, let the girls enjoy themselves. They just cleared a test from Baba Yaga herself. Plus, it’s a good way to bond, and they’ll need to work together if they wanna stand a chance at the second trial.

”It seemed thatLai wasn’t planning on joining them, busily making himself a nest on the bed, tucking the blankets into a snug bowl around him before settling in for a nap.

Lucy was grateful. A couple of drinks promised distraction.

She needed an out from how exhausted and stressed she felt.

She wanted to take off her shoes, run wildly through the tall grass like a little kid, and stop tip-toeing over eggshells around everyone for just a minute.

The constant yo-yo-ing between ‘I’m a god’and ‘I’m an impostor’was making her motion sick.

“Don’t worry, Klein. I promise we won’t get into trouble.

It’s the middle of the day; I’m not gonna get wasted.

Besides, I’ve been trained by a master assassin.

No one is gonna know we snuck a bottle, I promise.

”She smiled, giving him a quick wave and pushing open the door again, pulling Freya giddily along with her.

Klein waved back, though his lips were white, pressed into a thin line of disapproval.

◆◆◆

The village was quiet, the excitement of the first trial dying down as students returned to their houses for midday rest. Lucy felt sleepiness settling over the clearing, the gentle sun relaxing her tense shoulders.

She stopped and took off her flats, the fabric still damp from the snow, and set them on a log bench to dry before continuing the walk barefoot.

The grass felt amazing between her toes, and the anxiety that riddled her body drained away into the ground.

“It must be nice living here,”Lucy said without thinking. To someone from the busy city, it was a quaint, quiet paradise. No cars, no traffic, no constant sirens. Just the singing of birds and a simple life. How many city dwellers dreamt of it from the confines of their cubicles?

Freya made a face. “It’s boring. I love my home and my sisters, but I’d give anything to see what’s outside the forest,”she explained, following along. “Lai has been telling me stories, and they are doing little to help with my restlessness.”

“So it’s that what he has been up to? Telling stories?”Lucy pursed her lips, doubtful.

The other woman blushed. “Well, yeah. He told me about his home and the places he’d been to. About his friends. It sounds like a wonderful world to be part of.”

“It is,”Lucy agreed. “That’s why I entered the damned trials. So we can go back home.”

The back of her throat tightened, and Lucy knew tears would soon follow.

She did manage to hold it all in somehow, but she missed that damn house so much.

She missed waking up to the screaming peacock and the fishy smell on her hands that lingered all day after feeding Martha, nostalgia weakening the foul scent.

She missed the cries of the griffins in the distance and how the statues in the garden watched her with life-like curiosity while the gargoyles chattered and frightened the bright lizards with their occasional movement.

She would do anything to get it back.

Freya pulled her out of her memories with a sudden jerk of her hand.

“There, see that cellar?”She pointed to the doors that led under the long-hall. “My sister doesn’t lock it. No one would dare to take anything from there.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea?”

“Oh, it’s a terrible idea! But you said you were the goddess of bad decisions, and I have faith in you.”Freya winked. Her mischief was contagious.