Page 131 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Want to do something!?

Give me a minute, I have emotions swirling.

Rajesh cursed and bolted from the couch to the bed. He rolled over the mattress as another katar was flung at him, grabbing the godsblade at his bedside table and falling to the ground on the other side. Something cut his leg as he landed, and he hissed.

He glanced at a bloody rip on his knee.

“Fuck!” he snapped.

His heart pounded as he peeked over the mattress. The Viperess stood in the doorway in all her venomous rage, lips curled and fingers gripping her katars. Her golden eyes continued to flash, each glint a warning. At his slightest movement, she arched back and threw another blade. Rajesh shot down as it skimmed past his head, feeling the air whoosh and his heart jolt against his ribcage.

Leela approached, grabbing another katar from her waist.

Rajesh’s thoughts were a mess. Tonight was a mess. His side still rippled in pain, his lip bloody, and now his leg. Now, he was probably going to die by the hands of the woman he loved.

No. Not Leela. The Viperess.

What does she want?

What does it look like? A fucking party?

But… I thought we had… I thought we⁠—

You thought wrong. Now fucking save me, or we both die.

The familiar warmth pooled at his spine, and Rajesh knew the Scorpion had reared its head. He didn’t care if he was begging for help. He couldn’t fight off a scorned woman, let alone an angry Flame harnessing Leela’s body. And Leela had been training, which meant she was stronger, stealthier, and prepared to hunt.

“Leela!” Rajesh called.

Another katar struck the headboard.

Rajesh ducked. He racked his brain about what to do. The last few times he had managed to get Leela back were when he was close to her. But right now, he wouldn’t be able to get to her without taking a katar to his stomach.

He was still human. A mortal.

“Leela!” he called, louder this time. It was all he had. “Leela, come back to me!”

“Leela is not here,” the Viperess said, voice like Leela’s, but with rolling vowels. “She won’t be able to break down the walls of her mind I put her behind, mortal.”

“She can. She’s done it before!”

“Only because I gave her the impression she could,” the Viperess answered.

Rajesh frowned, stomach twisting. “What do you mean?”

“It has all been one big, twisted lie, mortal. From the very beginning,” the Viperess cooed. “I always knew it would be you two in the end. I planned it all. From the moment Leela lost her family, to the moment she harnessed me, and I found you.” The Viperess chuckled. “You thought it was fate that you two came back together, time and time again. But a Flame has some control over these matters.”

Rajesh’s heart sank like a rock to the bottom of his stomach. No… It couldn’t be true, yet, given the Viperess and her centuries-old feud, it made perfect sense.

The pain in his jaw was suddenly inconsequential to the devastation roiling within him.

Scorpion…? Is it true?

I… It very well could be.

“Who do you think killed your father with a mysterious illness?” the Viperess continued.

An icy pull washed over Rajesh. What did his father have to do with this…? “What the fuck did you say?”