Page 135 of The Divine Lies We Weave

“No,” Leela snapped. “You don’t. You’re a selfish, raging bitch!”

“You think that name can hurt me?” The Viperess tilted her chin. “No name can ever be as painful as what I went through.”

Leela couldn’t rack her brain any harder. How could the Viperess not realize what she had done? How could she not be consumed with overwhelming grief? She had won. She had lost the Flame meant to be a part of her world. Yet, she looked like she still wanted to shatter everything to the ground. Leela wondered if a small part of the Viperess was still enamored with the Scorpion. Why else did she hold back this entire time until the last tether snapped?

The pain consumed Leela, and she slid to the ground, lying limp against the glass. She didn’t know what would happen now. She supposed the Viperess would leave, return to the Awakening or the Netherworld. Leela didn’t quite care.

“We are not done, mortal,” the Viperess said. “It is time for the results.”

Leela was too tired to reply.

The Viperess spoke some more, but Leela didn’t listen.

Eventually, Leela was alone.

All.

Alone.

33

LEELA

The Viperess walked out onto the deck, and Leela was forced to leave Rajesh behind. She barely noted where they were going.

Moonslight struck the mainsail as the ship rested on a distant dune. A gentle cool wind caressed the side of Leela’s cheeks, but she didn’t feel it. It felt like she had been grabbed by the ankles, shaken violently, and tossed into the blistering desert to survive.

He was dead…

Dead…

Just like everyone else she had ever loved.

She thought she would feel worse. But instead, she was overcome with a numbness she had no idea how to describe—a sense of weightlessness, her body floating through space and time. Like the last few minutes never happened, and she would wake up soon. Because it wasn’t true. Rajesh wasn’t dead. He wasn’t. He couldn’t be.

No. She refused to believe it.

Right…?

Leela finally understood why Rajesh couldn’t love her. He was scared of this. This feeling of complete and utter heartbreak. She supposed it hurt even more, knowing the one person she could talk to about this pain was the one who was gone.

“Leela?”

The Viperess glanced at Hema, who was standing at the railing.

“Oh!” Hema said, clapping. “You will not believe tonight! The woman at the tavern was all⁠—”

When Hema’s eyes settled on Leela, her lips drooped, arms falling to her sides. She took a hesitant step backward.

“Where will you go?” the Viperess said, Leela’s tongue dripping with a haunting vibration. “You cannot outrun me, Silver Fox.”

Leela finally tuned in through her sight, watching her life play out as if she were behind a sheet—unable to move or do anything. Her chest tightened as Hema stared at Leela with Hema’s lips widening and fingers twitching. If only Leela had stayed at that tavern.

“Do you wish to injure me, Silver Fox?” the Viperess asked.

Hema took a deep breath. “What have you done to Leela?”

“Leela is still here.” The Viperess stepped forward. “Your Purple Scorpion and Emerald Peacock, on the other hand. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”