Page 16 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Leela jolted, still unsure, but obeyed. She turned to the red sand at her feet and gasped. A shadow of the Viperess stood, curled from tail to head with golden eyes gleaming back at her, as well as a woman beside it.

Leela stumbled back.

Surprise.

Panicked, Leela held her hands up. “No. No, I’m sorry! I didn’t know!”

“Leave! We don’t need the one who betrayed us all among us.”

She flinched and glanced at the child who had offered her the water, now standing behind her father’s legs and cowering. Leela forced herself to trace the family’s expressions and realized her fate. She couldn’t stay in the kingdom anymore, not when her shadows gave her away. The rebels might find her and drag her back. Or worse, the palace would find her and force her back into a loveless marriage.

There was no hope left in this city.

Bowing, Leela hoped she came across as apologetic, and dragged her feet away. She kept away from the sun and stuck to the shadows to mask her own.

Leela knew when she wasn’t wanted, and now, she needed to leave the City of Nihikia and brave the harsh desert. Except survival wasn’t going to be easy. She had no idea where to go or how to track things in the dunes. What monsters awaited her? Rebels…? Pirates…? Besides, she still had a relic to find.

She couldn’t stay here. It was better to die out there free than here as a fugitive. Maybe it would get rid of the Viperess while she was at it.

Unlikely. We can survive the desert. Let me guide you.

Leela scoffed. How could she trust the Flame? She didn’t know her. Didn’t trust her from a grain of sand. Except what other choice did she have? She harnessed the Viperess. She would be scorned and hunted.

How can I trust you?

You can’t. Until I give you a reason. But you know better than I do that surviving in the city would be difficult.

Leela glanced back at the palace peeking between the buildings. The Viperess was right. The palace was looking for her, and the Viperess seemed too important for Ishaan to let her go free and not come after them too. Maybe she could lie low on a sandship or find a quiet village to hide? Either way. She could not stay here.

She still wanted to find this relic and kill that lustisha. Her circumstances might be different, but her revenge still stood, and she wasn’t ready to let go of that yet, even if she had just stepped into a nightmare.

Fuck it. Fine. Guide me over the desert and take me to the relic. I still want to kill this lustisha.

With pleasure.

5

LEELA

It had been less than a day, and the desert was relentless.

Leela ripped off the bottom of her shirt to use as a scarf, wrapping it around the slight slant of her nose and bow of her mouth to stop the sand from burying her alive. She raised her hand to keep the grains from her eyes, but there wasn’t much to see beyond ocher sand. Sand. And more fucking sand with a few scattered scrubs and trees layered between.

Leela wiped her forehead. Sweat covered every inch of her body and welled in places she really wished it didn’t. Blisters bubbled along her feet, and boils grew between her toes. She bit her lip, refusing to whimper with each agonizing step. She wished she’d found her shoes and cloak before running away.

Despite her circumstances, she held onto the belief she couldn’t be far from another city or village. She struggled to remember the maps her father used to trace, of the three reigning desert kingdoms and their scattered cities. Nihikia had the most cities of the desert kingdoms, and she was bound to find a lone caravan or someone out here, as long as she didn’t come across any monsters.

If anyone recognized she was a Vessel, Leela was sure they would use her as some form of bargaining chip and drag her ass back to the palace—or worse, to the neighboring Kithium Kingdom’s enforcers. There, warlords ran rampant, and people were willing to do anything to survive.

Even if she did manage to find a nearby city, Leela had no idea with whom she would plead to help her. Who would help a Vessel harnessing the Golden Viperess? The very Flame said to have started this entire chaos to begin with?

Shit. Leela stopped and stared across the dunes, realizing she not only had nowhere to go, but a fate drowned in sorrow.

Unless she found a way to get the Golden Viperess out of her head first.

You act as if I have wounded you, mortal. What petty price must I pay for you to stop grumbling?

“What price must I pay to get you out of my fucking head?” Leela snapped back.