Page 53 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Hope was dangerous—as dangerous as a dagger to the throat.

13

LEELA

Nalini gave Leela a bedroom where she could work through her thoughts as sunsets turned into blossoming sunrises. The room was simple—a pile of pillows on the ground for the mattress, and a wardrobe already filled with a few silky pieces of fabric.

During the day, Leela would read scroll upon scroll with Iravan in the library. By the time the moons graced the skies, she would be tired and sore, and at night, she’d sit subjected to her thoughts. She tried to piece together what the Viperess wanted. No matter how many times she’d asked, the Viperess never responded. Surely, the Viperess hadn’t come into the earthen realms just to kill her ex-lover? What else did she have planned?

Patience, mortal.

Leela jolted, slamming her elbow into the sandstone wall of her bedroom. There you are!

Miss me?

Un-fucking-likely.

The Viperess hissed. Watch your tongue.

Funny, it’s almost like you’re able to tell me what to do? You don’t control me.

Yet.

Leela huffed from her bed and stalked out of her room. A set of five doors peered back at her in the square courtyard, one leading to her room, another to Iravan’s, and the other, Leela assumed, to Rajesh’s. He was either avoiding her—and for good reason—or hadn’t returned from his hunt yet. Either way, Leela was eager to talk to him and learn how to control the Viperess like Nalini had propositioned. No amount of reading could tell her how to harness a vengeful Flame.

Hoping to clear her head, Leela entered the bathing chambers. The bath divided the room in two, with a rounded edge cut from the cave. Stars spread above from a tiny hole. A gentle heat rested in the room, where giant arched windows gazed out to the dunes. She sighed as the twin moons continued to bloat in the skies. It was almost time for her menstruation, and she was not mentally prepared to take on that, the Viperess, and the sudden change of events.

Her body was the first indicator that something was wrong. The trauma she’d buried deep, suddenly seeping into her bones and muscles, created a constant ache and impacted her menses. Now, her pain transferred to her back and lower stomach, and her head screamed at her about unwarranted thoughts, telling her she was worthless and a useless piece of shit. Alongside the dark thoughts, she’d also have to combat the Viperess.

Maybe this time it wouldn’t be so bad—she’d been telling herself that for several years, and the pain always got worse. The pain inside her head. The thoughts all-consuming, sucking her into a hole she couldn’t get out of. Deeper and deeper into a thick layer of blue blobs, causing her thoughts to stick and sucking any positivity from within her. The only relief was knowing that after her period, she would be released from the terrible mental hold.

Trying to avoid the inevitable depression, she shook her head and sank into the waters to wash off the grime of the last few days.

Once every aching bone in her body had been quelled, she sat against the wall twiddling her thumbs with wet curls around her shoulder. All she had were her thoughts to stew over and her shadows from the light of the candle flickering along the wall. A steady reminder of the beast inside her.

Beast?

Yes.

To call someone a beast, one must act like one, I would think.

You don’t think you do?

You do not know me, mortal.

Leela was too tired to respond. She leaned her head against the rugged wall and let the tears slide down her face. All she could do was stare into the endless abyss, envisioning the next few hours, days… months… of being in the den. What was she going to do? Was she going to try to find the artifacts despite Rajesh’s warning?

Leela still wanted to kill the lustisha. She wanted it to fall to its knees by her hand. Her dreams were inundated with visions of how she’d do it. Bow. Arrow. Godsblade. Jawblade. She didn’t care how.

But she had other things to focus on. Like appeasing the Viperess and her centuries-old revenge.

Why wait so long to get your revenge?

Have you, too, not been hurt?

Leela knew the Flame knew the answer. Doesn’t mean I would try to kill him for it. He doesn’t love me. It’s quite simple, really.

Are you sure…?