Page 54 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Yes. He said he didn’t love me. What else is there to interpret?

Lies can be spun into twisted tales, mortal. Each one digs in deeper and deeper, until a lie isn’t a lie anymore, but a whispered truth.

Stop speaking in fucking riddles. Do you know something?

Nothing I have not seen with my own eyes.

Leela groaned. She was over the Viperess playing this twisted game. She was over the Flame’s taunts—the way she dangled the truth before ripping it away. There was no point in trying to talk to an asshat.

Language.

Tell me one truth, and maybe I won’t need to.

Like what?

Why do you still want revenge?

The Viperess hesitated. Time for mortals is fleeting, a mere speck of time. I have lived centuries and some waiting for you, mortal, so I can enact my revenge. And I have been plotting and planning this for quite some time. Why would I quit now when I am so close?

Why me, then?

You’ll see.

I thought we were bonding?

The Viperess hissed. I will not ever bond with you, mortal. To bond is to care, and all I want is to get my revenge and live happily.

By killing the man I loved.

Yes.

Even though Rajesh clearly no longer loved Leela, she still missed him and did not want him to die. She still missed his scent of honey and cardamom. Missed the way he smiled and charmed everyone. Missed the way his smile welcomed her home.

Makes you wonder how he could not love you, right?

Shut up and get out of my head.

Sorry, can’t do.

Leela gripped the edge of the bath and got out.

She needed an escape. But how could she escape herself?

14

LEELA

Leela found herself in a nightmare without escape. Its ragged claws pulled her deeper into the stinging stench of death from the night of the attack.

Leela lay on the bed beside Rajesh, tracing the veins in his arms. Moonslight streamed through the small, arched window of her hut. She had waited all day for him to come to her, to be in his arms once again.

But there was something wrong. His arms were too tight around her.

Leela sat up on the blanket, staring into his deep brown eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Rajesh held her gaze. “Nothing.”

She frowned, unease twisting inside her. She knew Rajesh more than the back of her hand, and something cursed and heavy lay within his eyes. “What is wrong?”