Page 81 of The Divine Lies We Weave

That is the way.

I don’t give a shit. He took a deep breath before saying, I will help you enact your revenge. Just… just take me to the wish-fulfilling tree, and I will do whatever you ask.

The Scorpion snipped its pinchers in delight, and Rajesh knew he’d regret his decision. But right now, all he felt was rage and anger for his unfortunate circumstances—all he had was the Scorpion to fall back on. What other choice did he have? Leela was one of the only good things he had left in this despicable world, and knowing she was alive made something blossom within. It made him feel like he finally had purpose again.

Rajesh clenched his hands. He couldn’t control it this time. Anger swept through him—hot, burning everything in its wake like flame on dry grass. It rode his spine, hitting each vertebra and knocking the wind out of him.

He jerked over, pain running up and down his body. He knew what was going to happen before it did. Dark lines and white dots spun in his vision, and Rajesh was pulled into the sandstorm.

The harrowing nightmare of that night echoed within his head.

Bones snapped.

Muscles tweaked.

Blood pumped.

The sandstorm drowned out his scream.

The furybeast formed. Blood, muscle, organs, tendons, veins—everything swirled together in the tunnel of the sandstorm. Knitting together like it knew where to go. The tiny, spindly, white creature with two piercing black eyes formed before his eyes. Two sets of claws stretched from its abdomen, forming into tiny pinchers, and its back legs clicked and clacked as it hit the earth. A long, oval head stared him in the face, and the pinchers at the end of the tail curled into a poisonous tip.

He smashed back into his body.

It was too late.

The furybeast was born.

Rajesh rolled over, clutching his head. Begging for it to stop. The process was never easy. It left him breathless and unable to control anything, and that was the worst part of the curse—feeling every monster born in the depths of the sandstorm. But the drakion were the quicker of the storm-churning monsters, not too painful, like a dull stomach-ache or pins and needles in his hands.

It was why he laughed and faked a smile. To not stay in the dark depths of his mind or let the bigger emotions through. But how could he? When his emotions were what made him?

Into the monsters.

Into a monster.

The storm subsided, sucking all the anger from him and leaving him feeling numb.

“Rajesh?” Leela mumbled.

Rajesh jerked up to his feet, his chair clattering against the ground. He leaned over Leela, hands hovering over her as she mumbled and came out of slumber. She rolled over to meet his eyes, and he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“Thank the Flames,” he said, hand on his chest. He hated the saying because it meant jackshit, but it was the only thing he could think of right now. “You’re alive.”

Leela groaned and shuffled into a sitting position.

“Gentle,” Rajesh said, nudging her back down. “You aren’t strong enough to stand, yet.”

Leela lay back down, clearly too tired to argue. Instead, she glanced around, soaking in the scenery before meeting his eyes once more.

His chest twisted. He should’ve protected her.

“I was attacked…” Leela said, more statement than question.

Rajesh nodded. “Yes. You took a blow to the abdomen, but you’re all stitched up and the skin should heal over time.”

Leela craned down her head to look at her stomach. Her fingers faltered over the slightly swollen skin, still red and tender from the stitches.

He had only let his best healer near her. Their remedies had saved numerous lives, even pulling some back from the doors of death. They might have had to travel thousands of miles to get the herbs and ingredients, but whatever they did, they did it well.