Page 91 of The Divine Lies We Weave

“You know I never lie.”

“No.” Leela straightened her shoulders, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. “You were just never good at it. You got me to do all the lying.”

“You were just too good.” Rajesh shrugged.

The memories of their past seemed like a thousand years ago. A time turned on its head. He could still remember the first day he laid eyes on her in the play yard, when she pulled another girl who stole her toy to the ground, her tiny fist inches from the screaming girl’s face as her body pulsed with anger.

Now, looking at her standing there, he washed his gaze over her, soaking in all her fine curves and uneven muscles. The way the white shirt bunched at her abdomen tucked into the black pants. How her skin gleamed and glistened under the light, her dark hair aglow. Her eyelashes outlined her amber eyes and her eyes sucked him into their unobtainable depths.

“Stop it!” she snapped, voice echoing.

“Fine, fine,” Rajesh said with a smirk. He swung the godsblades onto his shoulder and nodded. “Go again.”

“Refresh my memory of what I’m actually meant to be doing, because I feel like a constipated cow,” Leela said.

“You’re meant to be pulling her forward. Feel her. Feel the warmth along your spine, and when she’s just about to harness you, inch her further and further and then shut her down.”

Leela gave a frustrated sigh. “Fine.”

Rajesh watched as she concentrated, a tendon popping in her neck as she strained to pull the Viperess forward. He bit his lip as he noticed how her hair spilled in dark waves over her shoulders and the soft edges of her cheekbones, the ones he used to caress. His heart pulsed as he thought of his fingers against her smooth brown skin. Oh, how his fingers could make her tremble and squirm.

She’s stubborn.

Leela or the Viperess?

Both. But I meant the Viperess. She’s not here to play. She never was. Always preparing to strike.

How else can I get her to come out?

You might need to play the pawn.

Rajesh tensed. As in…?

Seduce her. Make her come out and then have Leela shove her back in. It worked last time when she attacked.

I didn’t realize you had a death wish.

I don’t. But every time we’ve seen her, it’s when she hungers for her revenge.

Rajesh studied Leela. They had been at it for almost an hour, the sun rising over the dunes, and they were both covered in a thin layer of sweat. It was expected out in the desert, and all he wanted was to wash himself clean. He wasn’t in the mood to seduce her. He smelled, and there was still tension between them. Paying her out or picking on her were different, and they had grown up bonding over that. It was the one thing everyone had loved about them.

His chest tightened, and he turned to the skies. The Scorpion was right. If he wanted to get Leela to harness the Viperess, he needed to do the one thing she desperately wanted to bring the Viperess to the surface.

I swear, if you come out and hurt her⁠—

I thought we agreed I won’t until we found the wish-fulfilling tree. Besides, there’s something the Viperess is hiding, and I intend to wait to know what it is.

Still. Rajesh didn’t trust the ancient Flame when his solution to his revenge stood right across from him. He thought the Flame would stir more, letting its hunger surface and strike. But the Scorpion merely sat back, as if waiting to pounce. It was almost as if it pleased him to see the Viperess like this. Why else wasn’t he attacking? Why else didn’t he come to save Rajesh?

No. These Flames were weaving their own divine lies, and Rajesh was simply here for the ride.

“Leela, stop, before you form a hernia,” Rajesh said.

Leela grumbled and muttered something that sounded oddly like ‘fuck off’ and turned to him. “Do you have a better suggestion?”

“I do actually,” Rajesh said. “Depends on if you want to or not.”

Leela frowned, the familiar bow of her eyebrows telling Rajesh she was trying to read his mind. Admittedly, most of the time, she got it right.