Page 24 of A Veil of Gods and Kings

She raised her eyebrows. “We didn’t pack enough of the other food for you to skip the meat?”

I shrugged. “I’ll be all right. It’s not like it can kill me.”

Temi sighed, scooping up her nuts and fruit and dropping it onto my napkin.

“You can’t give me your food,” I said.

Her expression darkened. “I’ll be fine. I can survive on meat. You need to eat enough because whether it kills you or not, you turn into a cranky asshole if you get too hungry.”

“I’d hate to see what it was like if you hated me.”

“Yes, you would.” She snatched a bite of the jerky off.

“Thanks.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t mention it.”

I lifted a handful of the nuts and popped them in my mouth. And despite my words, the saltiness of them melted on my tongue, and my stomach growled.

The smacking of our chewing echoed alongside crickets buzzing. The ebony undulations of hills stretched beyond us. Temi took another bite, and then she froze, her face snapping to the side.

“What is it?” I whispered.

She shook her head and slid her hand under her tunic, resting it over her knife sheath that slung over her breeches. She stood, and I rose with her, snagging my bow that I had rested against my pack, slinging my bundle of arrows over my shoulder.

Dark outlines slipped into the shadows. Five men appeared, raucous laughter trailing around them. The tallest of the group stepped forward, his eyes hidden in shadows. “Look here, Lysander, a pair of lovers traveling together, all alone on this dangerous road.”

Lysander laughed and brushed the back of his arm across his mouth. “That’s a shame for them.” He snapped his face towards us. “We don’t want to cause you any trouble. Just hand over your bags, and we’ll leave you be.”

Temi’s nose flared. “You can have my bags when my blood is cooling on the ground.”

“We can arrange that,” Lysander growled.

Temi whispered to me. “Willing to spare some of your powers to help us get out of this situation?”

I clicked my tongue. “And ruin all the fun? Temi, come on.”

She groaned and slipped three knives out between each of her fingers. “Leave now, and no one needs to get hurt.”

The tall one of the group took a step forward. “The person who should worry about getting hurt, little mouse, is you.”

Well, he was done for.

Temi’s arm whipped out, thunk, thunk, thunk. The knives landed in their throats, blood gushing. The first man screamed, falling to the ground, two of his companions dropping with him. “Shit,” Lysander cursed, patting the arm of his remaining companion. “Let’s get out of here.”

They ran. Their dark forms bobbing in front of the hills.

Temi turned towards me, crossing her arms. “Well?”

“I think they learned their lesson. Perhaps we should let those two go. Second chances and all of that.”

“Do you know what they were thinking, Apollo?”

I shrugged. “They wanted to rob us.”

She shook her head, her body vibrated, her hands curling into fists. “No. As a woman, I’ll tell you exactly what they had in mind. And the next woman they run across will not be as lucky.”

I clenched my jaw, shifting towards the retreating forms.