Page 83 of Winds of Destiny

“She helped me a lot on the way here.”

“Good for her.”

“You’re so mean!”

Turo jerks his thumb at me. “Kai agrees with me.”

Camrael opens his mouth like he’s going to argue again, then quickly looks at me.

His voice is as clear as a bell in my head.

You do! Why do you agree with him?

I shrug. “It’s a long way from aiding you out of circumstance to aiding you because it’s the right thing to do. Maybe she’ll prove herself a worthy ally someday, but she isn’t yet.”

“You two are so cruel.” Camrael holds out his hand to me, and I go, summoned like a wind to his fingertips. He pulls me into a kiss that goes from tender to blistering in a second, the pain of my wounds evaporating in the face of all the hunger for him I’ve suppressed for far too long. Being with Turo helps me feel more in control of myself, somehow, while being with Camrael makes me want to forget about control entirely.

“You could lose control right now,” Camrael suggests coyly, rubbing up against me even as he draws Turo closer into the mix. “I know you’re thinking about it.”

“That reminds me.” Turo pokes Camrael in the chest. “Why didn’t you say that you could use the pearls to check in with their wearers when you first got them? It would have kept Kai and me from going on a rampage after you were taken.”

Camrael huffs. “You have the worst sense of timing. I’m trying to be seductive right now!”

I loop an arm around his waist. “Actually, I’d like to know the answer to that as well.”

Camrael stares between us before sighing despairingly. “I’m never going to get away with anything after this,” he mutters. “Look, it simply didn’t seem important to tell either of you what was going on. I didn’t think Kai was my actual husband—which I’m stillverymad about, by the way,” he adds, with an emphatic glare at me. “And while I had a…a feeling that the other pearl was meant for Turo, I never thought I’d get the chance to give it to him. Since he was being such a bastard.”

His tone softens. “I swear I would have told you both if I’d had any idea what was going to happen. Being able to reach out and connect to you was all that let me keep going.”

Turo looks like he wants to argue about it more, but that’s good enough for me. “Great. Now that that’s out of the way…” I press a quick kiss to Camrael’s forehead, then follow it up with one to Turo’s. Affection seems to be an excellent means of stymieinghis urge to chide. “We need to figure out how to get out of Inarime, because I don’t want us to spend another second in this place if we don’t have to.”

Camrael steps back and spreads his arms wide. “But this is the most advanced city on the whole continent!”

Turo frowns. “It’s a wet, rotting relic.”

“It’s full of ancient wisdom!” Camrael shoots back in amused outrage.

“It smells like a pile of dead fish.”

“It’s where we were all reunited! That makes it romantic,” Camrael insists.

“It’s where a god was killed and we almost lost our lives,” I counter. “I’m not against coming back someday, but I’d prefer to sleep on dry ground tonight instead of surrounded by the remnants of this unholy place.” I raise my eyebrows meaningfully at Turo. “Do you think she’d be willing to help us out again?”

“I’m sure she would, but I don’t know if I’ve got the energy to run all the way to dry land right now,” Turo says.

“She who? What are you two talking about?” Camrael demands.

Turo smiles, bending down to pet his little god. “How do you think we got here?” he says. “Rhianan gave us the ability to glide across the surface of the water. Otherwise, we’d have been viper food before we made it ten feet.”

“Rhianan…” Camrael looks at the black cat, then bows low. “Thank you for helping them save me,” he says very formally. “And for putting yourself at risk during the chimera ritual.”

“You’re welcome,” Rhianan purrs, then gets to her feet and starts trotting down the road leading away from the temple. “I saw a boat this way,” she calls behind her. “Much better than running all the way back to Zephyth. Or flying. That can wait until Cam has a chance to practice more.”

“I—!” Camrael watches her go, then looks at Turo with delight. “She’s amazing! I’ve never heard a god speak like that before.”

“It’s my bad influence, I’m sure,” Turo says, looking at Camrael affectionately. Then he reaches out and takes my hand. “And I think she speaks for both Kai and myself when she says that a boat is preferable to flying for now.”

“Fornow,” Camrael says, taking my other hand without any hesitation. “I agree with her, but just for now. I’m sure I can figure it out.”

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