Page 36 of Set Fire to the Gods
ASH HAD LOST her first gladiator fight. She had lost in front of Ignitus.
Tor and Rook had pulled her into a preparation chamber off the main fighting ring. The world was a blur of color and light, the windowless room washed a sickly pale green in the glow of the phosphorescent stones Geoxus employed. The hue turned Ash’s stomach.
When Char had lost a fight, theonlytime Char had lost, she hadn’t walked out of the ring. But here Ash was, the thudding of her heart sending pain into every tender bruise and scrape.
If she had lost this fight, how would she fare against a gladiator who could use energeia?
Spark poked Ash’s arms, checked her eyes. She dabbed balm on Ash’s collarbone and rubbed the smooth cream across her neck where Madoc’s forearm had been.
The gladiators Ash had met who worshipped other gods had always been like Stavos, proud and eager and so loyal it radiated outof them. But Madoc had looked like he hated what he was doing. He’d even defended her against Stavos’s taunts.
He made nosense.
“Nothing broken,” Spark declared, twisting the lid back on the jar of balm. “Which is miraculous. Fighting a Deiman without using igneia—it’s a wonder you still have all your limbs.”
Ash grimaced. “Thanks for your confidence.”
Taro pushed forward. “Confidence has nothing to do with it. You got out of there thanks to luck, not skill.” Her eyes shifted to Tor, accusing. “You need to increase her training without energeia—”
But Tor ignored his sister and knelt in front of Ash. “You let Stavos get to you,” he stated. “Before Madoc took you to the ground. It made you lower your guard.”
Ash looked down at her lap.
She hated that she had let Stavos’s taunting worm its way into her mind: that she could die just like Char. When she had lain under Madoc, his thighs fixing her to the hot sand, she had realized that if he killed her, she would leave nothing behind. Char would remain unavenged and Ignitus would continue destroying Kula—and Stavos would still be alive.
She wanted Stavos dead almost as badly as she wanted Ignitus dead. She wanted revenge, simple and grotesque, and the desire sickened her like she’d choked down spoiled meat.
Ash replayed Hydra’s message in her mind like some kind of desperate prayer, clinging to that goal over the rotten, misshapen desire to bleed Stavos dry.
I have heard no similar rumors. He should stop worrying, and leave meout of his squabbles with Biotus, Aera, and Geoxus.
If Ash thought about the words enough, could she shake the secrets out of them?
Stop worrying. Leave me out of his squabbles with Biotus, Aera, and—
Realization made Ash bolt to her feet. Her head rushed with standing so quickly, and Tor followed her up.
Leave me out of his squabbles with Geoxus, Hydra had said.
“Stavos threatened Ignitus,” Ash said, talking fast. She hated even saying his name. “He said,Soon, Geoxus’ll make sure everyone gets what they deserve, even your lying god.”
Rook, leaning against the wall, frowned. “Those were his exact words?”
“A war insult.” Tor shrugged. “He thinks Geoxus will beat Ignitus.”
“If that’s all he meant, he said it strangely,” Ash pressed. “Even your lying god, as if Ignitus was an afterthought. Hydra said that Ignitus is in some squabble with Biotus, Aera, and Geoxus. Maybe there’s a larger conflict, and it has to do with the thing Ignitus fears.”
“And a meathead Deiman gladiator knows about it?” Tor’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “We aren’t even sure if the threat against Ignitus is credible.”
Ash scanned the room, feeling a little manic, until she spotted an unlit candle and matchbox that had fallen out of Spark’s medical bag. “I know how we can find out.”
This plan was idiotic.
So it was a good thing her brain was foggy from the beating she’d taken; otherwise she might not have gone through with it.
Ash grabbed a match from the box, lit the candle, and stared at the flame.
Tor realized what she was doing. “Ash—stop! What are you—”
