Page 107 of A Kiss From Death
“I hope they age like fine wine, because so far, they seem rather…lacking.” I draw out the last word as I let the die tumble from my hand. The die lands with the eels facing up, and a bright white glow comes from within until two zappy little things slither out onto the table. They look like lightning bolts as electricity dances over their slithering bodies.
The barrier vanishes, and two yellow sea snakes launch immediately, trying to sink their fangs into my eels. The eels zap thesnakes a few times, trying to warn them off, but as soon as the snake’s poisonous fangs sink into my eels, the fight is over.
“One point, Zale,”the die’s haunting voices calls to us.
Zale’s shit-eating grin beams at me from across the table, his dimples on full display. “Better luck next time, darlin’. It seems these fingers are indeed capable of making magic happen.” He twinkles his fingers at me while raising his eyebrows suggestively, and I choke out a laugh at the same time I hear a faint, disapproving grunt from Hade behind me.
Rolling my eyes playfully, I pick up the die again as the barrier constructs itself between us. “Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while,” I quip back. I release the die in front of me, and it rolls a few times before landing on the dragon. Red light erupts from the top, and the cutest red dragon barrels out of the face, stomping its little feet across the table as steam billows out his nostrils.
Satisfied with my roll, I pick up the die and throw it over to Zale. He rolls quickly, the faint glow of magic casting on his face right before the barrier melts away. Two eels try to slither across to my half of the table, but before they even make it two inches, my dragon unhinges his jaw. Red hot fire erupts from deep inside him, turning both eels to a pile of ash.
Efficient—I like it. I want to scoop him up and slip him in my pocket so he can incinerate all my enemies to come. Just as the thought leaves my brain, my little dragon friend dissolves into a blob of red magic, sucked back into the die along with the eels.
“Another point to Nyxi. One more and she wins.”
The Jezzle die puts reality at the forefront of my brain with just how close I am to the answers I need. One more win, and I could potentially have my ticket to solving the riddle. To saving my life. With only one trial left, it truly is life or death for me. If the trial has anything to do with strength, Tank has a major advantage over me, and I don’t like those odds.
With the barrier back between us, Zale rolls for his turn and then tosses the die back over to me. Closing my eyes, I send Theo a quick prayer, hoping my plea for luck is answered, and then release the die from my palm. It rolls so hard, it knocks into the barrier, wedging itself there. I swear I catch the faintest shadow whip out and knock it a touch so it tips right instead of left, finally landing on a face.
Dark black magic bursts from its face, and my eyes grow wide as a grim reaper holding a scythe gallops out of it, riding a mini horse.
Death magic.
Hade’s magic, to be exact.
The barrier dissolves between us, and my grim reaper wastes no time, running at full speed right into battle against Zale’s…Pegasus. The poor thing trembles slightly, not even trying to find a way to escape. If it wasn’t so cute, I would be howling with laughter over how pathetic his Pegasus roll is compared to my grim reaper for someone who is apparently anundefeated champ.
Aswooshrings out as my grim slices his scythe through the air, fully decapitating Zale’s Pegasus, easy as butter. The grim trots his horse in a circle around the head, marking his victory before all the magic is sucked back into the die, signaling the end of the game.
“Game well played,” I say casually while kicking my feet up on the table again. I pretend to pick dirt from under my nail, as if winning the game means nothing, while secretly waiting to see what Zale has to say in return. I try to wait as long as possible, which is precisely one second before I launch out of my chair a little too eagerly, the ale aiding my outburst. “Empress, that was embarrassing. What was your name again?”
Of course, I remember his name.
“Zale,” he says with a slight edge, but he’s too prince charming to really crack his confident shell, which is now my new priority challenge to meddle with. Life is utterly tooboring if you aren’t trying to push your finger in every crack you find and dig around a bit.
“Hmm, are you sure? I could have sworn it was Zeke?” His eye slightly twitches, but he says nothing, and I smile internally at the newest crack I’ve whittled. “I guess it doesn’t matter, because your name is last week’s news after that performance.” Turning, I look over my shoulder, gesturing for Hade to look at my lower back. “Do you think you could rub out this knot I have from carrying that entire game on my back?”
The most glorious thing happens then, and it plays out in slow motion in my head on loop. Hade lets out the loudest, most heart stopping laugh I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. It’s warm and infectious—quite honestly my new favorite thing. His eyes wrinkle at the corners when his lips grow into a full smile as the most carefree laugh sings out around us, and I can’t help staring, stunned at this beautiful creature.
A smile touches my lips just from taking in this moment at the same time Zale joins in with Hade, who still can’t control his laughter. It’s a forever moment, one I will think about when the hard days come.
“I like her,” Zale says authentically over to Hade, who has recovered from his laughter assault and nods back with a panty dropping smile.
“That’s two in one night,” he says under his breath, more to himself, but I catch it all the same. “She’s one of a kind, that’s for sure.”
The ale has definitely altered my ego, but I’m still right minded enough to know how to treat a person, or maybe a new…friend? Striding over to Zale, I grin at him sincerely and offer him my hand. “Good game,” I say honestly. “Apparently, the odds were in my favor tonight, but six wins in a row is very impressive. One might say it’s yourluckynumber.”
He shakes my hand and once again brings it to his lips, kissing my knuckles gently with a smirk on his face. “A pleasure,darlin’. Hade will just have to bring you back another night so we can even the score.”
Squeezing his hand back, I drop it to my side and look over to Hade. “I would love that.” Hade gives me a weak smile I catch from the corner of my eye. It looks slightly pained, and I know exactly why. He’s concerned I will run out of days.
Just as the Crucible grazes my mind, a slithering, eerie voice claws against the inside of my skull again. “Congratulations, my metamorphosis. As promised for winning, one answer to any question will be granted within realistic parameters. I cannot tell you answers to the future, nor can I tell you the answers to your destiny, but I can grant you my knowledge. Choose wisely, because you only get one question.”
There are so many questions I would love to ask, but one is more important than all the rest, no matter how badly I would love the answers to everything. Taking a moment to think, I choose carefully exactly how I want to phrase my question for the best outcome to help aid my search for the answer to the riddle.
Going with the most up front one, I think my question.Can the answer to the Empress’ riddle be found in the personal journal collection inside the Castle library?
The dice’s snakelike voice answers immediately, giving me a lifeline to grasp for dear life. “All the answers you seek, my child, are within your grasp. Follow your intuition, and all will be righted again. Find the answers and force the world to listen. It must be you. It has always been you.”
