Page 134 of Lost and Stolen Gods
“But they found us. They found us, and they killedher and…my sister…” His mouth twisted. “They violated my sister in front of me. Violated and laughed. I would have burned them all. Killed them all, but they were bigger, stronger…” He lifted his arms and made fists with his hands. Shackles bloomed to life on his wrists.
I gasped and reached out to touch one, but they melted away.
“They control me now. Control us all. But the ones raised here don’t know. They don’t understand what it is that they’ve lost.”
But I did. I finally did. “You’re going to go back to your people, aren’t you?”
His eyes narrowed, and he nodded.
But it was more than that. He wanted more than that. Oh….of course. He wanted revenge. “What are you going to do, Araz?”
“Mother told me tales of the free drohi and the djinn tribes. She told me that when the time was right, I would find them.”
Comprehension fluttered at the corners of my mind. “Araz,whatdo you plan to do?”
His mouth curved in a thin cruel smile. “I’m going to raise an army, and then I’m going to bring down the gods.”
Araz planned to start a rebellion.A new war, and I’d just promised him the freedom to do it. Not just promised but given him an oath.
“Araz, the Asura are essential to stopping the devouring force.”
“Are they?” He sat forward, eyes slits of gold that challenged me to think. To see. “I don’t see anybornAsura fighting on the battlefield. They remain here in their sky city hiding behind their oaths while we, the drohi, fight their battles. They made demigods to use as cannon fodder, and yes, they ascend some of you, but who do you think has the final say on the selection?”
“You’re talking about bringing down a whole institution. We don’t need to do that to affect change. We can fix things from within. The potentials and I?—”
“Dammit, Leela, you’re not listening.” He exhaled and closed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter what you think. We have a deal now, sealed in breath and blood. Youwillfree me, and Iwillhave my vengeance. You can’t stop me, not without breaking your oath.”
The irony of that statement was obviously lost on him, but I wasn’t afraid to point it out. “You’re holding me to an oath now too? So how does that make you any better than the Asura?” He flinched as if I’d slapped him, and I continued. “Don’t worry, I would have honored it regardless.”
He had the grace to look ashamed. “Leela. You’renew to this world. You don’t understand that change can only come if the gods fall.”
“I understand that. I just believe that the fall can come without an all-out war, especially when we’re already in the middle of one.”
His jaw tensed. “I won’t stop you from affecting change in any capacity you see fit. You can do what you wish once you’re a god. But I will follow the path that I see fit.”
He’d had the best part of a century to nurture his rage and plan his revenge. He’d lost his home and his family, been enslaved in the name of a greater good that he hadn’t chosen. And as much as my heart ached for him, I could not, would not accept that war was the only solution. I wasn’t going to change his mind in one conversation, but maybe in time I could show him that my way would be better.
I relaxed and nodded. “Fine.”
He tipped his head, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Fine?”
“Yes. Fine. Now I’m tired, so I’m going to get some sleep.”
He eyed me warily as I climbed under the sheets.
“You can stroke my hair if you like.”
“Leela, this is a very strange way to end such a deep and meaningful discussion.”
“I’m not ending it, just hitting pause.”
He seemed to consider this for a beat, then his hand fell to my brow. “Very well. We shall sleep.”
But sleep didn’t take me till the first light of dawn stained the room because the voice of reason inside me warned me that things might not go as I planned. That Araz might indeed leave.
I needed to be prepared to let him go.
He curled his body around mine, cradling me against his much larger frame.
