Page 135 of Lost and Stolen Gods
Yeah, guarding my heart would not be easy.
Chapter 45
WELL, THAT WAS UNEXPECTED
Iwoke with a hollow pit in my belly. The same pit that Nani’s loss had torn open, but now it was larger because Pashim was gone too.
The bed behind me was empty, and disappointment curdled my belly. For some reason, I’d expected things to be different between Araz and me now. After…everything.
Blue hopped onto the bed and curled up on the pillow beside my cheek. He stroked my face and gave me whisker kisses, and when a fresh wave of tears came, he wiped them away with his tiny paws.
There were no words needed between us. He felt my pain and I his compassion, and it was enough.
The mirror showed me a horror story of tangled hair, puffy eyes, and a fat red nose.
I waited for Blue to make a quip about my appearance.
He didn’t.
“Just say it.”
He gave me an innocent look from his perch on the counter. “What?”
“Whatever you’re thinking right now about how I look. Just let it out.”
“Maybe I don’t wanna.”
I arched a brow.
He shrugged. “It feels wrong.”
“What feels wrong is you not being you. So please just… don’t treat me with kid gloves, okay?”
He sighed. “Fine, you need to give the clown mask back. Oh, wait, it’s ya face.”
Urgh. “You’re right. I look rough.”
“Cold water. Icy,” Blue said. “It might help. Heck, anything is better than this.”
“Fuck you, Blue.”
“Ya not my type. I like ‘em furry.”
I cracked a smile and picked up my washcloth. Time to do some damage control.
Half an hour later,I looked less like something out of a horror movie and more like someone in need of a long nap.
“You’ll be fine by this afternoon, chickadee,” Blue said from his perch on my shoulder, a thick tendril ofmy hair clutched in his fist. “Your face at least. In time for the affinity ceremony.”
“That’s today?”
“Yup, the eclipse is in five hours. I wonder what we are? Earth, water, or air?”
“But no fire,” Blue said. “That one died out with the royal Asura. Though I wonder if Guru Chandra has it. He’s loosely royal, ain’t he?”
“Yeah, he is, but I don’t know much more about him.”
Right now, selfish as it was, I was focused on me. Finding my affinity meant moving barracks. I could end up living with a bunch of demigods I didn’t even know. “I don’t want to move.”
