Page 66 of Lost and Stolen Gods
Jasha shook his head, mouth turned down. “You’re welcome to my leftovers,” he said to Dharma.
He stormed out of the room, taking his toxic energy with him. Chaya dropped back into her chair and picked up her tea.
Dharma dropped her head to the drohi’s shoulder.
“The show is over,” Araz said. “Eat, then get to class. Weapons training begins today.”
He gave the room a nod, then left without giving me a second glance.
Seriously?
Hell no.
I stormed after him. catching him on the stairs. “Wait.”
“No.”
“Araz, we need to talk.”
He took the steps three at a time, leaving me in thedust. By the time I got to our room, he was already inside. I took a deep breath and entered just as he stripped off the armor. I sucked in a breath at the angry bruises that decorated his skin. Purple and green, as if in the healing stages, but dappled over almost every inch of his torso.
“Oh my god.” I took a step toward him.
He sidestepped my touch. “Dammit, Leela, what is wrong with you?” he demanded. “What will it take to keep you at a distance?”
I stared at him, stunned. “You’re hurt. I mean that”—I indicated the bruises—“must hurt.”
“No, Leela, this pain is nothing compared to the soul-wrenching agony of being bound to you. Stuck here with you. Having to see you, smell you, watch over you. You, always fucking you. I was glad to get away, glad to be on the battlefield facing revenants. I’d rather face the devouring force in all its glory than spend another second breathing the same air as you.”
His eyes blazed with passion, and his words struck like mini arrows.
I backed up, blinking against a burn that signaled tears. “You don’t want this binding. Fine. Neither do I. But we have it. It’s happened, and there is no way out of it until one of us is dead, and I donotplan on dying before I kill the creature that has my nani’s soul. So, you’re stuck with me. Bitching about it won’t change anything. You can either help me or get the fuck out of my way.”
His jaw ticked, nostrils flaring. “You won’t survive without my help.”
“You’re an arrogant ass, and if you got off your high horse, you’d see that I have friends here to help me. Pashim and Ravi, Chaya and Keyton. They’re my friends. You and I could be friends too, and if you don’t want that, then we can at least foster a little mutual respect.”
“Friends?” His mouth turned down in a mixture of disgust and disbelief. “Why would I want to be friends with a sniveling, pathetic creature like you? A woman willing to give her body to a male who openly despises her. You have no self-respect, and you expectmeto respect you?”
His words were a slap that stiffened my spine. Because he was right. I’d allowed my body to rule my mind, allowed the bond to take control because I’d believed our jodi could work. That once he got over his disappointment he’d come around, but why should he? Why should he give up his dream so quickly?
I hated that I could see his point of view. Hated that I was an obstacle. Hated that I could see through his pain so clearly it made it impossible for me to hatehim,because hating him would make this so much easier.
“I’ll leave you to get changed.” I turned away.
“That’s it? You have nothing else to say?”
“Not today.”
I walked out, closing the door softly behind me because I wasn’t angry. I was just…sad. For him. Forme. For all the demigods and drohi trapped in a dynamic chosen for them.
If there was a way out. A way to take control. A way to choose, then it wasn’t offered to them. But that didn’t mean it didn’t exist. Any pairing when made mandatory could become stifling. There had to be a way to end this binding.
It was time I paid the Vidya Tower a visit and spoke to sage Bhoomika.
If there was a way to free Araz, then I’d find it.
Chapter 24
