Page 82 of Lost and Stolen Gods
He took the steps to my floor, two and a time. “We can get you cleaned up in your room,” he said. “No need to visit the medical bay.”
“No need to see that bitch, Briella,” Blue added with a sneer.
Or see what I’d done to her. “How bad did I hurt her?”
“She’ll live,” Pashim said tightly.
“She fucking deserved it,” Blue said.
But guilt was a hot coal in my chest as Pashim carried me into my washroom and slowly set me down on the counter by the sink.
“Blue, run downstairs and ask Dipika for some salve, please.”
“On it.” Blue hopped down and scampered out of the room.
I craned my neck to see how he’d get through the closed door but was too late to catch it. Howdidhe do that?
Pashim gently gripped my chin and turned my face this way and that. “She caught you on the jaw. But the bruise is already healing.” He grabbed a washcloth and wetted it with warm water. “Your lip too.” He dabbed at it to clean up the blood, and I closed my eyes and let him work. I hurt all over, but his hands were warm and comforting.
It felt nice to be taken care of this way.
But I didn’t deserve it. Not after how I’d hurt Briella.
“Leela…” Pashim said softly. “Please don’t cry.”
I blinked up at him through a sheen of tears. “I should have held back.”
“You were pushed. It was deliberate, and now I think on it, it was bound to happen. Better it be a seasoned demigod than a novice.” He tucked my hair behind my ear, and his fingers lingered on my cheek. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who should apologize. I should have considered this possibility.”
I gripped his wrist and leaned in to his touch. “No. You’ve been amazing. You…you’ve made this place bearable. Seeing everyone with their drohi, happy and content, it would have been so much harder if not for you.”
He sighed, his warm breath skimming over my skin. “He doesn’t deserve you, Leela. I trust in the Shakti, but I cannot see the wisdom in this union.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth, darkening and softening. “I wish they had given you to me.”
My breath caught at his confession, at the sound of words I’d thought too many times, finally said out loud.
He lightly touched the corner of my mouth. “Have you thought it too?”
A shadow filled the doorway. “Go on, Leela,” Araz drawled. “Tell us,have you thought it too?”
Pashim dropped his chin with a weary sigh. “It’s rude to eavesdrop, Araz.”
“Even ruder to cloister yourself with another drohi’s jodi.”
“Why do you even care?” Pashim said. “You’ve made it clear that you don’t want her. Or have you changed your mind?”
Araz’s lips twisted in disgust. “I don’t care what you do with her, just do it elsewhere. Maybe you can try the hot springs. The little voyeur can sneak up on you and offer you her body there.”
My ears heated. “You bastard. It wasn’t like that, and you know it.”
He gave a derisive snort. “I’ve changed my mind.Do what you want with her, wherever you want. I don’t give damn. In fact, I’ll do the same. Wherever I want, with whomever I want.” He stalked out of the room and slammed the door.
“Fuck,” Pashim said.
I blinked back fresh tears of anger and frustration.
“What did I miss?” Blue said from the washroom door.
