Page 116 of Damned and Broken Gods
“Let me get you a shirt.” He crossed to the dresser, and as I watched him rummage, a thought rose in my mind, vivid and sharp.
I could make him stay.
I could break my vow to free him.
It was the solution to it all. I could keep him here for as long as I needed to fix things. But if I did that…then I’d be no different from the Asura who ruled right now.
Nausea rolled in my belly as my system revolted at the idea.
I couldn’t do that to him. To myself. To us.
Change would begin with Araz’s freedom, and whatever came next…we’d have to deal with.
Part Seven
The dictionary defines a labyrinth as a complicated, irregular network of paths in which it is difficult to find one's way.
But this labyrinth is so much more than that: It’s a spiritual tool, a test. There may not be any minotaurs, but I’m sure there’ll be some kind of monster to defeat.
Chapter 42
Give Me Back My Guy!
LEELA
They say time flies when you’re having fun, but I didn’t have fun. I ached, yearned, and stressed, and time still flew by. Thank goodness for Blue; his quips and witty comments kept me from abandoning my smile completely.
I was a woman torn between the greater good and the needs of her heart.
A heart which walked in muscle-bound skin, with eyes like flame and a smile that, when it flashed, flipped my stomach and made my knees weak.
Time slipped like grains of sand, moving in and out—day and night—like an unstoppable tide, until I was standing at the threshold to the very thing I’d vowed to be.
A god.
Except now that path led to a crown, a throne, and more responsibility than I could ever have imagined or wanted.
I stood in the middle of my room, dressed for the Calling—the test before the test where I would claim my holy weapon—and all I could think about was Nani.
Of our kitchen back home in the cottage, and the way the buttery warm sunshine would turn it into a haven just for us. And if I closed my eyes and focused real hard, I could hear her singing softly under her breath as she rolled out chapatis for supper.
She’d had power, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much she’d truly known about this world. About the blood that ran through my veins. Had she simply known I was a demigod, or had she known my bloodline?
Maybe when I freed her soul, I’d get a moment with her. To thank her for keeping me safe and to ask her all the questions I never got to while I had the chance.
“Chickadee?” Blue said softly, tentatively. “You ready?”
I opened my eyes and met his beady gaze across the room where he stood on the dresser.
“You look like ya gonna kick ass,” he said.
“I hope there isn’t much ass kicking required.”
I adjusted the fingerless gloves I’d been given and smoothed my hands down the black and gray jumpsuit that molded to my skin. I’d pulled my hair back into a braid and pinned it into a knot at my nape to keep it out of the way. Goodness knew what challenges we’d be facing once we got into the labyrinth.
Araz had been summoned this morning, along with all the other drohi, and wasn’t back yet, but they’d told us to be at Eben’s courtyard at rising sun, so I needed to get moving.
Araz would find me. He always did.
