Page 52 of Damned and Broken Gods
“Are you going to open it?”
He took a shuddering breath. “Yes. I suppose I am.”
He flipped the lid, exhaling softly at the sight of whatever lay within.
Blue tensed in my lap, his tiny ears perking up, his nose twitching. I gently laid my hand on his back, and his tiny body relaxed.
Araz plucked a ring from the box and held it up to the light. The band gleamed black, but I caught a flash of crimson too. I hadn’t realized I’d moved until I was standing beside him and looking at the ring. It was a plain enough item, black band threaded with dull red lines that resembled fractures, or veins, and the signet held a symbol—an eye inside a flame—the design etched in red.
“An heirloom,” Araz said. “Passed down through generations from father to son until my mother…She was the first female to carry it, and now…Now it’s mine.”
He slipped it on to the ring finger of his right hand, sucking in a breath as he did.
“What’s wrong?”
He frowned and shook his head. “Nothing. It was just cold for a moment, that’s all.”
I reached out to touch it, pulling my hand back as static pinched at my skin before trying again. Itwascold, but then it warmed, heated by Araz’s body.
“One day this ring will belong to my son,” Araz said softly. “One day when my people are free.”
His words were a stark reminder that our journey would land us on very different shores.
I withdrew, hugging myself and forcing a smile to my lips. “I’m going to shower.”
“I’ll meet you downstairs.” He shrugged on his shirt and left.
“Well…” Blue said. “That went from hot to cold quickly.”
“It’s for the best. And no more dares that involve proximity, okay?”
He held up his paws. “Okay, okay. Now hurry up and shower; ya hair’s all greasy and ya smell like clouds. Not the fresh kind, the acrid ozone kind.”
“You’re such a sweet talker.”
“I know, it’s a curse.”
I grabbed fresh clothes and headed into the washroom. I’d only been gone two days, but it felt much longer, and I couldn’t wait to see my friends.
Chapter 19
Her Pain Is Mine
ARAZ
There’s barely time to feed Leela, barely time for her to reconnect with the other demigods before Asura Ione interrupts, calling out the names of the demigods that need to report to Eben’s courtyard.
Of course, Leela is among them.
Of course, she’s in the first group of demigods to take the sea trials. Chandra will have seen to it, to get her to the throne faster.
Her anxiety is a buzz against my skin as we make our way into the complex and toward Eben’s domain.
The others are quiet too, as if sensing the gravity of this next step—Dharma and Priti, Joe, Bina, Vick, and Alia and Elata, another sibling pair.
A shroud of foreboding hangs over the group as they trudge along, buried deep in their own thoughts.
Good. Theyshouldbe somber,shouldbe preparing, because the sea trial has claimed more lives than any other. The tales I’ve heard, the horrific stories of creatures from the deep…Yes, Vick’s story is an awful one, but the beast who took his drohi and hiscompanions from him was elemental. They were dragged into the depths by the current and forced to sleep, not torn asunder and devoured, not stripped to the bone by the acid in the belly of a sea monster.
