Page 56 of Damned and Broken Gods
The pity in Umbra’s eyes when he named three drohi makes sense now. She’d hoped he would not be spoken for.
Vick begins to cry softly, and Leela crosses to him and puts her arm around his shoulder. “It’s okay,” she says. “We’ll figureit out. If you can stay close to me in the air…if Dharma and Joe…” She looks over at her friends. “If we all stay together, then there are three pairs of eyes on you, on all of us. We all look out for each other.”
Her heart is too big. Her empathy too deep. Her words soothe Vick, but when she looks across at me, I see the truth reflected in her beautiful eyes. She knows that a drohi will always prioritize his bonded demigod, and if Vick does fall, then there is no way any of us are abandoning our posts to catch him.
Chapter 20
Goodbyes And Introductions
LEELA
I’d been without Blue all my life. I’d managed fine, but now, after having had him for a few weeks, the thought of not being able to see him every day made my heart squeeze painfully in my chest.
I didn’t want to say goodbye.
“Guess I’ll see ya in four weeks,” Blue said, shifting from foot to foot.
I crouched and held out my hand. “Come here.”
He hopped on, and I lifted him up so that he was eye level with me. “You, Blue, are amazing. You’re tenacious, outspoken, and smart. So fucking smart. You’re going to be fine. But me? I’m going to be lost without you.” Hot tears filled my eyes. “I’m going to miss you so fucking much.”
He sniffed and rubbed a paw under his nose. “Stop it, yer gonna make me cry.”
I blinked back tears and exhaled. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, come ’ere, chickadee.” He threw himself at my face, grabbing hold of my jaw with his tiny paws and pressing his furry face to my cheek. “Don’t die, ’kay?”
I choked back a laugh. “I’ll do my best not to.”
“And you.” Blue pulled back to look at Araz. “Make sure ya put yer bulging muscles to use and protect her, ya hear me?”
“Of course,” Araz said.
Blue pressed a final whiskery kiss to my cheek then hopped onto the floor, trailing after the other anchors as they headed for the arch across the room that would take them deeper into the complex and toward the nest tower.
Four weeks was going to feel like an age…that is, if I made it past the flight.
I didn’t realizehow scared I was until Araz pulled me into a hug back in our quarters. Pressed to his solid form, fear hollowed out my belly and made my chest tight.
“It will be all right,” he said, sounding so sure I had no choice but to believe him.
I clung to him, breathing slowly and evenly as I acknowledged the fear. The same fear I’d felt when going up in a plane with the intention to skydive. I’d been terrified but determined to jump anyway—to raise money for the shelter that was struggling to keep its doors open.
Yeah, it was the same trembling in my limbs, except back then I’d been falling with intention. Purpose. With a safety net literally strapped to my back. But this time there’d be no countdown. No warning. And my parachute would be flying somewhere below me.
I wasn’t alone; everyone was probably feeling the same way. But like Chaya said, there was no way out, only through.
I exhaled and pulled back a little, enough to look up at his face and trace the concern etched in the lines between his eyebrows.
“I’m okay. I’ll be okay. I have you to catch me.”
“You won’t fall,” he said. “You’re a royal, and your resonance will be strong. I know it will be accepted by the Vayujaari who carries you.”
I loved that he was trying to make this better for me. But I needed a reality check. “Let’s be honest. Unless the Vayujaari have a penchant for finding royal resonance more agreeable, I have the same odds of being dropped as everyone else.”
His mouth tightened. “You want raw honesty, then yes. You’re likely to be dropped, and if it happens, then it will be within the first few minutes of your flight, and I will be there to catch you. Do you trust me?”
My chest hummed in answer. “Yes. I trust you.”
