Page 71 of Damned and Broken Gods
“I think Vick has suffered enough, don’t you?”
“I think we need to start fresh,” Bina said. “You’re right, we have been…shortsighted. Vick, I’m sorry for your loss.”
He looked across at her with a mixture of disbelief and relief. “Thank you.”
Ramashi cleared his throat. “We need a toast.” He raised his clay cup. “May this meal seal friendships and bring about a new beginning.”
We all raised our cups and echoed his words.
“Now eat up. Tomorrow you all get a day off. Enjoy the final day aboard the Vairanya.”
And then we’d see Shantivan. My stomach trembled, but I pushed away the creeping dread and focused on my food, on Araz, pressed close, and his cranberry scent.
I wouldn’t let the odd feeling ruin this moment.
I was better,so I could have moved back to my cabin, but Araz hadn’t suggested it, and I didn’t offer. Ididgo back to my cabin to use the washroom, though, and returned to his, dressed for bed, to find that he’d pushed our beds together to form one.
I paused, staring at this construction.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I…um…There’s more room this way.” He pointed at the other side of his cabin, empty save for the small chest of drawers that contained the supplies Ramashi had provided each of us with on arrival.
His reasoning was weak, but I’d take it. If he was willing to blur the line between us, then I wasn’t going to sharpen it. “Yeah, itwasgetting cramped in here. Much better this way.”
My reasoning was also weak because the best way to make more room was for me to go back to my own cabin.
We stood, staring at each other, and then he cracked a smile, a soft laugh escaping his lips. “What are we doing?”
I matched his smile and lifted one shoulder. “I think we both want to snuggle.”
“Yes…I guess we do.” He sounded unsure now, and my pulse quickened, worried he’d backtrack.
“Friends can snuggle,” I added quickly.
He looked up, his eyes lighting up at the lifeline. “Yes. Friendscansnuggle. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s a mandatory requirement,especiallyon chilly nights like this.”
It wasn’tthatcold, but whatever. “Iamcold.” I hugged myself.
“Then let’s get into bed.”
We climbed in and settled against each other like it was the most natural thing in the world. He tucked me against his side, his chin resting on the top of my head, and all my doubts, fears, and worries melted away. About the trials, about the story that the stars were writing for us. For this moment, there was only him. The steady beat of his heart, the hum beneath his skin that called to mine, and his hand making circles on my back—warm and slow like he was sketching calm into my skin.
“Sleep now,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled. “I’ve got you too.”
Land cameinto view midday on the seventh day, and at midafternoon we gathered on deck to watch Shantivan unfold—a vast landmass housing a mountain, atop which sat a gleaming white building, visible even from a distance, its towers reaching for the clear blue sky.
“What is that building?” Priti asked Ramashi.
“That’s our temple, a place where my djinn tribe honors our roots and pays homage to Iblees, the first djinn. A god in his own right.”
It hit me that I had no idea what Araz’s roots were. He was Agni djinn, and his people had been massacred by the Asura. Heat licked at my chest at the memory of the pain he’d shared. I had to stop and breathe, remind myself that not all Asura were bad. Not all would have made the same decision that was made by a few all those years ago.
I looked up at his profile, set in hard lines, his gaze on the approaching island. He was a drohi, but he was also djinn. It was part of his heritage.
“You’ll have to come see it,” Ramashi said to Araz.
Araz snorted softly. “I have no use for false gods.”
