Page 94 of Damned and Broken Gods
He winced. “Just a few sips.”
“Vick…”
“Okay, so I had a couple of cups, but we’re celebrating.”
A flash of annoyance lanced through me. “We have a trial tomorrow. You know we need to be clear-headed for that. You’re no good to us with a hangover.”
“Us?” He sat up straighter. “I’m with you two?”
“Yes.” Priti smiled kindly at him. “Drink some water and get some sleep, okay?”
He tipped his head to one side. “I love you.”
Priti chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, love you too, now go on. Water and bed.”
Vick pushed to his feet, grabbed a glass of water, drained it, poured another, then with a mock salute, left the kitchen. Priti watched him go with an indulgent smile.
“You guys have gotten close.”
She paused, mug halfway to her lips. “He reminds me of my cousin. Dharma thinks so too.” She sipped. “He uh…he died a couple of years ago. Car crash.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. He was such a sweet guy. So much promise. He played the violin, and he was…talented.”
We sipped in silence for a little while.
“Do you think we’ll take the labyrinth together?” Priti asked. “I mean, you don’t have to take the air test any longer so…”
“If I’ve qualified, then I’ll ask to wait and take it with you guys.”
“At least there aren’t any ankh here to grade us,” Priti said. “Keyton said that the earth test is graded by Guru Mahir and the sea test by Bhartina as a pass or fail. The air test is based on a points system like the gauntlet was. The ankh decide point allocation.”
“So we navigate expertly, get back to the Shantivan, and boom, we’re done.”
She grinned. “Yep. And Ramashi said the weather should be clear tomorrow. Just the right amount of wind to get us where we need to go and back.”
We grinned at each other, the mood lifting with the possibility of all our hard work paying off.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Priti said. “Glad that we met.”
“Me too.” I set my tea down and leaned across the bench to hug her. “You, Dharma, Remi, and Joe are my family.”
She squeezed me back. “Yeah, and soon, we’ll be an Asura family.”
I pulled back and grinned at her. “A royal one, because if I’m getting a crown, then all of you are getting royal favors.”
She grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
“Priti?” Keyton appeared in the doorway. “It’s getting late, and you need your sleep.”
“Yes, boss.” She rolled her eyes at me, but the smile on her face told me how much she loved the fact that he cared.
They left, hand in hand. I was clearing up the tea things when Bina and Alia entered. They didn’t have their drohi with them, probably because their guys were still in the village celebrating with the djinn and the humans.
“Leela!” Alia crossed the room to hug me, and I caught a whiff of flamebrew on her breath.
I caught Bina’s eye over Alia’s shoulder, and she shook her head before making her way to the sink to get a glass of water.
