Page 19 of Bloody Bargain
“Your children will assume I rotted away, then?” I guessed.
Gamil winked at me from the face of my brother. When the eye opened again, it had only one grey pupil instead of two golden ones.
“We do always enjoy our visits,” they said with relish. Exhausting. Gamil spoke in a way one must interpret. “Perhaps you will take our benevolence into account when you reclaim your former magnificence.”
“I will not worship you.”
Gamil sighed. “Our entreaties always go unheard with you ghasts. The only creature with no gods. Do you fancy yourselves to be gods, is that the reason? We assure you that you’re not. Youdiefor one, even if you take your time doing it.”
I closed my eyes, allowing them to spout their tiresome monologues as they did whenever they visited.
“We suppose we’ll just continue to wander aimlessly, destroying human lives without intention for another millenia until either you relent or our children find their way again. Maybe freeing you was a good thing. Gives this whole rebellious phase a kick in the arse.”
“Your children are not rebelling. They are feral. And you did not free me,” I sighed, closing my eyes. The backs of my eyelids glowed red with the light. I focused on the thin warmth of the sun behind the clouds.
“No… but someone did,” they purred.
Gamil traced the dried trail of my lady’s blood from my temple to the smears at the corner of my mouth. I hissed in my chest as the blue osmium dangling from their ears and neck tinkled in the breeze.
“Unhand me.”
“Mortal blood is never this bitter,” they murmured. I opened my eyes to find them mere inches from my nose.
“Bitter foryou,”I goaded in a pained slur, all my fangs glinting in a wide, breathless smile. “My lady’s blood is the most beguiling nectar I have ever tasted.”
“Impossible,” Gamil spat, wiping at their tongue with distaste and envy.
Laughter would have been too painful, but I couldn’t help the smug satisfaction of a purr. My lady’s blood had chosen me alone, and now I knew it to be true. The deep heat that had seeped through my spirit when I’d given her my soul had been real, even if my delivery had been clumsy. She understood my disjointed words. She accepted them,reciprocatedthem, even as I lay rotting and weak at her feet.
Gamil’s mischievous nature hardened as they leaned back on their haunches. When they opened their mouth to speak, their teeth were no longer curved like mine, but square and straight.
“Your chalice?” When I remained silent, they blew out a disbelieving breath. “Perhaps b’adruokh are gods, after all.”
“Recall, I can die. You cannot.”
Gamil wisely kept their peace.
“Will you be a spectator when they come?” I asked. “Or will you aid me at last?”
The unsettled frown that marred my brother’s stolen features lightened into something more familiar to the fallen one, less like my brother and more comfortable to bear.
“Are we not aiding you now? We told you they will come.”
“When?”
“Oh, soon, we suppose.”
“Very helpful.”
Gamil squinted sheepishly. “Our plight is tragic, I know. Theaufabandoned us, but maybe one day they will return. When they do, they will know we never stopped loving them and will cherish us all the more.”
When the god stood, they wore black clothing, my brother’s lean tail having vanished. They looked out at the horizon with purpose.
“You will be loved,” I offered them in comfort as the wind blew, chiming through my brother’s jewelry which tangled in the muss of my lady’s chin-length chestnut hair.
“Rest, ghast,” Gamil said in a deep, hollow tone. “It’s not long now.”
Droplets of water fell on my feverish skin and I sighed, spent by our conversation. I closed my eyes and surrendered to sleep, trusting that even if the fallen god would not help me, they would wake me for the fight to come.
