Page 61 of Bloody Bargain
“Why not? Feels like a good Trojan horse to me.”
D’abel smiled sadly, glancing up at the crowds gathering along Morfa Nefyn–many dozens now standing in a row like dark fence pickets–then turning his attention back to the fish. We were both doing our best to honor what might be our only honeymoon day together.
“Gamil must have killed many of their children to acquire S’ba. They would not have done so to hunt a single mortal soul. Not yours. Not mine.”
My throat constricted. I crossed my leg over my knee and traced the scales of D’abel’s tail. The tip wound through my fingers. “So their promises are real then.” D’abel and I stared at each other for several breathless beats.
“They promised you things?”
“That they would help us. They said they’d betray theauffor us.”
“In exchange for what?”
I shrugged, leaning my elbows on the table as Dafydd hummed a popular shanty and enjoyed the sun. “I told them I’d think about them, remember them from time to time. The things that gods seem to want.”
D’abel blinked, pulling the fish off the grill with his bare hands. He put it on a paper plate that was much too small and set it on the table. It smelled delicious andfresh.Warm and juicy. I swallowed hard, my skin prickling with anticipation as saliva pooled in my mouth.
D’abel bent his face into my neck and breathed me in with a deep, crocodilian growl. It wasn’t an angry sound, but a hungry one. For my legs to open or for Gamil’s neck between his teeth, I couldn’t tell. Maybe both.
“Gamil is the god of many things, but primarily of the hunt,” D’abel spoke into the shell of my ear. Goosebumps rose on my forearms as he tied me up in his tail. “Decay, hunger, the cycle of life… Their sense of hunger has twisted along with their children, so now they hunt through one’s deepest vices. They unravel the good in people by showing them the things they want most. Their youth, wealth, a neighbor’s wife, their most perfect body, a child, someone they miss… Whatever they told you, be suspicious,myn chalis.Their compulsion to consume someone who is consumed with vice is nearly as strong as yours.”
I creased my brow. “What do you see when you look at them?”
D’abel blinked, his feathery white lashes brushing my cheek. “For many centuries, my brother. Now, you and he both.”
“I only see them.” I scrubbed my arms and fanned my fingers across my forehead. “Skin like volcanic rock, and seven eyes that glow white.” I pushed D’abel back gently by the shoulder so we could look at each other. “They said that the other anchors are the only way to get rid of the fiends for good, but that they aren’t accessible anymore. They were moved to places without any form of water. Any form ofyou.If we fight without their help, we’ll just repeat this war over and over forever.”
“Ah, so you believe you hunted the god of the hunt?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. I wasn’t that conceited. “I didn’t hunt anyone. I just offered them something it looked like they wanted.”
“Are you sure they took what you offered as intended?” His shoulders stiffened, porcelain scales shifting over hard muscles as he stretched his shoulders–or maybe his pride.
“Can’t we give trust a try? That’s what you’ve been asking from me, isn’t it? Regardless of whatever strings are attached, I’ll pay any price to stop theauf.You’ve known that since day one.”
My b’adruokh examined my stare with a curl at the corner of his mouth. He pressed his nose to my neck and breathed me in.
“Mine Tessa, crafting a defense for trust,” he teased. “What an unbelievable turn of events. I’m miffed that I was denied such preferential treatment.”
“I didn’t kill you, did I?” I snapped in my own defense, annoyed in a warm way.
D’abel pulled back and held up a piece of steaming haddock between our faces, his pomegranate eyes glittering with boyish joy. “Eat, beloved. The first warm thing you’ve had in so many years will be hunted, gutted, cooked, and served by your husband’s hand.”
I opened my mouth slowly, gazing into D’abel’s mercurial stare. He pressed the hot chunk of fish between my lips and rubbed his thumb against my collarbone as I moaned. Tears popped into the corners of my eyes and I sniffed.
“It’s good,” I squeaked out, on the verge of tears. “It’s… It’s really good.”
“You trust the fallen one,” he asked without asking, already knowing the answer. I pulled S’ba from its sheath and held it between us.
“Not really, no. But I don’t think they’re trying to trick us. When they agreed, they looked heartbroken,” I said as he brushed his fingers across the meteoric blade. S’ba sang, changing colors under his touch. “And they kissed me.”
D’abel’s gaze snapped up, his pupils turning to slits. “Kissed you.”
“I assumed it was to seal the deal.” I blew out a breath, rolling my eyes at myself. “Or perhaps a thank you for thinking of them? It felt genuine, not a game.”
My stomach dropped. Fuckingdamn it.I’d gotten myself into another treacherous contract, hadn’t I? I blinked away from D’abel’s stare, ashamed and struggling to find the right words. He brought me back with a claw on my chin and another piece of fish pressed between my lips.
“A god kissed you without leaving a godling in your belly,” he teased with an edge of jealousy. “I think that calls for celebration.” He pulled me up by the hand and pressed my ass into the breakwall with my back to the beach, a dangerous hiss in his chest. “And a reclaiming.”
