Page 15 of Sustaining
Perfect. Beautiful. Snow angels.
And if that isn’t odd enough, the men are surrounded by piles and piles of endless logs. It looks like they’ve logged several hundred trees in the span of an hour.
Not a drop of sweat glistens on their brows. Clean shirts, clean boots. Three discarded axes lie a few feet to my right, and I glare at those clean blades as the two of them drone on about whether or not Rime thinks Hell would have inferno islands or not while Sinister continues to sway the drifting snow up to build himself another angel.
Rime keeps the argument going just as he always does. “I’m just saying it isn’t water that defines an island. It could still be an island of fi—”
“What the fuck are you two doing?” I finally ask with so much confusion my words come out slow and a little lost sounding.
The hold the demon has on his angels falters.
Pounds of pure-white snow drop down on them. It showers over the dry leaves, the stacks of logs, the sexy men sitting up and staring wide-eyed at me right now. Sinister pushes the gleaming snow from his dark hair while Rime shakes it away in big clumps. The ice dragon stands, dusting himself off as he strides over.
“Sinister’s never even been to Hell. He’s no more of a demon than Chaos is really.” Rime’s voice has that tormenting sound, his lips almost quirking up on one side but not quite making it.
“I’m a demon whether I reside in Hell or not, my friend.” Long finger’s brush the snow off of his dark shirt as Sinister walks toward me.
“And just what are you doing? Turning Dickless into a pack mule now?” Rime’s gaze gets that shining look of amusement in them.
I turn and realize I’m still clinging to Chaos. My thighs relax, and very slowly I slide down off of him like he’s my favorite ride.
That’s embarrassing.
“How—” My eyes narrow as images of very large, powerful dragons flash through my mind. “How did you guys get all this work done?”
Rime’s palms plant on his hips in a very Kain-like stance as he gives me his full attention. He leans in close, preparing to tell me the secrets of his ways. “Have you heard of an axe before, my Tamer?”
“Bullshit.”
He and I stare at one another for several seconds before he finally smiles. And, goddess, do I love when he smiles. My heart does this stupid quivering sort of beat the moment his lips part wide with a full, sexy smile.
“You shifted, didn’t you?”
“In a small magic-fearing community like this? Never.” He shakes his blond head very adamantly.
“Lies.”
Beautiful, cruel amusement shines in his eyes.
“I got the blueprints you wanted.” Chaos interrupts, handing Sinister a crumpled and folded sheet of paper.
Sinister’s crimson eyes get an excited sort of look when he unfolds it and peers down on the straight, calculated lines of a ship.
“Perfect,” he whispers.
I tilt my head at him, my brows lowering to try to understand why he’s so obsessed with these blueprints. He’s so focused, his gaze shifting quickly over the details on the paper. It’s like I’m watching him absorb the information, and honestly, it’s strange but intriguing.
With a wave of his hand, the stacks of round logs slice themselves like soft bread. They lay in precise stacks on top of one another, and before I can even speak, he’s waved his slender fingers once more, instructing his powerful magic without a word.
Those boards clatter against one another. The freshly sliced boards cut themselves into defined angles, bending, curving just how they need to with the assistance of unseen magic. One swoops up into the air, and I stumble back against Chaos’ chest as it sails past. The floating boards dance around us, coming together here and there, nailing themselves into place while Sinister just examines the paper in his hands, his finger skimming along a little detail here only to flick his wrist and the lumber around us fall into place just as it would if several men spent days building what he’s building right before my eyes.
I’m too stunned to even speak. Until a massive ship on support beams rests in the center of the woods. A mile away from the sea. Just spanning several hundred feet like a goddess herself tossed the thing down here.
I swallow. Sinister glances at me. Rime and Chaos glance at each other, a pleased smirk resting on their lips.
“You guys can’t just toss a ship into the woods like this. This isn’t at all how things work here.”
“Why, because we finished a job in an hour instead of a week?”
