Page 69 of A Heart of Crimson Flames
I stooped to the body on the ground, freeing my knife with a wet splat, and wiping it across my dress. Painting myself in blood, I sheathed my blade. Maez’s eyes tracked each movement—a carefully choreographed dance just for her, reeling her in.
I held her gaze as I lifted a dripping finger and licked the blood clean.
With that action, Maez moved, storming across the room and pinning me against the wall.
“I am going to be the one to lick every inch of blood off you,” she growled, eyes hooded with lust.
I pursed my bloodied lips, taunting her. “I’ll allow it.”
“You are magnificent.” She took a step back to take me in, her hand skimming down my dress and cupping my breast beforesliding down my curves. “As if the Goddess carved you out of moonlight to be perfectly mine.”
I lifted a hand to trail Maez’s sharp jawline and down the column of her neck to wrap my fingers around her throat. I leaned in and kissed her, relishing the sharp pain of my injured lip. She released a rumbling sound, trying to kiss me deeper, but I pulled back, teasing her.
“Thisis who the Goddess wanted for me,” I said, flicking my tongue across her bottom lip and pulling away again before she could kiss me. “Just as you are now. Vicious. Bloodthirsty.Mine.” My hand constricted around her throat in warning as her lips parted with desire. “Now fuck me until nothing exists except you and I.”
Her eyes flashed the most beautiful emerald as she grinned. “As my mate wishes.”
Sadie
THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS A BEAUTIFUL GRAVE. NO AMOUNTof flowers could be laid upon the freshly turned soil to make the sight sting any less. My heart filled with steel and ice as I stared at the mound of earth under which Asha would forever remain. I never taught her how to wield a dagger. Maybe if I had...
No. I knew following that line of thought wouldn’t do anything to resurrect her. I also knew it wouldn’t have made a difference. She was a human, half my size, facing off against dozens of Wolves. If Haestas hadn’t arrived when she did, many more of us would be dead. Perhaps all of us.
We gathered in a circle, each taking a turn to share some murmured words. I hadn’t known the smallest Songkeeper very long and still I ached with her loss. She had been timid and shy at times, but underneath was a strength and magic enviable to all. She had stood in battle with us, her arrows flying, and had done so until she was cut down. With a little more practice and a few more years, she could’ve been mighty.
No, I thought again.Shewasmighty.
“For Asha,” Ora said, lifting their cup to the cloud-covered sky.
“Asha,” the others repeated as we all took a drink.
“We will listen for her song in the afterlife. May she sing us to her so that we may sound again as one.”
We all took another long drink, liquor burning fire down our throats. I was about to turn toward the wagon when Navin started singing, then Ora, then the others. It was a song I’d never heard before, though the language in which they sang was that of my homeland. Wolves didn’t sing burial songs. Our remembrances were never so beautiful.
I huffed, trying to push away the morbid thought. By rebuking human traditions, Wolves didn’t only miss out on so much in life, but also in death.
I listened from where I leaned against a nearby tree, unable to participate in their mournful song but needing to bear witness to it. Once again, I was reminded how different I was to the rest of them, not only as a Wolf but also as a person who’d lived most of my life in one place. These Songkeepers were an eclectic mix of cultures, languages, beliefs, and traditions—a blended harmony that made something unique only unto them, something I would always be an outsider to.
When the songs finished, Ora announced we’d stay the night to sing Asha’s soul into the afterlife.
As the group disbanded, I felt restless and uneasy. Needing something to do with my hands, I left to fetch Navin’s and my tent. A gloom settled over the campsite as I found a barren patch of ground to erect our tent and I began solemnly staking the wooden spikes into the cold earth. When Navin found me, he silently started working on the other side of the tent.
What was there to say? It felt wrong to break into idle chitchat and I hadn’t the stomach for strategizing in the aftermath of an attack. And if I spoke of Asha... I might very well cry and that was just unacceptable.
When we finished, Navin and I just stood there, staring at the canvas structure.
“She will be missed,” I whispered when Navin didn’t move.
His throat bobbed. “I fear we will be missing many more still, even if we survive this.”
My eyes saddened. “One more day and we’ll be in Highwick.”My breath curled into the cool night air. “One more day after that, and we’ll know if we’ve survived.”
Navin’s shoulders rose and fell on a mirthless laugh. He closed the distance between us, pulled me into his side, and kissed me.
“I wish I didn’t have to ask this of you all.” Regret filled my voice as I lowered from my tiptoes. “I wish I could tell you all to turn and run back south, but if you don’t join in this fight...”
“Don’t carry that guilt,” Navin said, rubbing a hand down my arm. “We would’ve been here whether you were with us or not. The Songkeepers can’t sit this fight out. There might not be another dawn for our people if we continue to let Nero annihilate us one by one.” He threaded his fingers through mine and tugged me toward the tent. “Come. Rest.”
