“But I am your host, since you refuse to be the mistress of Nawie. You are but a guest,” I say, my own anger stirring, too.
I’ve begged for too long, and I deserve something for my troubles. Jaga’s gagged subjects watch our exchange, and my nostrils flare with fury as I breathe in the sweet scent of decay.
“Do you want me to leave?” Jaga asks haughtily, folding her arms on her chest. “You only need to say so.”
“No, I don’t want you to fucking leave! Talk to me! Kiss me when I share my breath! It’s the least you can do.”
“But your conversation is boring, as are your kisses.”
“You fucking cunt,” I hiss, grabbing her throat. “Stop lying to me! Or should I make a spell like this one?” I poke her pendant until it digs into the leather of her corset. “I have your blood. It would be easy.”
Fear flashes in her eyes, followed by hate. “You will not dare! I made this because you asked me to! Do you hate it yet? Being forced to speak the truth while others lie? Tell me! Does it hurt?”
“Yes! It hurts every damned day, you fucking witch!”
She exhales slowly, settling, and I loosen my hold on her throat, not letting go. Jaga watches me with cool loathing.
“Good. It hurt me, too. Now leave and don’t come back.”
I shake my head. “Torture me again. It helped us before.”
She cackles without mirth, grabbing my wrist and trying to pull my hand away. I hold fast.
“We are allies, nothing more,” she hisses through clenched teeth. “I don’t love you. I never truly loved you. I will never be yours. Now let go.”
I kill all her subjects to release some of my rage, since they are useless to her now that she has the cure. When it doesn’t help, I swallow her with my shadows and pull her up into Devil’s Cauldron.
The snow is melting, gray heaps of it lying among the trees, and the day is cold and wet, the kind that is best spent with a hot brew by the fire. Jaga shivers from the cold before wrapping herself in a cloud of warming spells. She grows spikes from her throat, and they pierce my hand right through, but I don’t let go.
“Tell me the truth,” I demand. “At least fucking once. Tell me the truth!”
She laughs, choking on it, tears streaming from her eyes. “You… demand… the truth! I just told you! All of it is true. I don’t love you, and if you keep pestering me, I’ll take my chances and leave. I am powerful now. Maybe strong enough to dig myself out if Mokosz gets me.”
I shake my head, exasperated. “But we were doing so well! What the fuck happened with you?”
“What, are you shocked I’m not falling for your manipulations? I know you’re lying to me one way or another. I see the way Nyja looks at me, or your allies, and I know they are just waiting for you to break me. But I deserve better, so I swore to protect myself from you. I’m not giving you my soul. Stop trying.”
I watch her for a long time, my hand still on her throat, wet with my blood. Jaga watches me back, challenging and angry, though she trembles, and it’s not from cold. At last, I exhale wearily and look up into the sky. Fog swirls around us, wet and thick. I pull her closer by the throat.
“What will it take, Jaga?” I ask, lowering my head as much as I can. “I’m asking you to talk to me, spend time with me, kiss and fuck. So what will it take? We have little time left, and I am desperate. If I die soon, I want to have spent my last days with you, even if you don’t care for me anymore.”
She rolls her eyes, and the pretense is almost perfect. What betrays her is the way she swallows with difficulty even though my hold is loose. There is a weight in her throat.
“You will be fine,” she says dismissively.
“The prophecy wasn’t clear. It might go both ways, and I can die as well as Perun. It terrifies me, Jaga. You know it’s the truth. So please. Do me this kindness even if it’s so odious to you. Like you said, it won’t mean anything. You’re going to leave after we’re done, aren’t you?”
She looks away, her throat working under my hand, her eyes tight with an angry frown. I wait, the cold fog clinging to my naked body while she’s warm and snug wrapped up in her magic.
“You want to fuck me?” she asks at last, her chin jutting out mutinously. “Just that?”
“Talk, kiss, and fuck. Just—be mine for a while before we go. I can end up chained for eternity. I want to have good memories to treasure in that hole.”
She scoffs angrily, but there are no more spikes wounding me, and she’s made no move to leave. She could if she wanted to, that much is plain. At least I am hard to resist.
“When do you think we’ll go?” she asks at last, her cold eyes settling on my face.
I shrug. “As soon as I’m certain it’s not too risky. Some nawkas are spying on the temple, and Chors and Rod are moving deeper into Wyraj, but they must be careful. I’d say we’ll know in a day or two.”
