“Unnecessary once you gave mehisname and accepted me into your body. Your bond is strong, though. Unexpected. He broke through a few times. Pleaded with you. You should have listened when he begged you to stop me. You should have listened…”
“The wine…” My words were a gasp as my knees hit the floor. I grabbed hold of the table as the room darkened.
“Yes, Leela, the wine.” His breath was warm on my cheek. “Don’t worry, it won’t killyou. I need you alive a little longer. Long enough for me to hijack your bond and claim what is rightfully mine.”
I looked up at his shadowing face. The face I loved with all my heart. “Iblees?”
He shook his head slowly. “No, little demigod. That is not my name. I have no name, but you may call me the primordial evil.”
Part Four
What do you do when your gut betrays you and discernment can no longer be trusted? You wing it.
Chapter 31
SO WHAT’S THE PLAN?
BLUE
Last night I dreamed of the sages. Of the small room with its warm kitchen and window seat. Of Auralia stroking my head and humming to me. Of Veena telling bedtime stories that made me laugh. Of safety and warmth and the ache that slowly abated.
Yeah, I missed Leela at first, but after a while I found meself too. In the company of the sages and in the pages of all the books that I read.
Time passed unmeasured. Years, I’d guess.
Last night I allowed the knowledge to settle, but today, the day of the coronation, it’s time to share what I’ve learned with the people I trust the most.
I gather the anchors, demigods, and their drohi in the sitting room after breakfast. Keyton keeps an ear on the door to make sure we’re not interrupted.
There are no ankh in the palace. No invisible eyes to spy on us, as far as we’ve been told by Erabi. A royal perk, I guess, but who the feck knows for sure.
Dharma and Joe take one sofa with their drohi on either side of them, their anchors at their feet, and Bina takes the smaller sofa opposite. Garu is coiled on one side of her, Thanil seated on the other.
I hop onto the coffee table in view of them all.
“Should we wait for Yudh and Dhoona?” Joe asks.
“They’re with Chandra,” Keyton said. “Part of his security detail for the coronation.”
“Go on, Blue,” Chaya says softly. “Tell us what you learned at the library.”
“You could have told us yesterday,” Bina says.
“He needed time to process, love,” Thanil reminds her.
I nod, grateful for the understanding. “Yeah, it was a lot. But I’m ready now.” I fill them in on Aserathiin’s children and their grandmother, the keeper. On what lay inside her. The four sages and the knowledge they gave me.
No one speaks for a while once I’m done, which is good, cos I needed a minute to catch me breath.
“How long do you think you were gone?” Dharma asks eventually.
“Dunno. A long time. Enough to read every fecking book in that place. Trust me, there were a lot.”
“And you remember everything?”
“I dunno, I mean, I think so. But Auralia said it ain’t about rememberin’ it all in one go, ya know? The information will surface when I need it. It’s here, though.” I tap my temple. “History was altered twice. Once when they locked away the primordial evil, and once when they locked away the djinn god Iblees.”
“I remember him! Iblees, that is,” Joe says. “They talked about him on Shantivan. Even had a temple about him.”
