I sat up straighter. “The Vajra?”
“Yes. The Vajra.” He sighed heavily. “And then they ended him.” He turned his attention back to the board.
“Wait, what was the task they asked him to complete?”
Chandra chuckled softly. “It was a secret, Leela. No one knows. And besides, it’s just a story like the others. History has a way of rewriting itself, don’t you think?”
“No. History doesn’t rewrite itself. The people in power do.”
He looked up at me slowly, his expression sobering. “Yes, Leela. That is right.” A shiver skipped up my spine at the intensity in his eyes, but then he cracked a smile and flicked a karom piece, knocking another straight into a pocket. “And your losing streak will continue now…”
“Hell no!”
I focused on the game board, the story Chandra had shared about Vitra still at the forefront of my mind. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some truth in it, and if so…what task had the deva sent Vitra to do? What secret could have been worth killing for?
There wasblood on my hands. Not mine. Someone else’s, and I was glad of it. The earth beneath my knees was dappled in crimson, and the stench of burning flesh filled the air, but there was finally silence.
It was over.
We were done.
“Vayelle…” I looked up at the sound of my name, across the battlefield at the figure striding toward me through the smoke, and my heart leapt.
He was here.
It was over, and he was here.
The smoke cleared, and he stepped through, his skin clean of any sign of battle, his lips curved in a smile that wasn’t entirely his own.
The spot between my collarbones burned as he leaned in, his topaz eyes bright jewels in his brown face. “Did you really thinkthat trinket could keep me away from you for long?” His gaze dropped to my chest, and I tracked it to the pendant hanging there.
What was that?
I looked up. “I don’t…I don’t understand, my love. What is this?”
He tipped his head to the side, his gaze softening. “Ah, you’re deep this time, aren’t you? You’re rising, and when you do, I’ll be here to catch you.”
He reached out, knuckles grazing my cheeks, and my heart swelled, desire pooling low in my belly. I offered him my lips, and he dipped his head, eyes darkening with want.
That look. I knew it well.
“Mine…” he growled.
Yes…Yes, I was his. Always his?—
“Leela!” Something pricked my cheek. “Leela, wake up!”
Blue?
He pressed my cheek with his paws. “Wakey, wakey, it’s snakey, snakey day!”
My eyes snapped open, the dream misting into nothing.
“Ya need a good breakfast before ya set off,” Blue said.
The thought of food made my stomach revolt. It was Vasuki day, after all. But Blue was right. I needed sustenance. Goodness knows what I’d be up against in those caverns.
I sat up, stretched, and looked down at Blue properly. He was dressed in a brown tunic and had a miniature holster strapped to his back. And was that a teeny sword?
