The revenants surged toward us, more appearing on the field the closer they got.
Dharma bit back a sob. “Where the fuck is backup?”
Ravi growled, a battle cry rousing the others to raise their weapons and bellow in turn. Ready to fight till the death.
Till the death…
Because that’s what would happen if help didn’t arrive soon.
An image flared in my mind. The sigil to call Pakshiraj! I lifted my hand and traced it in the air. My fingers tingled for a moment, then the feeling vanished. I tried again but this time felt nothing. Was it working?
The revenants were almost on us when they came to a standstill. They fell into crouches, their large frames heaving as if it was an effort to hold still.
The whisper of wind was too loud in the silence that followed.
“What’s happening?” Joe said.
The line of revenants parted, and a man stepped through.
“Fuck…” Bina whispered.
He walked toward us, dressed in loose black pants, his chest bare beneath a deeply v-cut sleeveless tunic that left his biceps on display.
A fist crushed my heart, tearing a whimper from my lips as he got closer, as the features I’d loved so dearly grew clearer. Flowing dark locks streaked with golden, fiery eyes, and a mouth that had mapped mine so perfectly.
Araz…My Araz. Except he wasn’t. Not any longer.
My Araz was gone, and now a monster lived inside his body.
He came to a standstill a couple of meters from the road. “Leela, come out of the carriage,” he said. “Come with me and your companions will live.”
Ravi snarled, the muscles of his formidable rakshasa form rippling with tension. “Leela, stay where you are,” he growled.
The primordial evil ignored him, his focus on the carriage that I was in, as if he could see me even though I was hidden in shadow. “I can kill your companions and take you by force,” he said, tone conversational. “Your carriage wards are no match for my power. Come with me now, and your people can go free. Defy me, and they will all die. You have two minutes to decide which it will be.”
My stomach hardened.
“Leela, you stay in the carriage!” Keyton called out.
Ravi prowled back and forth between us and them, his massive paws drawing an invisible line in the earth. “You’re not taking her. We will fight until?—”
“Until your elite forces arrive?” the primordial evil said, brows flicking up slightly in an expression I recognized as amusement. “The signal your tantrik sent has been intercepted.Nosignal can passmywards. No one is coming to save you.” He crossed his arms and tipped his head to the side, the gesture so Araz that it made my stomach hurt. “You have one minute left, Leela!”
I squeezed my eyes shut, my mind whirring. No signal could pass…Which meant my sigil hadn’t activated either. There was no help coming, which meant that my choice was no real choice at all.
I reached for the carriage door.
“No!” Dharma grabbed my arm. “You can’t…Leela…” But there was conflict in her eyes. She knew just as well as I that this was the only viable option.
I’d be taken whether everyone lived or not. That part was happening regardless of my decision.
I looked at each of them. “If he wanted me dead, he could have killed me in the labyrinth. He could kill me right now. But I think…I think he made Araz a promise to not harm me. He won’t hurt me. So this, right here, buys us time. I need you guys to live and ascend. Then come save my ass.” I pushed open the door and stepped out onto the road before they could stop me.
Ravi growled, rushing forward to try to intercept me. The air fizzed, and he froze in place, eyes flying wide. A gust of wind washed over me, and the next moment I was standing in front of the bastard who was wearing the drohi I loved.
“Leela…” He looked down his nose at me, the corner of his mouth lifting. “I told you that your tender heart would get you in trouble, didn’t I?” He smiled, showcasing a dimple. “And I told you I’d come back for you.”
How could he…No…My pulse thudded hard in my throat. “Araz?”
