“I’ll be back,” she said. But as she walked off with her drohi, I knew that she wouldn’t. Not tonight, anyway.
Lola, Joe’s anchor, leapt onto his lap, pressing a paw to his cheek, and Ida, Dharma’s hound, padded over from her spot by the hearth to join us too. Bina’s python, Garu, slid out from beneath a chair and wound himself up her leg, but it was Blue that spoke for them, his dark eyes glittering in the firelight.
“So ya leavin’ us again, are ya?”
My heart squeezed at the dejection in his tone, but there was no need for sorrow. I scooped him up so that we were eye to eye. “Not this time, Blue. Chandra has commissioned a nest for the anchors in the royal domain. It’ll take a couple of days, but as soon as it’s ready, I’ll be back for you. This time you’re staying with me.” I looked at the other anchors. “This time youallget to stay with your demigods.” I cracked a smile. “Soon to bemadegods. I’m assuming you all ascend on the equinox too?”
Dharma shook her head. “That’s what Umbra said.”
“So…” Joe said, his expression earnest. “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow.” I set Blue on my lap. “We leave for the Shahee Kshestra tomorrow.”
Chapter 3
I REMEMBER WHEN…
Sleep came slow, and my dreams were fitful, filled with images of the past. Of Araz. Of his heat and his smile and his body against mine. I woke on a sob, tears fresh on my cheeks, and buried my face in his pillow where his cranberry scent still lingered. My chest ached as if a ten-ton weight had been laid on it, and for a moment, it felt impossible to breathe. I rode the wave of suffocation, waiting for the vise around my chest to slacken.
This was how it would be from now on.
This was my life now.
I dressed, packed a small bag of essentials, and crept out of Dharti barracks. There was somewhere I needed to be, somewhere I needed to go before I left Prashikshan domain for what might be the last time.
The world was gray as I made my way to my destination, and it wasn’t long before I sensed that I wasn’t alone. I stopped and looked back in time to see a shadow duck behind a tree.
“Who’s there? Come out now!” My voice rang with an authority that surprised even me.
Keyton stepped onto the path, his expression sheepish.
“Keyton? Why are you following me?”
He walked a little way up the path toward me and stopped. “I…wanted to make sure you were safe.”
It hit me that I hadn’t seen him last night at Dharti house. “Why didn’t you come join us for supper last night?”
“I’m no longer in Dharti house. I’m a drohi with no demigod. I’ve been placed in the complex with the unbonded.” He shrugged. “I’ll be assigned to a troop soon.”
I was an idiot. How could I have forgotten about Keyton? Priti had died to save my life, leaving behind the drohi she loved. She’d believed in me that much, and he…He was now mine to protect.
“You’re coming with me.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.” He closed the distance between us and looked up the path. “Where were you headed?”
“What? No, I mean you’re coming with me when I return to the royal domain.”
He blinked sharply. “I…what?”
“I need a retinue, and you’re going to be part of it…I mean, if you want to, that is.”
He let out a soft exhale. “You’d do that? Claim me?”
“Claim you? What?”
His brow furrowed, and then his shoulders slumped. “I’m an unbonded drohi, Leela. Only bonded drohi are permitted on the royal domain. You would have to claim me as yours to take me with you. Not in a bond, but in service.”
Service? A flicker of heat licked at my chest. This was bullshit. “No.”
