And yet curiosity must have trumped her disdain given she grabbed a bottle of gin and popped the cork. Pouring out two small shooters, she pushed one over to Elysia. “Surprised you’re willing to show your face here—anywhere really after attacking the prince.” Accusation hardened her eyes. “Or maybe you were in on it the whole time.”
Elysia shook her head slowly, fingers toying with the edge of her glass. If Jessa really believed that, then she would havealready chased her out of here or thrown a punch. “I don’t think the prince would have left me there then, do you?”
The words twisted the irrepressible pain she had been trying so hard to keep away. “He followed me. Knows enough that he could have me killed. Maybe it's sentiment that keeps him from turning me in, but I doubt it. I wouldn’t have come if I knew he was following me. I wanted information, not to get people killed.” She blinked, keeping the shine out of her eyes. This woman was a stranger who despised her, not a bosom buddy whose shoulder she could cry on.
Jessa’s eyes tracked over the almost completely faded bruises on Elysia’s skin. “Heard you got your ass handed to you on the beach.” A dark smirk crossed her face.
Elysia’s temper flared, her eyes narrowing. “I heard you’d be rotting under the sea if a Crown bitch hadn’t come back to save you and your sorry ass. Your people need training. They stood around like helpless children waiting to drown.”
Jessa grabbed her glass and held it up. “To not dying.”
Elysia huffed a laugh, holding her own shooter out.
The gin was awful. But somewhere between their third and fourth drink, Elysia decided to go through with her plan. She winced as she took another sip of gin, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear.
“Your friend, Victoria, she has visions of another realm, right? That’s where I go when I sleep. At least that’s what Mari and I think. Mari also thinks the god who lives there stole Kava’s magic.”
She made a face implying she knew how crazy this sounded. “I figure I’ve got nothing to lose at this point. Might as well find out.”
Jessa studied her, eyes slightly squinted. “You’re just going to find this hypothetical god and ask him if he took our magic?”
“God of death,” Elysia corrected and hiccuped.
Jessa’s eyes went large and she shook her head. “You’re a little crazy, aren’t you?”
Elysia lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. What do you care if I get killed?”
Her answer was flat and fast. “I don’t.”
Elysia smiled. “Exactly. That’s why I wantyouto help me figure out how to stay in that realm long enough to find this guy.”
Jessa blew out a long breath, but didn’t answer.
A bit drunk, blind desperation colored Elysia’s words. “We could bring magic back—if he took it, then he can give it back. Kava wouldchange.”
Dropping her towel on the bar, Jessa scrubbed at her face. “Let’s say you do find this god. The most likely scenario is you’re dead before you can so much as bat your pretty brown eyes.”
Elysia held up a finger in rebuttal. “Mari gave me a book, and I read the lore—he’s known for cutting deals. And like I said, I don’t have anything to lose. My life in Relaclave is over. I can go on pretending it's not, but it's only a matter of time before the prince or my father,” she stumbled, wishing she hadn’t said that, but continued. “Before someone turns me in. Escape is unlikely, and maybe enough people have died because of me and my magic.”
Her eyes glassed over in spite of herself. “Maybe, maybe I’d like to do something good before I die.”
Jessa looked at Elysia knowingly, her shoulders moving as she chuckled. “Mari got to you with her crusader bullshit, didn’t she? She’s got a gift for getting people to be better than they are.” Her head moved side to side, then she shrugged. “Or maybe she’s just good at making people feel guilty as shit. Either way, it works.”
“I mean it, though. There is a list of names that grows longer with each month and year that I am connected to the Crown. I can only control my magic so much, and my father—” Shetensed. “He demands names as payment. I don’t know who she was to you, but there will always be another Syren. Please help me do this. At the very least, I can go there and find out if any of it is true. Isn’t that worth it?” She held Jessa’s gaze, hopeful but unexpectant.
Jessa stared at her for a whole minute, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she thought. “To be clear, I don’t think this will work. From the little I know of the gods, you can’t outsmart them, and what could you possibly have to offer them?”
Bitter honesty hardened the bartender’s face, making her look older than her years. “I’ll help you, but this is Kava—the gods only give curses here, and I don’t see that changing just because you’ve grown a conscience.”
The lanterns swung gently overhead, casting warm inconsistent light onto the bar, and Elysia smiled, holding out her glass with a shrug. “To tricking gods then. Because I’m done with being cursed.”
Chapter 26
Elysia sneezed.The powdery scent of herbs and dried flowers from other lands kept tickling her nose. Crammed into the back of a traveling wagon, there wasn’t a breath of space between her and Jessa.
“Why is it so hot in here?” Jessa grumbled, shoving up the sleeves of her thick, boxy sweater.
Elysia tried to give her space, but her shoulder hit a clump of plants, causing them to crumble onto the dusty wooden floor.
