He gave a slight disbelieving shake of his head. “She laughed. Tried to attack him even though she looked like she was about to join the dead herself.”
“And? Did she say anything?” Now her knee bounced beneath the table.Please let her have lied.
“She spoke of a mortal who would release the death god from his chains, and an heir who would claim justice.”
Shit.Victoria couldn’t have made it plainer than that. “He knows.”
“Your warrant went out immediately, and I bet mine isn’t far off.”
She scratched at the sticky table. “He’s not going to stop until he finds me, is he?”
He shrugged. They both knew the answer to that question. Standing, he excused himself to the bathroom. When he came back, he wore an all too familiar look upon his face.
Topp Blatz wanted answers after all.
Before he could start in, Elysia opened her mouth. “You want to know why I’m here? I’ll tell you.”
Suspicion narrowed his eyes. “Just like that?”
She waved her hand. “Like you said. Everything’s changed.”And I have no idea how to succeed at this mission, but the one thing we never did was tell the truth.She hoped she didn’t regret this.
The prince wore an expression of wary determination as he nodded for her to go ahead.
Taking a big breath, she spoke fast, anxious the prince would make a scene. “I tried to make a deal with the god of the dead before the ball. He offered a terrible bargain though, so I turned it down. Except then, when I found out what your father was going to do to me… Plans changed.”
Darkness flooded the prince’s face. “You knew? You should have told—how bad of a deal, Lys?”
She looked off at all the cheerful Bellians instead of at him. “I agreed to find his personal talisman so he can regain his power and help fix Kava.”
Relief relaxed Topp’s body, and he stretched one arm back with a grin. “That’s not so bad. Your magic could help you with that, couldn’t it? Finding things?”
Elysia smiled wanly. “Oh, but there’s more… I, unknowingly, agreed to partner with him. Permanently.”
The prince looked ill now. “What do you mean,partner?”
She looked away. “It means the fates have sent me on what they call a death voyage where I have to prove myself as worthy of earning the talisman and standing beside the god of the dead, and you’re my first stop.”
Topp’s brow pinched before he spoke decisively. “No, impossible. You aremortal. Mortals can’t partner with gods.”
Elysia took a long drink of her beer, waiting for him to get it all out.
“You can’t possibly mean—” He grasped for words, not wanting to come to the logical conclusion.
She slammed her drink down. “Oh, but I can. When I say partner, I mean it in every sense of the word.Immortality.”
For once, the prince didn’t get angry. A heavy sigh rasped through his thick chest. “So, you’re fucking a god then?”
Her mouth fell open. “Everything I just said, and that’s what you heard?”
The prince had the decency to look at least semi-abashed. “Seemed relevant.”
“How in the realms isthatrelevant?” she hissed.
He looked at her like she was stupid. “Because why are you here then?”
Elysia reared back. “The fates sent me to talk with you.”
“Sounds made up. Like you just wanted a reason to see me.”
