Or maybe the woman did know there was something odd about Crusher. Elysia shifted, trying to determine just how tightly her hands were bound. If Crusher hadn’t grown ten sizes and eaten her kidnappers, then she figured she wasn’t at death’s door yet.
“Can’t say she’s mine, but shedoeshave an unexpectedly large bite.” Elysia smiled pleasantly enough to unnerve her new friend, who just squinted at her and continued twirling her blade.
Abruptly stabbing the blade into its sheath, she leaned back and kicked her long legs out with curiosity on her face.
“So, it’s true then. The gods are rumbling once more in Kava.”
Elysia lifted a shoulder. “Hardly.” She waited for the woman to make her move, but she was staring at Elysia like she was an enigma.
“Rumor has it you were trained by Kava’s Shadow.”
Elysia kept her face straight.Where is this going?
“Rumor also has it that you made a kill in a room filled with royals and walked away.”
Ah.This wasn’t going anywhere good then.
Elysia sent out her magic silently only to recoil at what she found. Notes of sharp abandonment buried beneath a blazing fury. This woman had turned her pain molten and forged it into the weapon that was herself.
“Scarzan,” Elysia breathed. “He really did sell you.”
The woman’s smile was tight, but her voice was even and matter of fact. “He always did have a terrible gambling problem. But I’d say it all worked out in the end.”
The man who had squeezed the consciousness out of Elysia lumbered back into the room. All six and a half feet of him made her nerves twinge. This was why you weren’t supposed to get caught. Because instead of fighting one person, now she was tied up and going against gods knew how many.
Topp’s warning that she wouldn’t be able to win every fight played back in her head. The size of the man’s neck alone made her all too aware of her shortcomings. Anxiety unspooled in her stomach as she scanned the room. They were in a work shed. Tools, carriage parts, and sled equipment took up most of the space. Gods, maybe Crusher really would have to eat them. She nudged the tiny dog with her foot, but she did nothing.Figures.
The man brushed his hands down the woman’s shoulders. “So?”
She kept her eyes on Elysia. “Haven’t decided yet.”
Crusher growled again and Elysia smiled, nudging her once more.Yes, eat them, do it.Who needed the fifteen blades no longer strapped to their body when Crusher was hungry?
“Look. You stole my kill, and in my world, that means I get to kill you. But here I am with such atrickylittle situation given the friends you keep.” She spoke casually as if this was a perfectly normal conversation to have.
“Friends like the god of the dead?” Elysia drawled right back, meeting her eyes with unwarranted confidence. “I’ve been to the temple here, you know. The Bone Temple in Ryspur with the priestesses who sang me such a pretty lullaby? You’re familiar?” She leaned forward as much as the ropes allowed. “I used to hear the lullaby in my dreams. It was so nice to finally hear it in person.”
The woman stilled, her breath catching. She had grown up in Bellia. A land where the gods were active, loved, and feared. Elysia had no idea if she was religious, but if she was as comfortable doling out death as she made it seem, then it was likely she was familiar with the god of the dead’s customs. She might even believe she would be meeting him one day when her own light went out. Elysia had no problem capitalizing on that religious fear if it meant keeping herself alive.
The woman’s hand tightened on her blade’s handle and then was towering over Elysia in two smart bounds. Crusher just huffed as if the woman holding a blade to Elysia’s throat were no more than an annoyance before promptly disappearing into the ether.
So much for the help.She couldn’t wait for the earful she’d likely receive back in the Deathlands. Something about managing to get kidnapped in less than five hours flat of being gone.
“It’s true then? You’re the mortal to his god.” The blade nicked against the sensitive line of her scar.
Elysia’s insides squelched. She didn’t even know if that was a good thing to these people, but she’d already dove headfirst into mouthing off about the death priestesses. Elysia hid her uncertainty beneath a blank face, but then the heavy silver ring on the resident muscle’s hand caught her eye as it gleamed in the light. She gave a slow, knowing grin.
“Pull down my shirt.”
The woman laughed. “Not my type, pretty girl.”
“Pull down the damn collar of my shirt. You think I know Kava’s Shadow, well, I do. And I’m marked.” Elysia all but growled the order.
“Bullshit. Gage doesn’t even—” But the man gently moved the woman aside, as she continued spitting about Gage. With one enormous finger, he pulled down the collar of her shirt.
“Fuck.” He let her shirt snap back up, his lips twitching. Elysia was fairly certain that was akin to a full-bodied laugh for this man. “She’s serious.”
Disbelief crashed across the blonde’s pointy face. With Crusher gone, she marched back up to Elysia fearlessly, ripping at the fabric of Elysia’s shirt with her whole fist. “By the gods…” She brushed a finger over the brand, her face stretching into a wide grin. Throwing her head back with a laugh, she smacked Elysia on the back as if they were old pals.
