I pressed my palm over his hand, over the spot on his chest where Iblees’s flame lived. “You are C’ael, and you’ll stay C’ael no matter what. We’ll get the flame to Araz, and we’ll kick the primordial evil out of his body.”
“And then what?” he asked. “What do we do then? The primordial evil will still be out there…somewhere.”
“We can worry about that once we get to that point. One step at a time. Taking away his vessel will give us the breathing room we need to come up with a permanent solution. Maybe Araz will know what to do. He said we could speak in the dreaming, so maybe he’ll find me tonight.”
C’ael nodded. “Yes. One step at a time. We’ll be together soon enough.”
Together…Oh fuck. “The others…We were supposed to meet back at camp, but now…”
“We can’t go back to the mainland. There is no time,” C’ael said.
“I know.” Neither of us said it, but I knew he was thinking it just as I was. What if they were gone like Zarael and the cloud ship? What if they’d all been unmade?
When the time comes, you will stand against him alone.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “We move forward, and we take the flame to Araz. There is no going back.”
That nightC’ael fell asleep before me. Strange because I’d never actually seen him sleep before. The potential of seeing Araz in my dreams made it hard to drift off. Rain pattered on the roof and tapped on the windows, the wind alternating between whispers and howls. The drapes were open, and the sky flashed intermittently as if some larger entity was taking snapshots of the world.
The storm would die out in a few days, and then we’d find the portway to Aakash Sansaar. I wouldn’t entertain any other thought. After all the loss, all the horror and pain, it was time for it to be over. Time for Araz to be free and for the evil that had plagued this world for too long to be vanquished.
Vanquished…
Yeah, I’d need to come up with a way to do that. People would look to me for a plan.
Chandra had a plan. A dagger to trap the primordial evil in Araz’s body. Horror tightened my chest. What if he used the dagger before I could get to Araz? But no. Chandra couldn’t use it. Only I could use it. I had the Deva blood needed. I blew out a breath as the knot in my belly unraveled.
Gods, I needed to shut down my overactive brain and go to sleep.
Sleep meant the possibility of a liaison with Araz. But what if he didn’t find me tonight, or what if he did find me, but I woke and forgot?
My brain hurt, and so did my heart.
C’ael draped an arm around my waist and pulled me close, mumbling something in his sleep. His lips brushed my temple, and the tension in my body seeped away.
I exhaled and closed my eyes as the warm lethargy of slumber finally crept over me.
Nani seta bowl of lentils and a plate of sabji in front of me. “Eat up,” she said. “It’s your favorite.”
Warmth filled my belly as if I’d already eaten the food, as if it was comforting me from the inside. I broke off a little roti, ready to scoop up some sabji, but an itch bloomed in the back of my mind. A feeling that I was supposed to be doing something. That I was meant to be…waiting. I was waiting for something.
I looked across at Nani, back at the counter, rolling pin moving over dough as she expertly rolled out more chappattis. Didsheknow what I was waiting for? It was something important. Something?—
The door to the garden opened, and a figure stepped into the room.
Tall, broad, dark hair streaked with gold, topaz eyes burning a path across the room to settle on me.
Mine…
I shot to my feet, molten heat rushing through my veins. “Araz!”
The kitchen misted away, leaving me standing in a clearing by a river. Tall silver-barked trees surrounded me, and Araz…Araz was here with me.
Wait…I had to be sure it was truly him. “Say it.” I held my breath. He’d know what he had to say. If it was truly him, then he’d know.
The corner of his mouth lifted, soft amusement lighting his eyes. “Bananas.”
My vision blurred, and I ran toward him.
