All eyes went to Chandra. “I don’t know,” he said. “But we have to try.”
Frustration bubbled up inside. “This whole fucking thing would have been easier if you’d just ascended me early. I’d have more than just physical strength to work with.”
“You did have more than physical strength, Leela,” Chandra said. “You could have broken so many times, and yet you stand firm, in mind, and heart, and body.”
“He’s right,” C’ael said. “Don’t underestimate yourself now. We will save Araz.”
Chandra frowned. “Save him?” His gaze flicked to me. “Oh, Leela. I’m sorry, but the plan must stay the same. I know you glimpsed Araz in the moment when he stopped the primordialevil from ending you, and I know you hope he remains, but even if he does, we cannot falter. We must execute the plan to trap the primordial evil in the vessel.” He reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a sheathed dagger. “I have what we need. Butyoumust use it.”
I stared at the dagger. At what had been our only hope, and relief expanded in my chest, exploding from my lips in a rough laugh.
“Leela…” Chandra’s gaze softened with pity.
Gods, he probably thought I’d lost it. I shook my head. “I’m fine. I’m just relieved that we don’t need to use the dagger. We have another way.”
I filled him in on C’ael’s connection to Iblees and Iblees’s connection to Araz. On the flame, and the bridge, and what Araz had told me about the core of power and the primordial evil’s weakness. I told him what the primordial evil truly was.
“Gods…” Bhartina whispered softly. “The Deva betrayed him?”
“Yes, and I have compassion for the being that he was, but none for what he has become.” He’d violated me. Tricked me into believing he was Araz and then taken advantage of my feelings. He’d taken over minds, violating the autonomy of my friends and goodness knows how many others. He may not have been evil to begin with, but he certainly was now. “We can expel him from Araz’s body.”
“And then what?” Chandra said. “How will we trap him?”
“I don’t know, but we can worry about that later. He can’t unmake this world without a vessel to connect him to it, and his immortal vessel was destroyed in the prison. It will take him time to figure out how to attack again, which will giveustime to find a way to stop him.”
Chandra nodded slowly. “Yes…You’re right.” He smiled and exhaled. “We have a plan.”
“Chandra, the primordial evil was unable to control you,” Bhartina said. “What about the djinn, drohi, and Asura stationed here?”
“I doubt his influence is strong enough at this distance,” Chandra said. “And even if it were, I doubt he would be able to control the djinn. Their minds are harder to hold. He may be able to take control of a drohi mind if there was proximity, but I doubt he will want to divert power from the unmaking to do so. The rules on what he can and cannot do are murky at best. We must be prepared for any eventuality.”
Bhartina nodded. “Good. I shall speak to Vairanya and prepare her to leave. We can set sail in a few hours.”
“We?” Was she saying what I hoped she was?
She lifted her chin, her eyes hard. “We could not go with you through the portway, but I am sure we can ride the vortex, can we not?” She looked at Chandra.
He smiled and nodded. “Yes, you can. It is not restricted, merely dormant until I activate it.”
“Then we go with you,” Bhartina said. “All of us. This is our world, and we will fight to keep it safe.”
C’ael agreedto take a nap at my insistence. He might have been carrying the flame of Iblees, but he still needed to recharge.
I tucked him in, kissed his brow, and headed back to the kitchen. The distinctive scent of bitter coffee greeted me as I stepped into the room.
Chandra stood at the counter pouring from a carafe. Everyone else was gone.
He looked over as I entered, and the corner of his mouth lifted. “Itisgood to see you again, Leela.”
He said it so simply. As if we’d chosen to be apart. As if he hadn’t saved my life and I hadn’t saved his. As if he wasn’t cosmically linked to me.
A lump formed in my throat, and I blinked back tears. “Were you ever going to tell me that you remembered me from another of my lifetimes?”
He stilled and sucked in a breath. “Zarael told you? Of course, she would have recognized the signature of your soul.” His eyes grew soft for a moment, then darkened as if he’d remembered something awful.
“What is it?”
He pressed his lips together. “I have something to tell you, but when I do, you may not see me in a favorable light. You may no longer trust me, but I need you to believe that this man that I am today is not the man that I was back then. That I have changed, and that I will do everything in my power to protect you.”
