Page 63 of Corvus and the Broken God

So, you know something they don’t want you to know.

Exactly.

And you think you’re going to convince them you won’t tell anyone. That these supernatural creatures, who are plotting to kill you, would just say, okay, no problem, we believe you when you say you’ll keep our secret.

No, Corvus, that isn’t the plan. I thought you wanted to hear it.

Just tell me already.

Okay, I thought I’d offer to stay on my mountain for the next fifty years, cut off from everyone. That way, by the time I rejoined the world, the crime would become irrelevant in the eyes of those who cared. No longer able to hurt anyone.

I thought about it. Voluntary house arrest? His plan sounded reasonable, except for all the holes. And I still didn’t quite believe him.

How would they know you are actually on your mountain?

It’s like the alarm I have currently, only I’d let them set it out a couple hundred miles, because I’d still need to be able to fly. If I crossed the boundary, then they would know.

How likely is it they’ll go for it?

Well, the truth is while many of us tend to discard human lives in a way that I find intolerable, we are not so quick to kill one another. Most of us have rather high opinions of our kind, even those who don’t quite fit the mold.

Now that made a perverse sort of sense to me. How confident are you that they don’t really plan to kill you?

I don’t think they actually plan to kill me, Corvus, not the majority anyway. Punish me? That I can see. I thought I would stroll in there tonight and go along with their show; let them have their mock trial. I have a few ideas to help convince them, but now I have a question for you.

I can hardly contain myself.

He leaned over and bit my neck.

Ouch.

My question, dear Corvus, is, do you mind waiting fifty years before we go see the world?

Are you asking me to share your self-imposed prison term with you?

I was going for something more romantic.

Don’t hurt yourself.

Think of it this way. If you get sick of me, you can always leave me behind. Maybe come back periodically to check on me.

God, he was serious. But it was so risky. His reasoning might be based on centuries of experience, but I was still afraid.

Fine. Just make sure you convince them. I’m ready to be human again.

I am ready for some more Jeep sex.

Well, convince them to let you go back to your mountain, and we can have Jeep sex as often as you want.

That’s my Corvus. Now I just need you to promise me something.

The fine feathers on the back of my neck stood up.

What? I really wished I could see into his real face, although those dark eyes were good at withholding the truth.

If something goes wrong and you can’t get in touch with me, fly straight to Hiroshi. Stay there for a month before heading back to D.C. and never return to the mountain.

My eyes closed, and a shiver wracked my spine. My Monster was in trouble. He might have a plan, and a shaky sense of optimism, but the chance of failure was real.