Page 104 of This Monster of Mine

“I’d have saved you.” She tilted her head meaningfully to a nearby fountain and the devastating grin she’d witnessed only twice made a return.

“I thought I was ahavïdsadist.”

“You still are.” She strode past him, one hand over her racing heart. His huff of laughter followed her inside.

The Grand Elsarian Temple was an excellent distraction. Meticulously hewn from white limestone with the floor worked in red porphyry, it boasted statues of the High Elsar and several Saints from the minor pantheon of the Naaduir. She bowed before Lady Radiance and jumped when Kadra’s voice brushed her ears.

“I didn’t take you as devout.”

Sarai scowled. “A little respect won’t doom the country, Kadra. In fact …” Trailing off, she indicated a statue of Lord Wrath. Unlike the Academiae’s figure, this sculptor had given the god hair flowing to his waist, and a longsword, but there was no doubt in her mind as towhom those cruel features resembled. Kadra eyed it before giving her a droll look.

“Unlike Aelius, you’ll never have to commission a marble tribute to yourself.” She gave him a bland smile.

Faint lines crinkled at the corners of his dark eyes. “I’m Wrath?”

She nodded.

“Shouldn’t you be cowering? Pleading to serve me?”

“You mean,kneelingand requesting to service you—I meanserveyou.Serve!” Biting her tongue as a predatory look crossed his features, she resolved never to speak again.

“Service?” His wine-rough voice turned the word even filthier. “The gods have it good.”

Her resolve vanished. “Damn it, Kadra!”

A rusty laugh filled the air. Not the ugly, sardonic thing he made on occasion, but genuine, unguarded. The sound curled up in her chest, and she stumbled, nearly careening into one of the statues. Kadra smoothly caught and righted her.

He watched her thoughtfully. “Why believe in the gods at all?” His thumb skimmed over an invisible scar. “You’ve every reason not to.”

“I didn’t for a while after … it happened. Recovery was difficult, and I had no one,” she admitted. “But I did recover, and I found purpose. That was enough.”

“I expected a miracle,” he said dryly.

“I think thisisthe miracle,” she mused. “A northern barmaid, here, beside Ur Dinyé’s maddest Tetrarch, scars and all.” She met his eyes with complete sincerity. “Thank you for not minding them.”

“There’s nothing to mind.”

True. Bereft of words, she squeezed his hands in thanks. The doors leading into the priests’ chambers snapped open. A white-haired man in beige robes strode into the temple, stately features irritated.

“The temple is closed for rest,” the Master Cleric haughtily informed them.

“I wasn’t aware the gods needed rest.” Kadra ignored Linus’s sputter of displeasure. “My Petitor will need access to your library henceforth. As you did with Jovian and Livia.”

Linus’s jaw tensed. “You need to leave.”

Sighting the danger in Kadra’s too-pleasant smile, she considered the temple’s opulent furnishings and recalled Aelius’s order to Tullus.

“Perhaps people should know how you’re funded,” she mused.

“What do you—”

“You received a substantial donation last night, didn’t you?” Satisfaction filled her when he paled. “Tullus pays you for absolution. The dates of the donations are kept here, I imagine? I wonder what I’d find if I looked into what Tullus did on those days. I’m sure your congregation would be keen to know.”

Linus turned ruddy. “You can’t threaten me in a house of the gods!”

Kadra chuckled. “They aren’t exactly stopping her. What’ll it be?”

The Master Cleric’s face was a map of indecision, fear warring with loyalty. “Fine. But I don’t know why you’re bothering. Even Tetrarch Aelius’s current Petitor scoured the place after Petitor Jovian’s death and found nothing.”

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