Page 147 of Fate and Flame
“Take me home,” I said blankly, my eyes still upon the crumpled old body on the floor. “Take me home.”
Nealla’s head jerked up finally. She moved an inch toward me, snapped her fingers, and I was standing once more in the tent beside Fen.
Wren stepped forward and squeezed my arm. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Not a ghost.” I shook my head. “The God of Death.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Temir
We sat together in the war tent after Sabra came to take the human someplace safe. Trays of food were brought in, and we helped ourselves as Ara spoke.
“I don’t know what happened. I wish she would have told me her plan.”
“Would you have gone along with it?” Fen asked.
She lifted her shoulders and shook her head.
“Well,” Kai said, talking with a mouth full of food. “Let’s say I locked you in my closet. And then you were like ‘let me out,’ and I was all ‘no, never muahaha,’ and then you had to sit in there while the dust bunnies started a war, and as menial as it seemed to you, what else did you have to do with your time but meddle? So, you did. I mean, in the end, you’d probably off yourself too.” He swallowed and took a gulp of wine.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Greeve asked, shoving him off his chair.
“This is how my brain works, you know this,” Kai said.
“And you’re sure Nealla is the God of Death?” I asked, leaning my antlers against the taut canvas tent behind me.
“Completely.”
I thought about mentioning my own conversation with that particular god, but I didn’t see how it would be helpful. Nadra leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. It had been a long day, a long week. We had all moved out to the borderlands and set up tents to join the rest of the soldiers, then practiced fighting most of the day, took shifts helping Oravan and a few other blacksmiths mass produce weapons, and tried to eat meals together when we could. Life in a tent in the desert was a far cry from life in a castle. We made it work though. If nothing else, we were all together.
“My tent’s got extra room for a pretty faerie.” Rhogan wiggled his eyebrows at Wren as he stood.
She snorted and turned to Gaea, blowing him off as Nadra and I exchanged a look. We’d seen her sneak into his tent several nights and caught him walking out of hers just this morning. He didn’t seem to mind her reaction. Instead, he turned and strode out of the tent as if it hadn’t happened at all. By this point everyone knew, and if they didn’t, Wren’s flushed cheeks as she ducked down were an absolute giveaway.
We followed shortly after, and as we entered our own small tent, I found myself remembering that old crazy lady. The way she popped up all over the place. When she found Gaea and I on the beach and told me to let her go. She’d known Greeve was her mate. Was waiting for her. I pulled open the squares of fabric meant to be windows, allowing the stuffy air to blow through.
“What are you thinking about?” Nadra asked, standing on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.
“Aibell,” I answered.
“I thought you hated her.”
“I didn’t hate her. I just didn’t understand her. Completely illogical most of the time.”
“That’s the scholar in you.”
We lay down to sleep, and though Nadra fell asleep within minutes, I found myself tossing and turning and going over the battle plan in my mind. Thirty thousand against seventy thousand. No matter what we planned, the truth was: run in, kill everyone who tries to kill you, and don’t die.
Eventually, I snuck out of bed and the sweltering tent. I found myself ambling toward the border. I played the battle over and over in my mind but could not find a way for the south to defeat an army twice its size. Most were humans, based on Rhogan’s report. My feet sank into the deep sands, pulling at the muscles in my legs. Humans were no match for a fae warrior. But did they deserve to die? How easy would it really be for me to swing that blade?
What a rare power you have,a strange voice said into my busy mind.
I jerked, searching the dark night for someone to come into view but I saw no one.“Who are you?”
“Don’t worry, little healer. I’m not allowed to eat you.”
What creatures lurked at night in the Flame Court? I wasn’t keen to uncover that secret as I turned to leave.
