Page 102 of Damned and Broken Gods
His throat bobbed. “Sleepover, eh?”
“You want to join?”
He blinked in surprise then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that. I’ll go get my things.”
Keyton showed up a few minutes later with hot chocolate, and of course I invited him to stay too.
By the end of the hour, we’d made camp. A memorial for Priti and a vigil for Araz.
“Should we invite Vick?” Joe asked tentatively.
“No,” Dharma and Keyton said at the same time.
I exhaled. “It’s not his fault…what happened…”
Keyton’s jaw clenched. “He didn’t tell anyone he couldn’t swim, which forced you to have to go into the water. He almost drowned you, which forced Priti to go into the water. She died.”
I wanted to argue, but I didn’t have the energy. Being able to swim was a requirement. Bhartina had been clear about that. He hadn’t disclosed his inability. And now I thought about it, I couldn’t help but wonder if something similar had happened with Gia. And if so…Why hadn’t he spent the months since the incident learning?
“He could have taught himself to swim,” Dharma said echoing my thoughts. “Or asked someone to help him. But he didn’t. He didn’t, and now Priti is dead.”
“I could forgive him,” Keyton said. “If he had been to see me even once. To offer his condolences. Instead, he regaled the villagers about the epic battle with the sea serpents.”
My head whipped up. “What?”
“He plays the hero,” Chaya said.
“He’s a fucking snake,” Dharma said softly.
How could I have been so wrong about him? How did I not see? He hadn’t been to see me either. Not once. “Fuck him!”
Dharma’s lips curled in a brittle smile. “Yeah, fuck the turd.”
“We have each other,” Joe said. “That won’t change, and we’re going to ascend. All of us. And we’re going to fix this world and teach them the meaning of equal rights and freedom. I don’t want Mahira to be with me because she has to. There must be a way to give the drohi a choice.”
I was tempted then to tell them. To share what I knew, but something stopped me—an inner voice that whispered it wasn’t time yet.
Joe looked at me. “We have a queen in our midst, after all.”
I nodded. “Yes. Yes, you do. And I won’t let you down.”
Chapter 36
The Box Opens
ARAZ
“Don’t come out, Malu,” Ma says. “No matter what you hear. Promise me.”
I shove against her. “No. I can fight. I can help.”
She cups my shoulders. “Maloch!” I go still, because she only calls me by my given name when she’s angry, but when I look into her eyes, I see no anger. Only shadows of sorrow.
“Ma…” Tears blur my vision because I know. Deep down I know that if she leaves me now, she will never come back.
“Listen to me, child. Youwillfight. Youwillbe a great warrior. But not today. Today you hide. Today you live. Promise me you will not come out of hiding until they are gone.”
“Ma, I?—”
