Page 24 of A Queen Of Broken Realms
Ediye snorts.
“Darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter, take it from me…”
“Please donottell me Ashen dirty talks you with lyrics from The Little Mermaid.”
“No, but let me shelve that one for the future. Now listen up bitch, because here it comes.Each little clam here know how to jam here UNDER THE SEA.”I embellish that last line of my abridged song with a big wink and a dramatic set of jazz hands.
“Wow.”
“We’re under the sea.”
“I gathered.”
“But there are no jamming clams. Just a beast I’ve named Hooktopus. I can confirm that he’s decidedly less fun than musical molluscs.”
“Hooktopus?”
“A monster octosquid-type-thing with hooky tentacles,” I say as I turn to show her the shredded back of my shirt.
Ediye’s fingers touch my cool skin as she traces the lines torn through the fabric. “Jeez, Lu. You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. He didn’t want to film any anime monster porn, so I lucked out, really.”
Ediye barks a laugh and pushes another bag of blood into my hands. “Hooktopussy. You could have been rich.”
“Another chance at a porn star career out the window.” We smile at one another as I take a long sip from the blood bag. “Speaking of porn stars, where’s Ashen?”
“He’s on what you might call arampage. Something about burning the realms soul by soul until you’re given back.Bring me my wife orI will incinerate you all and make Leucosia the queen of ash.And so on.”
“Wow. Cool.”
“Yeah. I amend what I said in the dungeons about him being the worst of your man choices. You couldn’t have picked a better match if you tried. Right up your alley, babe.”
I snort a laugh. “Alley. I see what you did there.”
“I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t let him die behind Cheese Louise after all.”
“Well hot damn,” I say, brushing down the wrinkles in my torn shirt. It does a whole lot offuck all. “Sounds like I’ve been missing out. Do you think we can sneak back so I can surprise him? Maybe spell my mark for a little while so he can’t feel me coming?”
Ediye lifts a shoulder, her expression nonchalant. “Yeah, probably. He was in the midst of a killing spree when you summoned me. I honestly doubt he’d even know if I left. He kind of had a demonic-blood-misty-smoke-rage situation going on.”
My eyebrows climb as Ediye shrugs again. She undoes the button on my shirt and looks from the mark to my eyes and back again. It’s the first time she’s actually seen it, and the sly smile on her face doesn’t really give me the warm fuzzies.
“The Scepter of Ereshkigal?” she asks.
“Appears so, yeah,” I reply. A star sparks in Ediye’s eye. Her smile grows a little more wicked. “Any theories, oh witchy one?”
“Maybe one or two.”
“Such as?”
“Meh, you know. Destiny and some shit. Rightful Queen of the Shadow Realm, bringing balance to the force.”
I snicker and Ediye’s smile grows wider as she looks closer at the gold and lapis design, the crescent moon and eight-pointed star twinkling in the dim light of the glyphs. “Bitch, please. That’s Star Wars.”
“Yeah, still. The place will definitely turn to chaos without you if Ashen is left to his own devices for much longer. So, it’s probably not that far off.” Ediye taps the mark with her delicate index finger and then grabs my shoulders, squaring me up to stand straighter. “Come on. Let’s get you back to your Reaper before he burns the realm down and makes good on his promise to make you into the ruler of a dust bowl. That doesn’t sound nearly as much fun as fucking with some demons and you can’t really do that if they’re all dead.”
“You know me so well,” I say as Ediye places her hand over my mark and starts chanting a simple spell that will veil my emotions. “So…Ashen’s still going with the wife thing, huh?” I ask.
