“I’m sure he’s fine.” He risked a glance over his shoulder. “If the mirashii keep chasing us southward, we’ll be seeing him sooner rather than later.” He caught my flash of hope that this trip wasn’t a total wash and doused it with his next breath. “Before you go thinking that changing course is a good thing, I’ll warn you there’s a reason the mirashii avoid the mountains.”
To hold on to my sanity, I allowed the rhythm of my feet slapping against the stone to lull me into the calm headspace I only ever achieved while running, where my mind grew quiet and the world around me, including Ankou’s chattering, ceased to exist.
“Bijou.”Ankou snared me by the elbow and gave me a shake. “Earth to Bijou.”
As I reoriented myself to my surroundings, the high of the run fading, I found us at the jagged foothills of an obsidian mountain range with peaks sharp enough to cut a finger if you traced their distant outline.
Anunit leapt onto the nearest ledge, a dozen or so feet above us, and began searching for a safe path up that would get me out of the mirashii’s range fast. Her feathered tail swished in agitation as she scanned for any threats.
“Pay attention.” He nudged me ahead of him, clearly not trusting me to bring up the rear. “You’ll get sliced to pieces if you aren’t careful.”
“Tell me again why you dumped us in a mirashii nest.” I grunted as I started climbing. “I’m sure there are easier ways to kill me.”
“This time of year, they shouldn’t be here. The nearest flock should be over a hundred miles away.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t do this on purpose. It’s not like I want you dead.”
“Oh, you wanted me dead.” I smiled brightly. “You just couldn’t finish the job.”
“Dis Pater knew Frankie Talbot would come for her consort.” Anunit scoffed at him. “He would be a fool, agreaterfool, not to set precautions in place to prevent their reunion.”
Last time, I hadn’t come for Kierce. That might have given Dis Pater a false sense of security about stashing him here yet again, but I was more impatient these days. More invested. I wanted him back.Now. Damn the gods and the consequences.
“He could have imported a herd of mirashii easily,” Ankou mused. “If he got ahold of Bijou’s clothes or even a sample of her blood, then he could teach them her scent. If they were already in the area, it explains how they found us so quickly. They smelled her and came running.”
A sharp pang pierced me at how Dis Pater would have gotten those samples.
From Kierce.
Pebbles skittered down an incline ahead, but Anunit rounded the corner before I could panic that what kept the mirashii out of the mountains had come to introduce itself by inviting us to be its dinner.
“This way.” She doubled back on herself. “The incline is steeper, but the path is clear.”
“Great.” I heard my dread as I got an eyeful of the near-vertical ascension before me. “What do mirashii look like anyway?” I waited to ask until my breath whistled between my teeth, and I required motivation to keep putting one foot in front of the other. “I want my nightmares to be as accurate as possible.”
“Imagine an ostrich,” Ankou cut in before Anunit could provide a description, “with a weirdly small head similar to a piranha and spurs on its heels that make the claws on velociraptors from that dinosaur movie resemble a hangnail.”
“Thanks.” I surged ahead, my thighs informing me they were now plenty motivated. “That’ll do it.”
The exertion caught up to me as we reached an outcropping Ankou announced safe from the mirashii. We stood beneath the overhang as if it offered relief from a sun we couldn’t see.
“So…” I panted, sweat dripping from my hairline into my eyes, “…thirsty.”
The air had already been dry, and adding a dash of altitude hadn’t helped with that.
“You’ll be fine.” Ankou had more of a dewy glow about him. “I’ve gone weeks without food or water.”
Demigoddesses, apparently, didn’t require food or drink nearly as often as I liked to do both. Most of my dietary habits were holdovers from when I was alive. Kierce told me that once. As much as I wanted to believe those new truths in the moment, I had clung too hard to certain aspects of my humanity for too long. The harder I held on to who I had been, the more convinced my body remained that I would die from starvation or dehydration if I veered from my usual schedule. I should have listened to Kierce and adapted to the new me, but I had been stubborn, and it was too late to embrace a divine mindset now.
Pebbles skittered down to plink off the stones above my head, and fresh dread curdled my stomach.
Hot air caressed my nape, the smell bitter and foul. I kept my head forward but cut my eyes left to find a giant lizard clinging to the wall behind me, its rough texture and color camouflaging it. The ribbon of its tongue flicking between its teeth told me it was tasting the air, and a low rumble declared its interest.
“I wouldn’t move if I were you,” Ankou warned, cringing away from our resting place.
“Where are you going?” I held very still, but the lizard kept advancing, slowly but surely. “What do I do?”
A sharp roar amplified by the rock made me flinch, but I didn’t grasp Anunit’s intent until it was too late.
She launched herself at the creature, her weight tugging it free. They fell in a tangle of writhing limbs and bowled me over. I hit the side of my head, and blood warmed that side of my face, but I scrambled to safety before they clobbered me.
