Page 72 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Rajesh held his breath as he waited for the Viperess to reappear. But Leela continued to lie on the ground, hair spread over her lips and legs awkwardly folded under her. Her arms, too, were limp at her side.

“Leela…?” Rajesh whispered.

Silence.

“Leela…?” He stepped closer, clenching the godsblade at his side. “Can you hear me?”

Rajesh kept his gaze on Leela. His mouth grew dry as her chest rose in a gentle rhythm and her lips parted. Kneeling beside her, he brushed her curls from her eyes. Those beautiful lock she’d woven his fingers into when they were together. When he plucked wheat from her hair and washed her locks in the river. A time so long ago, but a time he longed to relive.

Leela groaned, and he quickly grabbed her katar and threw it on the bed.

“Leela?”

Leela rolled her head over and locked gazes with Rajesh.

A relieved sigh cleaved through his chest. Her eyes were back to their ever warm brown. They were the eyes that reminded him of the fields they used to hide in, merged with the sand. The crystallized depths of her eyes were full of locked history that had passed between them.

“R—Rajesh?” She sat up, groaning. “Why am I here?”

He dropped the godsblade and leaned his head back against the wood, steadying his heart from the adrenaline. “The Viperess.”

It was all he needed to say as realization tore at her. Her eyes widened as they locked onto his neck. “Oh… oh!”

She jumped to her feet before steadily glancing around the room, her expression withered, and the light in her eyes dried up as she soaked in the wreckage.

“Oh shit,” Leela said. She rubbed her face, lips parting.

Rajesh slowly got to his feet, trying to work out how to calm her before she spiraled, or worse, before the Viperess came back.

“Calm down,” Rajesh urged.

“Calm down!?” Leela snapped. “This was exactly what you said would happen. I don’t… I don’t even remember what happened. I don’t even know when she took hold of me…”

“She would have attacked at the precise moment,” Rajesh said. “You never could have known. No one does the first time they harness their Flame.”

“I don’t understand.” Leela rubbed her arm. “I’m so sorry.”

“We knew this was going to happen,” Rajesh explained. “This is why we need to learn to control her.”

Leela nodded. “When can we start?”

“As soon as I can walk,” Rajesh said, cracking his back. His muscles hadn’t warmed up for the attack. Not that he could always be prepared for an attack, but he hadn’t expected to be jumped in his own quarters.

“I cut you,” Leela said, face pale. She stared at the cut on his neck.

Rajesh had barely felt himself get nicked. Now that she was drawing attention to it, he felt the small tinge of pain. He rubbed at the wound and bit his tongue to avoid wincing. He didn’t want to make Leela feel any worse.

“I cut you,” she whispered. Tears sprang to her eyes. “I didn’t know… I didn’t…”

“It’s okay,” Rajesh said, reaching for her. He wanted to hug her, to pull her in and comfort her, but he was also hesitant about the Viperess. “We will train you to control her, and this won’t happen again.”

Leela nodded. “Thank you.”

“Pleasure. Now, do you want to go back to sleep?”

Leela shook her head. “No. No, that was probably how she got in.”

“You need to sleep,” Rajesh explained. “Otherwise, you will grow tired and weak. That will give her the perfect opportunity to come back and control you more than she did this time.”