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"Huh," is all I say. I don't know anything about his world, and I have to admit, I'm a little worried about how…wild it is. Which is stupid. Kassam is a nature god. Of course he's going to want to hang out where there's nothing but trees and animals. It's just that…I'm a city girl. I'm already a little worried about the lack of plumbing and accessible food. Beds. Paths. Things like that. I expected us to be starting fresh when we came over to his world. I just didn't realize we'd be starting with nothing at all. I'm suddenly glad I packed my enormous bag. I move over to it, unzipping and pulling out fresh clothes and shoes. I find a protein bar and unwrap it, chewing as Kassam strokes the eagle's feathers. He's got a huge frown on his face. "What's wrong?"
He glances over at me. "My friend tells me there is a city not far from here. A day's flight, maybe a bit more. I don't like that."
"Why not?"
"Because there should be no city here. These lands are supposed to remain wild. They are my lands."
I don't point out that he's been gone for a thousand years, or that the world can change a lot in a hundred years, much less a thousand. He knows this, of course. Me, personally, I'm rather thrilled there's a city. I like the woods, but if we're going to find Seth and Margo, we'll find them near a city. Seth is absolutely not a nature god. I study him and the eagle instead. "He told you that?"
Kassam shrugs. "I see it in his thoughts."
"Should you be doing that? Am I going to have another nosebleed again?"
His mouth pulls into a frown and he glances over at me. "I…do not know." With a flick of his wrist, the eagle flies away, soaring once more. "Are you in pain?"
"No, I just want to be careful, that's all."
Kassam's expression grows pained. "I do not know how to stop reading their thoughts. They speak to me, as easily as you or I." Worried, he looks at the squirrels at his feet. "Even now, they tell me where they keep their food, and who stalks these woods at night."
I rub my forehead, but it doesn't hurt. "Maybe that's all right, then. But if I start to hurt, I'm going to need you to stop unless you want to carry me all the way to the nearest city."
He makes a grimace of disgust. "Cities. Pah."
I gesture at the pastoral scene around us. "You think Seth is somewhere around here?"
"No." Kassam looks thoughtful. "He will have directed Lachesis to send him toward the nearest settlement. We will find him there."
"Okay then, so what's the plan?" I cross my legs in the grass, and it feels cool under my bare legs and ass. I'm naked except for my bra, but I don't feel uncomfortable like this. Kassam is so easy in his own skin that it makes me relax. "How do we move forward?"
31
He is quiet for a long moment, the only movement that of his thick hair waving in the breeze. Then, he gives a fond look to the trees at the edge of the clearing, infested with birds and squirrels. The deer hover nearby, seemingly waiting for his answer as well. "We let the gods know I have returned. We gather my army, and we join Seth." Kassam clenches a fist, a surprisingly cruel grin on his face. "Then, we go after Riekki."
I'm a little concerned about that to-do list, because the expression on Kassam's face is distinctly vengeful, and it doesn't match the man—er, god—I've come to know. "Okay, let's think about this. How are you going to let the gods know you've returned if they're all here in the mortal realm?"
He crosses his arms over his chest. "I thought a show of my might. Uproot the trees from the land itself and make them walk. Wither the crops. Make the animals attack anyone that comes near. Show how angry the very earth is that I have been wronged."
I raise a finger in the air. "Hold up."
Kassam frowns at me. "What?"
"How are you going to make that happen? You're going to squeeze your anchor—that's me, by the way—so hard that when my head pops off from all the magic you're using, you'll be happy? You think a few dancing trees and rabid dogs are going to show them anything?"
His mouth pulls down, slightly sulky. "I…forgot it hurts you."
"Which is why I'm here to remind you," I say gently. "You were sent to the human world to learn a lesson, right?"
"That I am supposed to care more for humans."
Well, that's a lesson that clearly needs a bit of reminding here and there. "Okay, so let's table the whole marching trees and rabid army thing for now. We don't have the resources—as in, the magic. So what can we do to show people that you're back and ready to kick ass and take names?"
