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“Do you like flying, Leo?” Galanthia asked. Her eyes flitted toward me. “Assuming your parental unit is agreeable to flying.”
I waved nonchalantly. “He loves flying.”
“Would you care to help me with the second floor, Leo?”
Leo appeared totally entranced by Galanthia’s face. He reached up both hands, inviting her to kneel down. She closed her eyes while he traced her prominent features, particularly intrigued by the gold tattoos that ran from her tear ducts to the tip of her nose.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Elderlings of my position—soldiers, mostly—tend to write such scripture into their bodies.”
“What sort of scripture?”
She smiled wistfully. “I’m a protector. These tattoos mean I have shielded many from harm.” A flash of pain caressed her features, but it was gone in a split second. “I’ve accomplished many things in war.”
“Why were you in a war?”
“Corrupt people exist on many planes. My dimension had trouble sorting their differences.”
Leo hummed while he turned her face one way and then another. “Don’t you usually have a whip with you?”
She opened her eyes, exposing the unnatural polished green that spoke of distant planets—perhaps even entire star systems—that weren’t within our realm of grasping. “Yes, I typically carry my whip. I didn’t find it useful for today’s work.”
“Wood doesn’t need to be whipped.”
She burst with laughter, the sound enrapturing the whole building, seeming to shake it, and even causing a sort of quake in my heart. Leo laughed with her, squeaking more like a hyena than a pup, and trying to stand tall next to Galanthia, mimicking her stance.
What a sight.
“This child is wonderful,” Galanthia roared. “And what a spirited nature!”
My nervous chuckle barely made a dent in the amusement resonating around me. For once, I wasn’t the loudest person in the room. And somehow that was arousing.
There wasn’t time for that kind of reaction now. I needed a list of things that needed to be done, especially if we were going to gut the place like Raven had suggested.
Galanthia, appearing to read my mind, stepped forward once her laughter had ceased and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be my right hand as we clear the second floor and install insulation. You’ll need a good mask.” She cast a glance at Leo. “And the little one needs protective gear as well.”
“You don’t want him to stay behind?”
“If you trust him in this environment, then I extend the same courtesy.”
Was she smiling? Good Goddess, that was a sight as well, something that zapped my innards sharper than a jolt from an electrical socket. I was about to respond with a quip when the smile disappeared entirely.
“You’ll need to be prompt. I start before dawn,” she snapped. “I don’t need you today, so come back tomorrow.”
“Raven said that I—”
Her fingers dug into my shoulder. “Don’t make me repeat myself, soldier.”
I gritted my teeth. So that was how it was going to be, was it? She thought she was the boss of me. She thought she was my lieutenant for the warfront. Well, two could play that game. If she wanted a fight, then I’d give her a fight.
I just had to figure out why in the world that sort of fight was turning me on.
Chapter 4 - Galanthia
Unknown faces splayed across a dimensional plane made of bland forest and gray streams. Tall weeds sliced my arms and knees as I ran. Unearthly voices made a spectacle of my form. My human legs, as they were called, were insufficient.
Shift, they taunted.Get it over with. Just shift. Just do it, girl. What’s wrong with you?
