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“I understand,” I say, nodding. “Bhoja paid you, right?”
“Yes,” he says, his voice still deep, gravelly, and almost growling. “Paid.”
“Right,” I nod. I need a solution, fast. An idea comes to me. “That bed, for me.”
I pat my hand against my chest.
“Okay,” he says, nodding. Agreement is good. Any point of agreement can be used to deescalate an argument which is what I have to do. “Deliver.”
He motions with his head and takes another one of the steps. Damn it there aren’t that many of them. Two more at the most and he’ll be able to see into the upstairs. I haven’t been up there to see where Bhoja placed the body but it’s not like there are very many places to leave a body lying around. Odds are way too high that this guy will see it as soon as his head breaks above the line of the floor.
“No, my bed. Down here.” I point at the living room. “No sleep there.”
I point at the upstairs. He looks from me to the upstairs then back again.
“No?” he asks. He takes a step back down and the relief I feel makes my knees weak. I nod with what I hope is not too much enthusiasm. “Here?”
He looks over at the living area.
“Yes, my bed,” I say.
“Huh,” he grunts.
I’ve got him. I did it. Elation lifts my heart until he shakes his head.
“No,” he says.What? Seriously what the fuck?“Bhoja say deliver. Bed upstairs.”
I blink, heart in my throat, unable to swallow or think. The door to the house swings open.
33
BHOJA
As soon as my house comes into sight I see that the cart is parked outside. The tarp has been pulled aside and there is no sign of the driver. He must be inside already. Why did she let him in? I will have to have a talk with her about safety. She is too trusting.
Her heart is too big. She doesn’t see the evil in others but I know, too well, that it is there.
It is an admirable trait, one I remember having myself but that was years ago. Before the Shaman’s rise to power. Before everything became dark and I no longer saw the point in this world. A smile tugs at my lips as I realize that my life is dividing into before Niyah and after.
The streets are crowded and it takes time to work against the flow and get to my house. I struggle to not be angry but maybe I’ll lose my tail. I doubt it. They’ve been holding close the entire trip home.
I hear her voice as soon as I reach the door and it lifts my heart in a way nothing else ever has. She has a beautiful voice. I can’t make out what she is saying but it doesn’t matter. I could listen to her talk gibberish until this world comes to an end and beyond. But right now we don’t have time, there is a body that must be disposed of.
I open the door and walk in. She is standing in the kitchen with her back to me. She has one hand on her hip and it’s clear by her stance and the tension in the room that she and the delivery man have been arguing.
The delivery guy is a young Urr’ki, probably barely of an age, and I would assume this is his first real job. The indignant look on his face and the way his tusks quiver are all I need to see to read the situation.
“Hello,” I say, speaking lizard so that Niyah is included. “My delivery is here?”
“Will you please tell him that the bed is to be delivered down here, not upstairs?” Niyah asks, spinning on one foot to face me.
“Niyah—”
“I have been trying to explain this to him but he insists on going up the stairs. Which isnotwhere we want him or that bed.”
She cuts me off before I can say more than her name. The young Urr’ki has a smug look on his face probably feeling justified that he couldn’t control her either. Trust me young one, you’ll get used to it with most any female.
“Niyah, it’s?—”
