The Fire Seer (33 page)

Would this be her life as a Coalition investigator, burning people to death and terrifying townspeople?

The flames were dying. Zash no longer resembled a human being, but a blackened shell. Taya swallowed and tasted ashes.

Mandir took her arm. “Let’s go home.”

∞

Taya’s head began to ache less than an hour later, and when the pain continued for the rest of the day she worried secretly that the three-day poison might be taking effect. Which maybe she deserved, after the things she’d done. She and Mandir spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon writing up new mission tablets. She dictated while Mandir did the writing. Rasik brought them lunch, but Taya wasn’t hungry.

When they finished the tablet work, Taya decided she had enough loose ends to take care of that they should wait until morning to leave Hrappa. The Coalition had sent Piru, the pack elephant, to bring back Hrappa’s tax payment, so she made arrangements for that with Kalbi, the acting magistrate, as his father was unconscious and near death. Then she spent time in the stable, rubbing the elephant’s ears and brushing Pepper until her coat shone. It was calming work, a healthy labor that took her mind off the morning’s horrors. She and Mandir had killed a man today, called bloodthirsty Isatis down upon him and watched while the Fire Mother ate him alive. Every time Taya closed her eyes, she saw his body in the dirt.

She didn’t feel much better about destroying Amalia’s magic.

She returned to her guesthouse after dark to find her dinner waiting for her. The smell of it turned her stomach.

She ignored it and went to bed, but sleep eluded her. How could she do this, week after week, year after year? Leaving diseased plants unhealed because the farmers had no gold—and those were only plants. What if next time it was a sick animal or a sick person that she could easily heal but wasn’t allowed to because of the Coalition rules? That would be worse. She didn’t feel too guilty about executing Zash, since he truly was a murderer, but what about the Amalias of the world, which the Coalition demanded she exterminate?

She found herself walking out the door and across the courtyard to Mandir’s house for reasons she did not fully understand and had no intention of analyzing. She hesitated before knocking—it was late enough that he might be asleep—but she decided she was desperate enough to wake him.

“Yes?” came his muffled voice through the door.

“It’s me.”

“Come in.”

She opened the door, but didn’t enter. She hovered in the doorway, uncertain now what she wanted from him or why she’d come. In the darkness, she could just make out his form on the bed.

“What’s the matter?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know.”

“Can’t sleep?”

“No.”

“I wasn’t sleeping either,” said Mandir.

There was a lump in her throat; she forced her words around it. “Today was a hard day.” Also, she could be dead by morning, if Zash had told the truth about the three-day poison. She found herself strangely resigned to that fate.

“Would it help if you had company?” asked Mandir.

Taya hesitated. It would help, but what exactly was he suggesting? She wanted his presence, but she didn’t want to sleep with him. Not in the sense of having sex.

“Tell me what you want,” said Mandir.

Taya took a couple of steps forward, letting the door close behind her. “Would it be too odd if I wanted...” She took a deep breath. “Could I just lie there in bed with you?”

“Sleep with me?” asked Mandir.

“Yes. Just sleep.”

“You don’t want anything else to happen?”

She swallowed. “No.”

“Then it won’t. Stop hovering and get over here.”

She headed toward him. There was a rustle of bedsheets as he scooted over and made room, raising the blanket to invite her in. She slipped under the covers, and his great arms captured her, pulling her close. She turned in his grip, placing her back against his chest and tucking her head under his chin. She sighed with relief, fully cocooned in blankets and Mandir.

“Feel any better?” he murmured.

She choked back a sob. “I don’t know. I don’t know about the Coalition. I thought I would love this job. Now I’m not so sure.”

“Today was a hard day,” said Mandir. “They will not all be hard days.”

“I don’t know if we even did the right thing. Killing Zash, destroying Amalia’s magic. And we’ve broken so many Coalition laws ourselves!”

“I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“It’s more than that.” Taya shivered. “I feel so grateful to the organization for what they’ve given me. But I’m not sure it’s right what they ask of us. What we do for them.”

“To be honest, I’m not sure about that either.” He tightened his grip around her.

Taya closed her eyes. Growing up on a farm in a large family, she’d never slept alone. She’d always piled into a communal bed with her sisters, and when they had guests over, she shared that bed with her brothers too. When frightened, she’d always had someone to nestle with. That had been one of the hardest adjustments for her to make when she’d arrived at Mohenjo, having to sleep alone all the time. Sure, she didn’t have people kicking her in the middle of the night, or snoring, or rolling over and hogging the blanket, but sleeping by oneself was lonely.

“Do you think we did the right things today?” she asked.

“I think we tried as hard as we could, and did the best things possible under the circumstances. That’s all anyone can ask.”

“Do you think I’ll survive until morning?”

He kissed her on the top of her head. “I have never known anyone who was more of a survivor than you.”

Chapter 43: Hrappa

When Taya woke and saw the daylight filtering in through the windows, her first thought was,
I’m alive
. She was still wrapped in Mandir’s arms, though they’d thrown off the blanket. She was vaguely aware that he’d been up once during the night—her half-dreaming mind had registered it—though for what reason, she did not know. At any rate, he was back now. She could feel his breathing as his powerful chest rose and fell against her back.

Lying there, she felt exhilarated. She was alive! There was no three-day poison. The horrors of yesterday were fading, and she was beginning to perceive that despite the ugliness of having to execute Zash and destroy Amalia’s magic, she and Mandir had, on the whole, been successful in Hrappa. They’d been sent to solve a trio of murders, and they’d solved them. Their methods had been unconventional—in some cases
illegal
—but she would not have had it any other way.

She and Mandir had cured Hrappa’s banana blight, freed its farmers from Bodhan’s crushing loans, and rid the community of the murderous Zash.

Infused with a rush of new energy, she twisted in Mandir’s arms to face him. She tilted her head upward and kissed him on the lips. “Wake up, handsome.”

Mandir’s eyes blinked open. “Was that for real? Or am I dreaming?”

“It’s morning, and we’re alive!”

“Of course we’re alive.” Mandir stretched luxuriously, like an enormous bronze panther. “Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a three-day poison.”

“Be honest,” said Taya, her eyes roaming over the mouth-watering expanse of his body. “You had your doubts.”

“Tiny doubts.” Mandir pressed his thumb and forefinger together.

“Not so tiny.” She pulled his fingers apart.

Mandir placed his other hand over Taya’s to make the space smaller again.

Taya tried to pull his hand away, which turned into a wrestling match as she grabbed for his hand, and he dodged, holding it out of reach. Finally she jumped on him for better access, and they fought that way. She could tell he was only playing, using less than half his strength, until suddenly he turned the tables and flipped them over, pinning her beneath him.

“What were you saying again?” asked Mandir, his breath warm on her face.

“I don’t remember.” She was a little bit frightened, but she wanted him.

Mandir lowered his great body onto hers and kissed her. Something throbbed in Taya’s nether regions—a feeling she rarely experienced except when she pleasured herself. She gasped, which excited Mandir. He nipped her on the lip and kissed her again. “Is this something you want?”

She nodded.

He raised himself enough to take off his nightshirt. “Are you sure?”

She gaped at the sight of his well-muscled chest and abdomen as the shirt peeled away. “Yes. Do you think it will hurt?”

“Why, is it your first time?”

She nodded.

“I don’t think so.” He kissed her forehead lightly. “But if it does, you can stop me.”

Taya nodded, but as he unfastened his pants, she tensed.

He paused to stroke her hair. “I’ll be gentle. If there’s anything you’re not enjoying, tell me, and I’ll stop.” He pulled his pants down, revealing his erection.

Taya couldn’t help but stare. She’d never seen one before.

Mandir didn’t seem to notice or care that she was staring; he was occupied with her nightshirt. He found the ends of it and tugged it upward, encouraging her to raise herself off the bed to release it. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath, and her breasts fell free. Mandir, sitting atop her, gazed at her reverently. “You are one fine-looking woman, banana girl.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, banana man.”

He rolled his eyes. “I suppose I asked for that.” Lowering himself on her, he kissed her again. One of his hands found her breast, cupped it, and stroked. His thumb circled her nipple, pressing hard. Taya’s nether regions throbbed, and her back arched. She moaned.

When she couldn’t stand it any longer, and her body demanded
more
, Mandir seemed to sense it. He moved downward and captured her nipple with his tongue. He circled it with firm pressure, nipped lightly, and stroked her breast with his fingertips.

“Great Mothers,” said Taya, arching her back again. She was wet; she could feel it, and Mandir’s erection was hot and hard between them. She wanted him inside her,
needed
him. “Now, Mandir.” She reached for him, wanting him to pull that wicked tongue off her, and satisfy the beautiful and terrible need within.

“Not yet,” he said, taking her arm and pinning it beneath his body. “I’m going to make you wait.”

“Mandir,” she gasped.

“I waited ten years to have you in my bed,” he said. “Now that I’ve got you here, you can wait for me.”

“Mandir,” she protested. He was ruthless with his tongue, pinning her arms as he pleasured her just enough to drive her into a frenzy, but not enough to satisfy her. She moaned, her body shifting in frustration and pleasure. She gasped as his tongue teased her sensitized nipple. “
Mandir.
”

“I love it when you say my name.” He reached down and pulled at her smallclothes.

She shimmied her hips to help remove them.

In an instant, Mandir’s cock was pressing into her, slowly. Poised above her, looking into her eyes, Mandir said, “Tell me if anything hurts.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” she gasped. “It doesn’t hurt at all.” And then, for a moment, it did. She felt a twinge, but it came and went, and was quickly forgotten in the deluge of more agreeable sensations.

He pushed in, farther and farther, until Taya felt the moment they were joined, his body warm and solid against hers. She wrapped her arms around him, wanting him closer in every possible way. When he began to move, she moaned and arched her back.
This
was what she needed.
This
was what she’d been waiting for.

“Oh, Great Mothers,” said Mandir, moving faster. His eyes glazed.

Every movement of their joined bodies sent a thrill of exquisite pleasure through her body, emanating from her nether regions all the way through the tips of her fingers, and as Mandir accelerated, the waves of pleasure came faster. His mouth found hers, joining them doubly, and when her pleasure spilled over, she bucked in his arms, driving him to a shuddering peak of his own.

He rolled onto his side, taking her with him so they did not have to separate. “That was worth the wait,” he said.

Taya laughed. She was hot and sweaty, pressed into another body that was equally hot and sweaty, and she didn’t care.

“I love you,” said Mandir. “I always have.”

“I’m starting to believe you.”

“From the beginning, from the day we met, you were the one,” said Mandir. “I did everything wrong. More than wrong. I was a fool, but I loved you.”

“I wanted to love you then,” said Taya. “But it didn’t happen until just a few days ago. Which reminds me, when we were down in that hole at Zash’s, you said there was something about the fire maze I didn’t know.”

“Oh.” Mandir pushed a lock of damp hair back from her face. “The Coalition forbade me to speak of it.”

Taya snorted. “As if you follow Coalition rules.”

“I try.”

“Tell me,” said Taya. “I think I have a right to know.”

“I’ll tell you if you promise to keep it to yourself.”

She found Mandir’s hand and interlocked their fingers. “I promise.”

“You know the basics of the story. Cole, Talin, Lilit, and I built a fire maze as an elaborate, cruel prank just for you. It took us weeks to design and build. We had to map it out on tablets, clear space for it in the fields, assemble it.”

“I’m not impressed.”

“I know,” said Mandir. “I’m just saying we went to a lot of trouble to be zebu’s asses.”

“It was your idea, wasn’t it? You were the leader.”

“Yes, it was my idea.”

“Then why did Cole, Talin, and Lilit get expelled while you only got a Year of Penance?”

“I’m getting to that,” said Mandir. “We drugged you with
kimat
and
shydra
. The
shydra
made you sleep so deeply we were able to remove you from your bed and carry you to the starting area of our fire maze. You know what happened with the maze. The intent was to torment and scare you. There was no way out. We didn’t let you backtrack, and every turn you took was guaranteed to be wrong. We’d designed the maze such that we could alter it on the fly. We planned to terrify you for a while, then eventually open up a path for you and run off so we wouldn’t get caught.