Ravenous (Taint of the Gods #1)

14. RHYDIAN

14

RHYDIAN

S al would have said I was being a prick, but Rieka had turned up late. So what better way to determine where her skills stood in terms of defence than pitting her against a woman I trusted. Rieka wasn’t exactly forthcoming with any personal information. And I trusted Eleen not to accidentally break her neck, even with the stormy glare she was giving me.

“Condition #1: you must participate without objection. You agreed,” I reminded her.

The expression that took over her face was masterful. Within seconds irritation turned to hesitant determination, the look of a woman pretending to be frightened. Her heart rate was fast but not fast enough to be of any concern.

As she approached the ring she shook out her hands, long delicate fingers stretched and curled in nervous anticipation.

Eleen gave me one of her “Are you sure about this?” looks. I wasn’t about to be questioned about my treatment of my "wife" in front of our fighters, so I ignored her.

“Leaving me to the mercy of your ex isn’t very husbandly of you,” Rieka said guilefully as she took her position on the mat. I circled the ring to get a better viewpoint as both women came to a standstill.

“Had other husbands, have you?” I asked as she adjusted the gloves on her hands, tightening the fastenings. They weren’t ordinarily allowed but as no one else appeared to object, I kept quiet.

“No. But I have had several offers.” She kept her eyes on Eleen, who in turn was surveying Rieka. We’d been friends so long that it wasn’t hard to predict the water-wielder’s inner comments. She was no doubt internally laughing to herself. Rieka had the worst fighting stance.

“Weren’t desperate enough to say yes I suppose.” Either this was a facade and she was going to hold her own, or Eleen was going to annihilate Rieka on the mat.

Can she hear these thoughts?

“Desperate is not quite the word I’d use.” Rieka followed Eleen’s honour gesture, her lack of understanding of Seja’s subtlety obvious. But at least it was respectful.

“Let’s say they couldn’t provide what I needed.”

“And what was that?” I asked

Did she require I talk to her directly as I had been or could she hear all my thoughts and simply chose to respond to those?

“Isn’t it obvious?” My body tensed at her inner voice. Surely not. Surely she can’t be that powerful. The pantheons would have known about people like her. The danger they would pose to the status quo, all their secrets just floating around in their heads, easily accessible. They would kill her on-site if they knew. Lead her to madness.

This could be very problematic.

Rieka continued her train of thought as she looked at me over her shoulder.

“What I want, dear husband is the thing you’re going to give me . My freedom.”

Eleen took that opportunity to strike. The space between them vanished in seconds and her fist collided with Rieka’s cheek in a resounding thwack, sending Rieka stumbling backward. My friend then crouched down and spun, taking out Rieka’s left leg. Her elbow made a nasty sound as her body hit the hardwood floor.

Eleen was playing with Rieka. Her smile as she walked backward admiring her work said as much. Rieka’s companions complained from the sidelines only to be held back by contentious looks. New arrivals were always hesitant to defend when they first arrived. That needed to change fast.

Rieka’s voice was crisp, regardless of the groaning she was doing from the mat. “ She’s pissed at you for not telling her you got married.” I already knew that much. Eleen had this way of making your blood boil when she was the one pissed off. Her micro-expressions were works of art; they could send a man’s cock straight back up into his body.

“Hadn’t noticed.”

Rieka stood nursing her elbow, her brows furrowing the moment she decided to run at Eleen’s turned back. I waited to see exactly how far my "wife’s" special talent extended. Would she pick up on the way Eleen shifted onto her backfoot expecting the attack, or would she hear it from Eleen herself? The idea was provoking. Judging by the way Eleen sent Rieka flying over her shoulder, neither now seemed plausible. The hand that she’d used in an attempt to grab hold of the taller woman’s hair was now twisted in Eleen’s grip as she hovered over Rieka’s flattened form. Her breathing was ragged, likely from the impact of getting the air knocked out of her and from the pain of having her arm locked in such a potion. Eleen needed only to press with her thumb and Rieka’s wrist would snap.

My curiosity peaked, I asked, “How did you survive the Lobby?”

Rieka was completely untrained. It was as if she had watched one too many stage fights and expected to be an expert once she stood opposite an opponent.

“The what?” Rieka grimaced when Eleen released her hand and backed up a few steps. My friend was toying with Rieka. She had intentionally left herself open for attack.

“The train you jumped from. We call it the Lobby.”

The voice in my head, her voice scoffed, “And this place is the fucking hotel?” Rieka started to circle the ring again, her eyes dashing around her opponent and looking in all the wrong places. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

“Do you?”

“Do I what? ”

Her response made me curious. I had spoken to her as if in conversation. “Can’t you just hear her thoughts, detect what her next move is going to be?”

Rieka tried another strike and ended up with her arm twisted behind her back before Eleen pushed her away with little effort. Rieka sighed in frustration. “Not really how it works, husband. I can’t just read her mind. Life’s not that easy.”

“So, she needs to be talking to you directly, as though in conversation with you in her head.” That was an intriguing thought.

“Not just a pretty face after all.” Rieka attempted another run, this time she ended up with her head in the crook of Eleen’s elbow. And Eleen held it until Rieka’s face began to turn the slightest shade of purple. Not delighted that I had ascertained what I needed to know about her defensive skills and correctly surmised that it was either dumb luck or a god’s will that she survived The Lobby , I gestured to Eleen to release her. Rieka fell to the floor, flat on her face, her cheeks regaining colour with every breath she took.

I was going to have to be careful with my thoughts around her, and I was going to have to come up with something to convince the others to be wary of their thoughts as well without drawing suspicion on my already suspicious "wife."

What a world, I’m policing thoughts now? Fuck!

I approached her as the dutiful husband I was and helped her to her feet. The leather tie at the end of her hair had finally come loose, so I retied it for her, our proximity keeping her companions at a distance. Those grey eyes were eerily focused, storm clouds ready to erupt with lightning. Such a contradiction to the feeble softly smiling woman before me.

“I think we’re going to have to have some one-on-one lessons in the foreseeable future.” I then thanked her, silently, for the compliment.

Her expression gave no indication of the confusion her inner voice held. “What compliment?”

Her white hair was soft beneath my fingertips, even under the grime that coated the strands it felt like silk, a rare item in this prison. I held her with a stare. When I sensed the slightest rise in her heart rate I answered, “You said I was pretty.”

The comment amused her. She smiled and rose to kiss my cheek, her lips teasing the shell of my ear as her hand pressed into my chest.

“You, Rhydian Kanyk, are so much more than pretty. I fear the recipe the gods used when they made you was to my ultimate desires. I had not known you five minutes before I wanted to make you mine. Had we not had an audience, I would have devoured you on sight.”

She nipped the lobe before pushing herself away from me, her hair falling from my fingertips.

I cleared my throat and turned away before she re-joined her companions, using the motion to adjust my damn traitorous cock.