56. Kami

56

Kami

" D on't you mean Ries the Randy?" Crash says with heaping amounts of sarcasm. "Like I give a shit who you are. Any of you. I'm not bowing. Period."

I'm not sure if Ries was kidding or not, but he wears that smug smile regardless.

I frown. "Seriously?"

"Folas is your brother?" Malkar looks deeply offended.

I'm still not comfortable knowing he wants me dead, but it seems he's got issues with more than just me. And that's oddly reassuring.

I glance around at them all and center on Crash. It's killing me to wait on his secrets. I hadn't missed his mention of having a necromancer friend.

My heart is still racing. He knows someone like me. Or knew. I have no idea if this necromancer is alive or dead. But Crash considers them a friend .

"How can Folas be your brother?" Oz asks. "He's not royal." He pauses. "I don't think. Plus, he's definitely an elf."

"Part elf," Ries corrects. "His mom— our mom—is high fae." He frowns. "We aren't close. She slummed it with my dad, who's merman and mage. Kind of a big deal in the waters."

"So why aren't you home with them being a prince?" I ask.

Ries doesn't seem pretentious or overly arrogant, not like some of the monarchs and high fae I've seen. Not met, because they don't associate with peons like me and Ahza.

Ahza, who's no longer here.

I clear my throat and ask again, "What's the truth?" I hold up my hand. "Blood pact."

Malkar nods and crosses his arms over his broad chest. "Speak, merman."

"Fuck you. I'm a water fae, if you want to get technical. And yeah, part merman. Folas made my life hell until my mom kicked me out, sent me to live with my father. He didn't want me around either, okay? So I spent a lot of time with extended family."

I recognize that lost expression on his face before he replaces it with a sneer. That whole "I don't need anybody" mien that all of us here seem to be familiar with. Me especially.

"I'm sorry," I say, and everyone looks at me. "I've been alone my whole life too. Well, I had Ahza, but he's dead now." I blink to get rid of my tears.

Oz gives my shoulder an awkward pat. "It's okay. You can be sad."

"I know. I'm always a little sad because I miss him." I take a deep breath and let my grief go. "When I was very young, a monarch and his angel destroyed my village. I have fuzzy memories of being told to keep my power in. To never take what isn't offered," I say with a look at Malkar.

"Likely story," he mutters.

"I've spent my life hiding my nature. Yes, I'm a necromancer. Until recently, I've never been able to do anything about it. I'm still not sure what I did to the Nyte Guard, but I had a dream, maybe a visit, by Caethybdue."

Everyone stares at me. Hard. Malkar especially.

"And?" he asks. "What did she say?"

I blush, still not easy with so much attention. "Basically, that we still have to stop Beyrthnel. And that I need to accept who I am."

Technically, she said, " Use what you've been given. All of it. All of them." Did she mean these guys?

"Is that why you can turn into a tree?" Oz asks.

"I thought she just communed with trees," Crash says. "You turn into one too?"

"That's how she avoided Rilitar in the dungeon for months. She turned into a tree and fed me her apples."

"And meyerbane," I tell him. "That's what healed you, I think."

"I ate one of her apples," Crash murmurs.

"So did Ries. I think even Malkar had a bite," I say and raise my brows. "Must be why he's under my control."

The guys look at Malkar then start grinning.

"Shut up." He looks like he's flushing, but I can't be sure. The guy is always so pale.

"And what about you, Malkar? What's your secret?"

"Hold on. You're not finished with yours."

"What else do you want to know?" I ask.

Ries clears his throat. "The, ah, energy thing. You know. When we first had sex."

"Oh. That."

"What? What's ‘that?'" Crash jumps in, looking intent.

"I, well, I'm not a normal dryad."

Crash snorts. "Uh-huh. And?"

"You're so annoying." The others agree with me, which makes me snicker until I remember what he wants to know. " Well, I'm a dryad. I bond with trees. But I bond with them in a weird way."

"How weird?" Oz wants to know. "I mean, you became a tree. Regular dryads don't do that."

"No. They don't. I never knew I could become a tree until Rilitar, he—until he killed my brother. But it's more than that. The trees I bond with become monsters."

Malkar's eyes widen. "Did you happen to bond with a tree outside Rilitar's estate? I heard some of the trees mutated near his home, and they had to burn them down. The trees were eating people." Malkar smiles. "Nice."

I shrug. "I'm not sure why they turn carnivorous, but after I bond with them, they start feeding on meat."

"You turned your hands into sticks and stabbed a naga." Crash is studying me with fascination. Or horrified shock. I can't tell which. "And you killed the half-ghoul. You healed yourself by getting all woody."

"You know about that?" I thought I'd kept that hidden.

"Yep." Crash smiles. "I know everything."

The guys disagree, and the next few minutes are spent making fun of Crash and his delusions of grandeur.

But Ries cycles back to me. "That energy trick. So that's your necromancer magic?"

"I don't think so. But I'm not sure. I think that's part of my fae nature. Or monster nature." I sigh. "My mom was a dryad, but we were waiting for my dad to return when the village burned. I never saw him again. I don't know what he is, who he is. Or was."

And I probably never will. Dryads rarely bond with the fathers of their children.

I continue, "I don't have to have energy to live. I'm not a succubus."

"You sure?" Oz teases. "Oh, she's blushing. "

The others smile, except for Malkar, who's watching me with sharp eyes.

"I don't think I am. I don't feed off sex. But I need little sips of energy to sustain me. Nothing big. And I don't hurt or kill anyone doing it." I glare at Malkar.

"Ah-ha!" Crash points at me. "I knew there was something about you and that altar in the woods. You were going to steal my energy!"

Ries shakes his head. "Aren't you listening? She just said she sips energy. And she asks for it. She could have taken it from me anytime she wanted. She asked me for it, and I gave it to her. Didn't even feel it."

"When was this?" Malkar asks.

"When we had sex before the trials started." Ries studies me. "I told you I'm only part merman. I have urges, but not to the extremes most mermen do. It can hurt if you don't relieve the sexual need. Before Kami, it could be a bad distraction. But now I'm good."

He smiles at me. "Really good." He rubs his thigh, where he had an injury. "Though I've never healed myself after an orgasm or two."

I have a feeling that wasn't him. Or me, or Crash.

As one, the lot of us turn to Malkar.

He raises a brow. "Yes, yes. That might have been me. But I'm not telling you all shit until Firefly spills his secrets. Well, firebug? What do you have to tell us?" He leans closer to Crash, and to our shock, a thin tail whips out and strokes Crash's neck.

He jerks back, his mouth open.

Malkar chuckles, his voice deepening into a rasp as he curls his tail around his middle, the end pointed in a sharp triangle with spikes flaring. "Speak, fire fae. We're waiting."