A Pirate for the Dead Goddess (Legends of Rahasia Book 2)

Chapter Forty-Eight

Aziz pauses, their gaze raking over me as I stand guard. "Ode said the tunnel leading beneath the main observatory is right over there."

They hum softly to themselves, giggling.

That irks me. "Look, Ode told me to make sure you don't back out on the plan. The rest of them will watch if you fail or succeed from the wings wearing the student robes." Well, almost all the rest. Ode had called some of the navy to escort my ailing father, the Alchemist, back to the ship to wait out the storm. "Or they'll gladly dismember you if you try and betray us too."

Aziz giggles again. I stop walking.

"Are you always this irritating?"

Aziz smirks, leaning forwards. Their perfume gets to me, a lean bit of flesh peering above their tunic. I avoid their heated gaze. "Oh, darling, it's cute when humans blush. So vulnerable." A pause, their face shifts. Features changing to an emerald-eyed gaze, soft skin, and a nest of raven hair. "Maybe you'd prefer this form?" Aziz purrs, in a convincing mockery of Farzaneh's melodic voice.

"Don't wear her face like a mask."

"But admit it," they lean closer, and I can't avoid the enchantress gaze, the deep green boring into my sandy eyes. "You prefer this."

"Look, I chose to help you back in Rahasia. I vouched for your redemption." I shiver, reluctantly tearing my gaze away. Farzaneh, in that scarlet tunic. The image burns into my unwilling memory. "I'm here to guard you, to do a job."

"I'm sorry," Aziz shifts back, looking away. I can't believe it. Is that shame I see on their face? "I'm the god of love and beauty. It's kind of hard to resist my nature. To make beautiful things. And I sensed how much you ached for her. I was trying to see if my intuition was just right."

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't ache for anyone. I don't pine away like a weakling in a fairy tale." I gruffly push them ahead.

They just look all the more satisfied. "When?"

"When what?"

We get to the tunnel beneath the observatory. Shafts of light, and high above the grate, I can see a string of lights hanging from the ceiling. Endless electric lanterns, beautiful. Powerful. Bewitching in their irregularity. "When did you start caring for Farzaneh?"

I clench my fists, my teeth. No. We might all possibly die from Aziz's plan, and I have to confess to them? This is who I spend my final moments with? A deity of seduction, discussing crushes like children?

I exhale, trying to force my blushing to stop. "When she accepted me for who I am. She was the only witch in all my travels to agree to brew the transition potions. The rest said it was too dangerous. The formula impossible. But she was so clever, and she never gave up until she got the recipe just right."

Aziz slips their hand into mine, kissing me softly on the cheek. Not a seduction.

Their blessing, from a god to a human.

"Thank you." The red eyes burn softer, shifting to the familiarity of poppies. "You're not so bad. For a pirate."

I help them up onto the ladder, and we begin to climb together.

I hope the Lunes accept this plan. I'm tired of this.

My father. My love, Farzaneh. The tortured people, animal, getting experimented on by heartless Lunes, all in the pursuit of unethical knowledge when beings that feel pain are dying.

I want to return to the sea, to drift away.

To end my journey and find home.

***

Pirates,

Home is behind, the world ahead.

-Sophia