While I dressed, I watched Rami use my cloak to dry herself, admiring her subtle curves before she put on her ai’tendar.
“I’ll go back to the camp a little later.” I kissed her and cupped her ass before she walked in the direction of our camp.
I sat in the moonlight for a while, simply watching the gentle flow of the stream and enjoying being alone in the night forest.
“That was quite a performance, Vance.”
The whisper in my ear gave me such a fright that I jumped up onto my feet, spinning around and whipping Grave Oath out in the same motion. I lowered the weapon when I saw Isu standing there in the moonlight, her eyes shining with an almost supernatural gleam. I didn’t know how she’d managed to sneak up on me like that. Not even the most well-trained assassin was usually capable of such a feat.
I shoved my dagger back into its sheath. “How long have you been hanging around here?”
“Long enough,” she answered. “I especially enjoyed watching the reverse wheelbarrow. You’re as skilled with your cock as you are with your dagger, I see. I can’t say I’m too surprised.”
It occurred to me that she could have easily killed me. She had come close enough to whisper in my ear, and that was more than close enough to slip a blade between my ribs.
Yet she hadn’t.
I wasn’t about to trust her fully, not yet, but perhaps she wasn’t quite as dangerous or as vengeful as she’d seemed. She’d answered my questions earlier, and she’d even helped me without expecting anything in return. Had that all been an act? But why not kill me now, when she had a chance? What exactly was her game?
The questions were hard to answer, especially with the moonlight touching her dark hair and pale skin. The silvery light danced on those womanly curves, that slim waist, those round breasts, that luscious hair. Fire was simmering in my loins again.
“Maybe we can ‘dance’ sometime, you and I,” I said. “We have unfinished business in that department, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Don’t worry yourself; I haven’t forgotten.” She ran a finger down my stomach and tickled my cock through my pants. Then, she gripped my balls and squeezed a little before she stepped back. “That was, however, before you stuck your dagger in my heart and stole my divinity. I’m not certain I want to finish that business after what you did to me. Although watching your performance tonight has certainly got me feeling tempted.”
Before I could say anything, she turned and glided off into the shadows, melting into the darkness. I wasn’t sure whether she could be trusted, but I was starting to enjoy her company.
The last thing I wanted was to have to kill her a second time.
Chapter Nine
I awoke well before dawn with the taste of Rami still on my lips and her scent on my body. The memory of the night before returned in visceral images when I looked at her sleeping beside me.
I wasn’t tired at all, despite having slept for three hours at most. It seemed like I was growing more into my divinity, as Isu had mentioned I would.
I took some time to walk quietly around the perimeter of the camp and admired the undead troops I’d stationed there. I’d amassed quite a collection of them now: from my first simple unarmed skeletons, to Sarge with his golden greatsword and the other armed skeletons, to the skeletal cavalrymen. Then there were my zombies: the zombie Crusaders and now, zombie crossbowmen. And my beasts: my eye-in-the-sky, Talon the harpy, and of course, my favorite giant man-eating lizard, Fang.
Footsteps sounded from behind me. After subtly loosening Grave Oath in its sheath, I spun around and brandished my dagger. I lowered it as I saw Isu gliding through the pre-dawn shadows. Her feminine hips swayed enticingly with each step, and her generous breasts shifted with a delicious rhythm. A sudden, chilly breeze coursed through the trees and rippled through her silky black hair, and I was seized by an almost overwhelming urge to walk right up to her and rip that black dress off her stunning body. And from the raw lust in her eyes, I suspected that she wouldn’t have minded at all.
We managed to restrain ourselves, though, and instead of pawing at each other like animals in heat, we simply greeted each other with a restrained nod.
“Your need for sleep is decreasing, while mine is increasing,” she murmured. “Such is the way of becoming a god, and, on my part, bidding my divinity farewell.”
I noticed that her pale face was looking a little tired—which did little to detract from her striking beauty—and that her movements didn’t seem quite as effortless and quick as they usually did. I, on the other hand, was feeling like. . . well, a god.
“It’s not all that bad. You could have been killed and never resurrected.” I grinned at her.
“Well, I’ve been realizing just how much I missed a good night’s sleep after all those centuries of never sleeping. Enjoy the last few sleeps you have before you, Vance. Once you no longer need to sleep, perhaps you’ll grow to miss it too.”
“Maybe… but likely not.” I considered how far we still needed to travel. “Kroth is maybe a few more days’ travel. A single day if we ride.”
“What will you do?” Isu asked. “Leave half of your army behind so that you can get there faster, or trudge along with the foot soldiers?”
“I don’t know what he’s looking for there, or if he’s found it yet. The longer I let him dig around the ruins, the more likely he is to find something that will increase his power. And he’s already one tough bastard, judging from what I’ve heard. Also, if it turns out that there’s nothing valuable at Kroth, he’ll move on to somewhere else, and that’ll make this detour from Brakith pointless.”
“It seems that
