Thread of Ash and Fire

Ch. 15: A Favour

Isaac couldn't breathe.

Lucia drew closer. Her golden eyes burned like twin stars, and a pale glow emitted from her skin. There was something feline about the way she moved, Isaac thought, like a dragon slinking across a cave floor. Something that clearly identified her as a predator.

The goddess clasped her hands. Isaac's heart pounded.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Isaac said, and he was amazed that his voice came out even. "If there's one thing I've learned from cleaning out the armoury, it's that the worst smell always lingers the longest."

"Charming." Lucia cocked her head. "You've put on weight. It suits you."

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "And you've put on a new face. Can't say it suits you. Much uglier than the last one."

"Ah." Lucia's mouth curled. "How is our friend Camille?"

"Say her name one more time," Isaac said. "I dare you."

A fire blazed in his chest, hot as a thousand forges. Isaac thought of Camille's downturned face, her pale eyelashes casting shadows across her cheekbones. I'm made of something different now, she'd said. Something harder. She'd done that to Cami. This— this thing had done that to her.

The fire grew hotter.

"The last time I saw you," Isaac said pleasantly, "someone was putting a sword through your stomach."

"Ah." Lucia's lips curved. "Seraena Agnirian. She reminds me of her great-grandmother. So much fire, not much common sense." Her feet whispered over the grass. "I suppose I should thank you. If the Agnirian girl had put the sword through my heart, I wouldn't have survived. But seeing as it went through my stomach..." The goddess was inches away, now. "It was really very lucky that you knocked the sword aside."

Isaac looked away. "I didn't do it for you."

"Didn't you?" Lucia murmured.

Isaac took a step backward, and his spine hit something hard. A tree, he realized; the goddess had him pinned against the trunk. He was suddenly very aware of his state of undress — a white tunic that gaped open at the throat, low-slung trousers and sandals — and he stuffed a hand casually in his pocket, feeling for his knife. Not that it would do much against an immortal being. But still.

"I did it for Camille," Isaac said.

Lucia drew closer. "We were one and the same, you know. I saw her deepest fears, her dreams, the things she loved most..." Her lips brushed his ear. "Despite my best efforts, I'm finding it difficult to shed her human skin. I feel... fond of you."

Isaac looked away. "Don't touch me."

His heart was pounding furiously. He could feel the bone handle of the knife digging into his skin, hard enough that it hurt. Lucia smiled. She seemed even less human up close, and it took Isaac a moment to realize why: even in Camille's body, she had smelled of vanilla and cucumber. Now she smelled of nothing. A void of sensation.

A shiver slid down his spine.

"I could make you want my touch," Lucia murmured. "I could make you crave it." She stroked a finger down his cheek. "You'd spend days in my bed, doing whatever I asked you to. Begging me for one more taste."

Something sour rose in his throat. "But it wouldn't be real. And you know why?" Isaac leaned close, lowering his voice. "Nobody could ever love something like you."

Lucia drew back. Isaac didn't know what he'd expected —annoyance, maybe, or hurt — but her face was as expressionless as ever. The goddess turned back to the group, wiping her fingers on a handkerchief.