“No! Do not tell me I’ve got to have—”
“A commemorative piece of jewelry to mark this auspicious occasion!”
She groaned. Being cooped up and bored, Neeka liked to pass time making jewelry. So many beads. The rhinestones. Oh, the rhinestones. Ten of the most gaudy necklaces dangled from her friend’s neck. An array of bracelets climbed up both forearms. Rings decorated every finger.
“No more jewelry.” Please!
“Fine. Be that way,” the girl huffed. “But you’re going to wish you owned a one-of-a-kind piece featuring real, genuine pearls.”
“A redundant assurance doesn’t make it true. Those so-called pearls are teeth you pulled out of a phoenix warrior’s mouth.”
“Only if you lack imagination.” Neeka leaned over to inspect the branding iron before peering at Taliyah to watch her lips. “Almost ready. Oh, by the way, Hades is tee-icked at you. Well, not yet, but soon. You have no right to use my name, Tal, blah, blah, blah. He started shouting, so I started tuning out.”
Use Hades’s name? For what? They hadn’t spoken in weeks. Months? Whatever. Earlier in the year, she’d challenged him to a test of wills. Spend two months in bed with her. If he convinced her to give up her virginity, she wouldn’t kill him when he bragged about it. If she refused to surrender, he must give her...seduction lessons. Taliyah pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth. The lessons were something else Neeka swore she needed as “a matter of life and forever death.”
Remaining penis-free had been difficult. Hades had skills! Who could resist his silken voice, sinful hands and wicked mouth? Don’t even get her started about his incredible body. But resist she had.
Taliyah smiled slowly, fully assured of her power. She would be General or she would die trying.
She’d fought for the title her entire life. She had died for the title—many times. Born to lead. The knowledge saturated every fiber of her being. Under her command, harpies would thrive, and enemies would fall.
Never been closer to my goal.
So why am I so dissatisfied with my life?
Her mood soured. There seemed to be holes in her heart, left by the first blades to pierce the organ. Whatever contentment Taliyah managed to garner, she lost soon after.
Everything would change when she became General, though. Surely! Long-lasting satisfaction would become hers for the taking.
“So what are we going to do after this?” Neeka asked. “Watch Henry Cavill do absolutely anything? Call Jason Momoa? His number just magically popped into my mind after only hours of searching for it. Or we could update our friends’ mythology online with more facts? Oh! Let’s retool Hades’s family history, so his first wife is also his sister.”
“We’re definitely updating Hades’s history, but first I’ve gotta meal-prep. I’m craving Italian.”
Taliyah’s diet consisted only of soul, or pure energy. Unlike Blythe, who went weeks between meals, Taliyah indulged once a day. Her current fare lived in the dungeon, her version of a refrigerator. The (former) rapists had grown too feeble to strengthen her, their souls no longer regenerating. Tonight, she’d finish them off and find their replacements.
“Steal me a marshmallow sundae while you’re out,” Neeka said. “Make it a double. And don’t let the ice cream melt. Also, make sure they know the number of cherries added is the number of fingers they’ll have when you leave.” Pause. “Yes! All done.” She lifted the branding iron from the flames and grinned. “Time to get aburnin’.”
As her friend skipped across the room, the tool in hand, and took a position behind her, Taliyah placed a thick rope between her teeth and bit down.
Inhale. Exhale. Okay. Ready.
“You’re gonna do great,” Neeka assured her. “On the count of three. One—” She pressed the blazing iron into Taliyah’s nape.
A bellow lived and died in her throat, murdered by determination. Heat swallowed her, every ounce of her sizzling. Sweat dotted her brow and dripped from her temples. The scent of frying meat inundated the air, and she nearly gagged.
“Mmm.” The other harpy smacked her lips. “If we had marinated you in butter, I would be digesting you right now.”
With a wheeze-snort, Taliyah spit out the rope. “Cannibalism...always hilarious,” she managed to eke out. Harpies drank blood, but only as medicine and only when needed.
Taliyah focused on her breathing. In, out. In, out. Good, that was good.
Neeka returned the branding iron to its hook before cleaning and bandaging Taliyah’s wound. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you need to work harder and faster to earn your final stars. I’m a queen, and I want to be friends with other queens, not average soldier-peasants.”
Another snort. Completing eight of the ten prerequisites had required extra time—because she’d doubled or tripled each requirement, just to make a point. I can, so I did.
The ninth, though...the sacrifice. The task she needed to complete before she earned the right to challenge the current General. So far, the task had proved impossible. She’d given things away. Killed important people. Freely offered her time, her strength and her resources to other causes. Apparently, your motives must be pure for the sacrifice to count. Right now, she had no ideas for a next move.