“Everything is. The spark of life, my essence, everything. If we were to stay in these lands long enough, it would bleed our lives from us.” He points in the distance. “It is all being sucked away to the Citadel, the bastion of Tadekha, goddess of magic. Her devotees pull the force of every living thing for many leagues to power her temple. The High Father is not pleased by it, but he does not stop her.” He looks thoughtful. “Or so I thought. Perhaps she is part of the reason we have all been cast out.”

“Mmm. Lucky me.” I shiver in my long cloak and brush my fingers over my skin as I get another faceful of wind-blown dirt. “You think she’s there in the Citadel like you showed up here?”

“It is possible. I feel a great magic there, but it might be that I feel her followers draining everything.” Aron studies the distant horizon, frowning at it. “If she is there, I do not know if we should venture in that direction.” He flicks a glance over at me. “She is not a goddess that is friendly to me. Aventine and the Citadel have long been uneasy with each other.”

Lovely. “So if she’s being punished, she’ll be there, sucking up all the energy in the world like her own personal black hole. But if she’s not, do you think they would help us? Maybe give us some horses to get to Katharn?”

He shrugs. “Does it matter how fast we get to our next destination? Are you late for something?”

“Well, no—”

“Then we walk on. I have no wish to visit Tadekha or her sniveling worshipers.”

I clench my jaw. “Fine. We’ll keep going, then.”

So we walk.

And we walk.

And walk. It feels like we’re walking endlessly toward a horizon that never changes shape no matter how long we walk. My feet hurt and the gigantic moon moves through the sky, disappearing behind the distant mountains on the horizon, and still we walk.

Occasionally I glance backward to see if I can see the city walls, but they disappeared hours ago, which makes me feel better.

Slightly.

As the sun rises, the skies bleed gold and pink, and I have to admit, I have a new appreciation for this day. This is the Hour of Blood. Dawn. Sunrise. I was supposed to be executed along with dozens of other blondes just because we had the bad luck to be slaves. A knot forms in my throat but I ignore it, just like I ignore the ache in my feet. Aron’s not slowing down, so I don’t either.

By the time the sun is up, though, I’m ravenous and so thirsty that my mouth feels like a desert. I’m also starting to resent the fact that Aron doesn’t seem to be stopping for anything. He doesn’t look tired, and his walk is just as brisk as ever. Me, I’m dragging. I’m sleepy, hungry, and exhausted. I also have to use the bathroom, but I haven’t seen one or even a bush to hide behind. There is literally nothing in the Dirtlands and I’m not about to pop a squat in front of my good buddy Aron.

I force my aching legs to move faster and stride up to his side. I’ve been walking a few steps behind him all this time because I simply can’t keep up with his effortless speed, but it makes conversation difficult. “Hi,” I say breathlessly. “Can we talk for a sec?”

He glances over at me dismissively. “You are talking. Speak.”

God, this guy really is a dick. I hate that I let him grab my ass. “What’s the game plan? We don’t know how long it’s going to take to get to Katharn, so like, when are we stopping to eat and rest?”

He scowls at me as if I’ve said something highly obnoxious. “You are tired?”

“You aren’t?” When he shakes his head, I sigh with frustration. “Well, here’s the thing. I’m mortal, right? Mortals need to rest and pee and eat and all that good stuff and you might not, but I sure do.”

That makes him pause in the middle of the dusty, dirty road. “Rest and pee and eat?”

“Not all at once of course—”

He tilts his head. “Should I be doing these things since I am now mortal?”

Tricky question, and I have no answer for him. “I don’t know? Do you feel the need to, uh, relieve your bladder?” This is such a weird conversation to have with a god.

Aron thinks for a moment. “No?”

“Then maybe gods don’t use the bathroom. Look, I don’t know. All I know is that I need to do these things.” I press the heel of my hand to my forehead, and I’m not surprised to find that I’m trembling with exhaustion. “So please, can we take a break for a few?”

He considers this. His hands go to his hips and he studies the wide open fields around us, then the road. Then he gazes back behind us, as if he can still see the walls of Aventine. After a moment, he glances over at me again, his expression sour. “Am I going to have to carry you, Faith? Is this what you are going for?”

My jaw drops. “You arrogant prick. No! I would like five fucking minutes to rest my feet. Can we do that?” I drop to the ground and sit on the dusty cobblestones, glaring at him. “The very last thing I want from you is a free ride.”

Aron snorts, as if he doesn’t quite believe that, and I want to punch his smug face. What a huge dick.

I ignore him, because truth is, it feels so damn good to sit down and rest. I’m thirsty and my feet hurt like there’s no tomorrow. I’m starving, too, but we didn’t bring food supplies. I wonder how far away Katharn is. I’m starting to worry that leaving the city was a mistake, but we couldn’t really stay there, either. I don’t know what to do. I look around at our barren surroundings. Somehow I thought journeying outside the walls would be okay. That there’d be a nice road and some trees for shade. That there’d be countryside and farmland or something. Maybe a stream to drink from.

This place is just empty. There’s absolutely nothing. It’s a little creepy and definitely makes me feel defeated just gazing out at it. “I need to stop for a bit,” I tell him. I’m suddenly exhausted from everything we’ve been through over the last few days. It feels as if it’s all crashing in on me and I don’t think I could get up if I tried.

As I sit and try to catch my breath, Aron paces. When it’s been all of two minutes, he gives me a cross look. “Well?”

“Well what? I’m still resting.”

He lets out an impatient breath. “For how much longer?”

I stare at him, irritated and a little aghast that he wants to get moving again already. “I don’t know—an hour? Two? Does it matter?”

“We should get going. You were so eager to leave and now you will just stop? This is not a safe place. We are not safe here.” The god gestures angrily at the mounds and mounds of dirt that make up the landscape. “Every moment we spend in this place, we are in danger.”

“For a guy that doesn’t even know what a bathroom is, you sure are certain of that,” I mutter.

Aron scowls at me. “I wish to go, Faith.”

As if that solves it. “Yeah, well, I wish I had better company. We don’t always get what we want.”

He looks incredulous, as if he can’t quite believe I’m not jumping to my feet to do his bidding. “Faith,” he says impatiently.

“Aron,” I reply in just as testy a voice.

“Get up. We are leaving.”

“You know what, Aron? People prefer it if you’re nice to them. I hear you get a lot more done. You should try it.”

“Nice?” His lip curls as if the very thought is repugnant. “Why must I be ‘nice’? I am a god—”

“Were a god,” I point out. “You were, and now you’re an Aspect.”

He narrows his mismatched eyes at me and then strides over to where I lie in the dirt. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle, but I don’t get up. I wait to see what he’s going to do. Aron moves to my side and touches my cheek with the backs of his fingers, a gentle caress. The brush of his skin against mine makes a spark jump through us, pleasurable and sharp.

I stare up at him in surprise, fascinated at that gentle touch. My non-existent panties are totally in trouble right now, because just that small touch is making me crazy.