Urden, God of Desire by Anastasia Rabiyah Read Free Book Online Page B

you?”
    “Mm hm.” Sima rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “There’s a little shop on the corner down the street. Go outside and take a left. It’s not the best, nothing fancy, just natural pigments and hand carved brushes with horse hair tips, but it’s a fine shop for local artists. The man who runs it painted this.”
    The woman didn’t respond, her gaze far off in the greens and browns of the meadow landscape.
    Sima went on. “Life’s too short not to do what you really want to do.”
    That got her attention. Melia closed her eyes and sucked in a rattling breath. “You’re very kind.” She slipped her hand in her robes and tugged out a sharer, glanced at the time and nodded. “Thank you so much. You have a nice day.” She stared at Sima for a moment, smiled wide, and turned to go.

Chapter Eight
    Collin
     
    Melia leaned her forehead against the shuttle window. She was all alone, unless one chose to count crates of organic produce as passengers. The driver appeared lost in his own little world of punker-hash music, his fingers drumming out a speedy beat against the dash every so often. She watched as the last green trees of Alga sped by, lost, perhaps gone forever. She doubted she’d be sent here again. Her mind drifted to the woman in the rental office and her eyes. Those eyes reminded her of Enrue. “I’m obsessing,” she muttered. “Seeing him everywhere. What a sick assassin I am. I think I enjoy my work too much.”
    She had a small, wrapped bundle in her lap. The contents were an act of utter defiance against her mother and her forced inclusion in the Kyleena military academy as a teen. She’d not wanted to go, but Mom had assured her that she belonged there. Melia ran her fingers over the brown paper, wondering if she could even paint anymore. It had been so long, such a deeply buried memory. Grinning, she recalled her days of sneaking into the vid-gamer underground. Defiance was easier then, long before she’d been recruited to be a paid mercenary. Now defiance meant a swift trial and a swifter death.
    She longed to see Enrue’s face again. Flicking her sharer open, she keyed in the com to his office. It signaled several times before picking up. His secretary stood there looking terse and agitated. “What is it now, Cossia?” Her biting sarcasm angered Melia.
    “I see you too have no respect for Kyleena.” She clucked her tongue. “Let me speak to the Shiemir.”
    “He’s in a meeting and not to be interrupted.” The thin, gray-haired woman placed her hands on her hips and scowled. “Specifically, not by you.”
    “He said that, did he?”
    The secretary nodded. “I believe his exact words were, ‘I am not to be disturbed, especially by that little Cossia imposter from the Empire.’” She had mimicked Enrue’s voice to a degree.
    Melia almost laughed, but bit back her amusement. She was getting to him, and that was a good sign. He was turning into a fun challenge. “Well, can you give him a message for me?”
    “I can record it, but won’t guarantee he’ll watch.” She pressed a button before her and, as seemed to be her way, went back to either filing or trying to trace the com. Her lined face went lax, her dim eyes fixed elsewhere. It was insulting, but Melia had been treated with much less regard in the past.
    “Tell Enrue I’m on my way to Taraf, and I look forward to meeting him face to face.” She paused when the secretary wandered away. Of all the nerve… “And tell him I’ll take great pleasure in watching the Empire use his corpse as an example of what happens to traitors.”
    That got the woman’s attention. She craned her neck into the com’s view. Her mouth twisted in a surprisingly pissy frown. “How dare you threaten him? Obviously, you have no idea how powerful the Shiemir is.”
    Melia waved a hand in the air. “Oh, you’re wrong. I know exactly how powerful he is, who his allies are, and all about his plans. Let him know how much I