Chapter 7
Rummy
Contrary to what most believed, I really did try to be a good person. I tried to do my part, I tried to keep my mouth shut when people were being entirely idiotic.
Some days were easier than others.
Apparently today wasn’t a good day.
“What is she talking about?” Wolf asked Jessiah. I took a few steps back, ready for a full-on fight to break loose.
Hunt stood frozen on the side of the room, her face etched in hurt, a sense of betrayal radiating from her. It almost made me regret exposing Jessiah.
“Despite what some may want you to believe, I had no intention of going anywhere,” Jessiah said, eyes darting to me. “I was only figuring out our options.”
“Options?” Wolf asked, his expression darkening. “Options for what? We told you we would not be heading to the eastern kingdoms!”
“And look where that got you!” Jessiah shouted. “Things changed quickly. I was working to prepare us for any outcome! I was doing my damn job!”
Xavier got really fucking quiet, too. Go figure.
“When were you going to tell me?” Wolf asked.
Jessiah took a long, tense breath. “When the time was right.”
“Well, that’s fucking great, brother. How nice of you to plan your own little wars while Huntyr and I here were trying to keep the peace in Scarlata.”
Jessiah’s face grew red. “As commander of your army, isn’t that my job? You said yourself that things have changed. We need to act! Aren’t you at least a bit relieved knowing that if we needed the backup, I’ve secured it?”
Wolf fumed, his chest heaving as he sucked in ragged breaths. Hells, I had never seen him this mad.
Huntyr, either, though she was better at hiding it. Years of training under an assassin master made her damn near perfect at concealing her emotions.
But not from me. I knew her too well for that.
“I need a fucking second to think.” Wolf turned and stormed out of the study, the heavy door slamming behind him as he went.
Yikes.
The three of us turned to Hunt, waiting for her to say something. Anything.
Please fucking say something, please don’t be pissed at me for this.
“That was out of line,” she said. “Even for you, Jessiah.”
Jessiah opened his mouth to reply, but shut it quickly. “I know it was. I’m sorry.”
She sagged. “Yeah, well, sorry only goes so far.” Her tone was hollow, full of defeat.
My stomach dropped. I couldn’t even look at her, the tension in the room so heavy my knees buckled.
“I’m going to find Wolf so we can figure out what the fuck to do with this mess. Can you three stay put and maybe not kill each other while I’m gone?”
I quickly nodded, giving my friend the reassurance she needed.
“Great. We’ll be back soon.” She slipped out of the study, leaving the three of us in a very, very awkward silence.
Until Jessiah opened his big mouth. “I hope you’re happy.”
Goddess above, I hadn’t been happy in years. But I lifted my chin, plastered a tight smile across my face, and said, “I’m pretty happy, yeah. Thanks for checking.”
He scoffed and turned away from me. “You’re un-fucking-believable. Do you know that? You had absolutely no right to—”
“Do not get on your high horse and tell me what I do and do not have the right to do,” I spat at him. “You’re the one who fucked up. You’re the one who went to The Golden City behind their backs.”
“For us!” His voice echoed off the walls of the study.
I flinched instinctively and took a step back, bumping into Xavier’s shoulder.
“I did it for us, Rummy! I’m not a dumb kid running around defying every order I’m given. I wasn’t leaving without their permission. I was securing aid in the event we needed it. I did it to help them!”
I gaped at him, too stunned to think of a witty comeback. Jessiah wasn’t one to yell. He got pissed at me, sure, but I’d never seen this kind of anger from him.
“Calm down, both of you,” Xavier chimed in. “It’s been a long night.”
“I don’t even want to hear from you,” Jessiah spat. “You really thought she was a good person to divulge that information to?”
The way he spat the word she like it was poison should have hurt my feelings, but I was used to it by now. I was used to the disrespect and disgust and filth that came along with just being me.
“Don’t get pissed at Xavier for not keeping your shitty secrets,” I snapped. “He’s not your fucking dog.”
Xavier sputtered, scrambling for a response, but Jessiah cut him off in true asshole fashion.
“Of course, you’d defend him,” Jessiah shouted at me, his face red. “What’d you do to get him to spill that secret? Promise to fuck him the way you do everyone else in this kingdom?”
“Jessiah,” Xavier warned.
Another strike at the icy, stone wall around my heart. But he wasn’t even close to breaking through.
“What? We both know she’ll spread her legs for anyone, especially if it means she can stir shit up and run her mouth to Huntyr. It’s no wonder everyone says she’s the useless whore who—”
Xavier stormed past me and gripped Jessiah by the throat. He slammed him against the half-built bookshelf, pieces of wood splintering as Jessiah grunted in pain.
“That’s enough!”
I froze in place like a damn idiot. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to.
Jessiah was strong, but he didn’t fight back. No, all he did was stare at his friend, eyes wide, almost dumbfounded.
As if he couldn’t believe Xavier would defend a useless whore like me.
My heart raced in my chest. Had he really said those words? It was hard to believe I’d heard him correctly. I knew what he thought of me. It wasn’t a fucking secret. But to be so outwardly hateful? I hadn’t expected that.
Before things could escalate, Wolf and Huntyr stormed back inside. “Are you done acting like children yet?” Huntyr asked.
Xavier immediately dropped his hold on Jessiah and backed away.
Jessiah gave him one more violent look before brushing himself off.
I still couldn’t fucking speak.
“Good,” Huntyr said. She looked different now. Determined. It had only been a few minutes since she and Wolf left, but it was clear their discussion changed things.
Wolf stood behind Hunt with his hands clasped behind his back and his chin lifted in respect.
“Something’s going on in the east. We can’t be sure exactly what’s transpiring, but if we let it fester and things really are serious, we could suffer for it. We won’t ignore them anymore. We’ll send our soldiers, but only after you go yourselves and confirm the need.”
This finally pulled me out of my stupor. “What do you mean? Just Jessiah and Xavier?”
Hunt’s eyes fell on me, and the determination there told me I was fucked. “Jessiah, Xavier, and you, Rummy. You’re going with them.”
Huntyr and I walked out of the study alone, leaving the men behind to make a game plan for the trip.
The journey that I absolutely would not be joining.
“Are you out of your damn mind?” I asked once we were out of earshot.
Jessiah put up enough of a fight for the two of us, so I hadn’t expressed how absolutely horrid of an idea this was while we were still inside.
Now, I’d let Hunt know exactly what I thought.
She kept her attention fixed on where we were going. “I need someone I can trust, and after what Jessiah just pulled, that list is very, very short. I’m sorry, but you have to go.”
“I’m not one of them! Goddess above, they’ll fucking leave me for dead the first chance they get!”
“That’s not true, and you know it.”
Huffing, I followed after her onto the dark street. The feast had ended, leaving the alleys of Scarlata empty and quiet.
Still, I felt no comfort.
Not when my best friend was sending me to the eastern kingdoms with Jessiah.
“What good will I possibly do on a trip like that, Hunt? I’ll hold them back!”
She stopped abruptly and spun to face me, eyes searching. “You have to go. Without you, I have no idea what Jessiah will do. He isn’t himself, not when it comes to the conflicts in the east. You keep him sane. You keep him steady. It has to be you.”
I bit back a sardonic laugh. That was hilarious. “He doesn’t want me there. Neither of them does.”
She scoffed. “That’s because they’re egotistical men who don’t want you there keeping an eye on them. They’ll get over it.”
“Will they? Because Jessiah seemed pretty determined back there.” Determined was putting it lightly. Jessiah threw a full-on hissy fit when Huntyr announced that I would be traveling with them. And when she told him he couldn’t even take his troops along? I thought he’d combust.
Because who was Jessiah without his little army of lapdogs following behind him?
He’d listed off a dozen reasons why I would do more damage than good, and I had to admit, he had a point.
“I’ve never fought in combat a day in my life.”
Her face softened. “It doesn’t matter. You’re one of the strongest people I know. When—if you’re forced to fight, you’ll be ready. But your job will mostly consist of convincing those two not to run straight into a battle they don’t belong in.”
This was not going well. “I’m honored that you trust me so completely, but isn’t there someone else who would be better at this? Someone… someone more prepared?”
She cocked her head to the side, a familiar smile creeping onto her face. “There’s no one more perfect for the job. And I need you, Rummy. Please.”
I wanted to say no. I wanted to scream at her, tell her this was absolutely insane, that I’d rather be strung up in the town center than travel all the way to the eastern kingdom with Jessiah.
But I knew better. After all she’d done for me, I couldn’t say no. She usually had my back no matter what. If she was still pushing for me to go on this journey even though she knew how much I resisted, it must have meant a lot to her.
So, no matter how much I wanted to kill Jessiah, I would do it.
For her.
“Fine,” I said. “But I can’t promise we’ll all come back alive. When are we leaving?”