25. What’s at stake
25
What’s at stake
Kaine
I slid back into the room and paused as I took in… Well, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. Nidori was buzzing around frantically, straightening wall hangings. The floor had been swept, so there was no longer a layer of dust covering the floor. The empty candle holders on the wall had been stuffed with glowing mushrooms.
I raised my eyebrows. “You all right?” I asked.
Nidori’s head snapped toward me. “Welcome back!” she sang in a cheery voice, coming over to plop a kiss on my forehead. She was sweaty, and her curly hair was frizzy. Something didn’t seem quite right, but I was clueless where to even begin.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” I said.
She nodded. “Just thought I’d clean up a bit.” She tucked a curl behind her head. “Have a good fox?”
I chuckled. “You have no idea,” I said, and her face flickered a bit.
“Yeah, well, I’m not quite done yet,” she turned back to the room. “Got to make it perfect!”
She flew down to a large pile of rocky debris and started to try and move a particularly large rock .
“Can I get that for you?” I asked, stepping forward.
“No, I’ve got it,” she said lightly.
I crouched down, reaching out for it, but she rounded on me, teeth bared.
“I said I’ve got it,” she hissed, and I took a step backwards.
She was freaking me out a bit.
“Suit yourself.” I shrugged, going to sit down by my stuff. She went back to trying to lift it, coming at it from a different angle.
Talon came in, shirtless and still looking a little dazed.
I smirked, but he didn’t look at me. He blinked at Nidori, who was still tugging at the huge rock. It was bigger than her.
“Need a hand?” he asked.
“Tried that, mate,” I said. “She almost bit my hand off.”
Nidori glanced up at Talon. Her face was flushed. She was dripping with sweat.
"No, I’ve got it,” she said, trying to lift it again.
Talon stepped closer, reaching down, but she glared at him. Her tiny arm wrapped around the chunk of stone, and she heaved with all her might, but it didn’t even move an inch. I could see Talon twitching with the urge to help her, but she bared her teeth at him. I sat back, settling in to watch the show.
Talon changed tactics. He summoned a ball of fire, and it darted away from the rock. Smart.
Nidori’s head shot up, facing the flame. “Oooh,” she said, zooming into the air to get a closer look.
He picked up the rock and chucked it out of the room.
“What’s that for Talon?” she asked, starting to turn towards him.
Ooh, what would she do when she realised what he’d done? But Talon made the flame change colour, and her eyes snapped back, transfixed .
“Just for fun,” he said, reaching down to gather up some of the other rocks that were too big for her.
“Thank y—” Nidori started. They both froze as she looked at him, his arms full of debris. My stomach went giddy with glee.
“Talon!” she squeaked. “What are you doing?!”
He hurriedly picked up the last of the rocks on the floor and rushed to the door.
“No! Stop, you pile of smouldering ashes! You, you, you son of a bagworm! That’s my job!” she snarled, flying at him. He threw the rocks outside as she crashed into his back, beating her tiny fists on his wing. He turned to see her tugging her dagger free.
I leaned forward. Shit. I was proud of her.
“Woah, there,” he said, raising his hands, eyes glued on the sharp blade. His face softened as he caught her eye. “Come on, bean, there was no way you were going to lift that rock.”
She stopped trying to get out the dagger and deflated instead. “Maybe,” she relented.
“The room looks amazing, Nidori,” I said.
Talon shot me an exasperated look. “Yeah, what brought this on?”
She shrugged. “I just wanted it to be nice for my boys.”
“Well, just don't forget I’m here if you need any heavy lifting.”
She came over to Talon, giving him a big hug. “Okie dokie,” she said and peeled off, humming a tune to herself.
Talon walked over to his pack, bending down and looking for something. I sat back, closing my eyes.
I heard heavy footsteps approaching and opened one eye. Talon pointed at a pile of clothes by one of the smaller pools. “You’re going to help me wash these,” he said. He had to be joking. Menial labour? I’d done more than my fair share of that over the years .
“I don’t think so.” I closed my eyes again. “ Hate it when my hands get all pruny.”
“I can help,” said Nidori.
“See? It all works out.” He didn’t leave, so I sat forward. “I’ve already told you I’m not doing it, so there’s no point begging.”
“Oh, I’m not here to beg.”
I opened my mouth, eyes narrowing, but was cut off. He scooped me off the floor and slung me over his shoulder. Excuse me!?
“Put. Me. Down. You. Brute,” I snarled, nails scratching his back.
Nidori was in fits of giggles as she watched him unceremoniously plop me down by the pool of clothes. I was fuming as Talon crouched down beside me. Oh no. This was not happening.
“This is soap,” he said slowly and deliberately, holding it up. “You put the clothes in the water and use it to get them clean.” He mimed dipping in the shirt and scrubbing it.
“I don’t have time for—” I said, standing up to leave, but Talon easily tackled me again. Shit, he was strong.
I snarled, swinging and clipping his ear. He raised an eyebrow. Well, there were other ways to get away. I let the cold wash over me as I prepared to vanish, but Talon summoned the same espial light he had during our fight with the drisands. It’d let him see me even when invisible. Little shit.
“You had your fun,” he said firmly, “but now you’re going to help me.”
“Oh, come on.” I put on a winning smile. “It wasn’t just my fun. You enjoyed that too.”
“That’s beside the point,” he said mildly, scratching his neck. Shit. Nothing. I fiddled with the brush. For some reason, panic was welling up inside me. Was I supposed to do this ?
“This is stupid,” I snarled, snatching the soap and shoving the shirt into the water. Asshole.
Why was he making me do this? Usually, people were tripping over their feet to be nice to me after I fucked them like that. Shit, I couldn’t believe I’d had that moment of weakness with him.
“There.” I shoved the clean shirt towards him. I stalked off towards my spot, and he didn’t stop me. Had I done something wrong? Had he not liked what we did?
Nidori landed beside me, peering up. “You all right?” she asked, putting a hand on my knee. Shit. That was even worse. I felt a lump in my throat.
“Fine, sweetheart. I’m just being an ass, I guess,” I said, trying to put on a smile.
“Why are you two fighting?” she asked, frowning. “I saw you together, and you looked like you had something…special.”
“That’s just how sex looks.” I grabbed my necklace, running my finger on the smooth edge. She’d been spying again? Cheeky little thing.
“I don’t understand. The way you were looking at each other, it was like nothing else existed in the world. Like you existed for each other. How can you fight after that?”
My face settled into a scowl, and I just grunted. Because, maybe, it sucks to realise that it’s all a fucking lie afterward?
Nidori folded her arms, and thankfully, she buzzed away.
I heard her arguing with Talon in a low voice, and then a yelp. I looked up to see her dragging him towards me. She was only managing to move him because she had fistfuls of his hair that he was trying to get her to stop pulling.
“Ow! Nidori, really?” said Talon as he tried to swat her away. He yelped again as she ripped a few strands of his hair completely out, and despite my bad mood, I cracked a smile at that. She stopped in front of me.
“Now,” she said, panting, “you two. Stop fighting.”
“We’re not fighting,” we said together.
She crossed her arms and glared at us. “ Something is wrong. Sort it out.”
We were both silent for a minute. I wasn’t sure what she was expecting. It’s not like—
“Fine,” Talon said grumpily. He sat down in front of me and tucked his hair behind his ear. His shoulders were hunched, and he looked at the ground. I steeled myself for whatever blame he was going to throw my way.
“You did owe me for the shirt. But I shouldn’t have forced you like that. I should have talked to you about it.”
It took me a second to compose myself. Talon was truly something else. What kind of person just…admitted they were wrong like that?
“Yeah, what the fuck?” I managed. He seemed to take that as an agreement.
“I was mad. At you. But that’s not an excuse.” He looked up at me, seeming genuinely upset.
“Mad? What on earth were you mad about?” I asked, incredulous, folding my arms. “You were pretty fucking happy ten minutes ago.” An uncomfortable feeling welled in me. Had he just been pretending? He’s the one who came up with a safe word for that exact scenario.
“You just…left.”
I froze.
His eyes, filled with pain, darted down. “Sorry,” he added quickly. “I know I’m bad at this. And you had every right to leave. I was just…not expecting you to. Which is dumb. ”
I swallowed, trying to get a hold of myself again. I assessed him, trying to figure out if he knew why I’d ran.
“You just left him?” Nidori asked, eyes wide. She flitted over and landed on my shoulder, resting her fingers in my hair.
“It’s okay, Nidori, really,” Talon said. “You know, if we were together —if we had something special—then I’d expect him to stay. But we’re not. We’re just…” He trailed off.
“But you are together,” Nidori said, confused.
I cleared my throat, putting my smile back on my face. “You know, Talon, if you want to have something special with me, you just have to ask? I can help you find out what that is. Just one little question, and you’ll be as precious to me as my little Nidori.”
I kept my tone light, but excitement was bubbling beneath my casual exterior. His eyes met mine, and he stared at me for a long second. I had to keep myself from grabbing his face and shaking it, from demanding he make the deal. I wanted him, and I gritted my teeth as he shook his head.
“I don’t think I want to go for such a permanent commitment as that,” he said, glancing at Nidori and back to me.
“It doesn’t have to be permanent,” I said. “There’s a chance you’d both be free of me next week.”
“What do you mean?” Nidori asked sharply. “We’re together, forever, until death do us part.”
I paused, considering lying. But she should be prepared, just in case. Plus… I glanced up at Talon. If he knew, surely he’d help me. He didn’t even like Lydes, so convincing him to give up his quest shouldn’t be too hard.
“Look. I’m here for one reason—to secure my freedom from my captor, Cassandra. That is only going to happen if I do Cirae’s stupid quest. They said, if I fail, I will have to go back to being enslaved.” My next words wavered as I spoke them. “If I don’t win…I’ll use the last moments of freedom to kill myself. I’m not going back.”
Cirae’s wiggle room. It had been so straightforward when I’d first decided it. But saying it out loud, here, felt awful. I didn’t want to die. But I was never going back into servitude. Especially not now that I’d be dragging Nidori—and potentially Talon—with me. Nidori’s fingers had frozen in my curls. My throat was dry, but I forced myself to keep talking, to break the lingering silence.
“So, not bad odds, eh? You get something special, and chances are, it’s not even permanent.”
Nidori’s fingers were running through my hair again, but at a more frenzied pace. I glanced up at Talon. His face was unsettlingly blank.
“What is Cirae’s task for you?” he asked, not meeting my eyes. He focused on drying the shirt in his hands. My stomach did a nervous flip. I was hoping the next thing he’d say was that he’d do everything he could to save me.
“Free the object and give it to them,” I said. I was sure that Lydes wouldn’t be happy with that.
“Ah.” Eventually, he said, “If I don’t win…I hope you do. But sooner or later…” He trailed off, unable to finish.
“What are you talking about, Talon?” Nidori’s fingers tugged hard on a tangle, and I winced. “Kaine just said he’d die if he loses. That means you have to help us.”
There was an awkward silence. Talon opened his mouth and closed it again, and I could see panic building in his eyes.
I patted him on the leg, hitching the smile on my face higher. “That’s okay, Nidori. We kind of knew this alliance was temporary. How about this, Talon? We’ll give you a three second head start when we arrive on the island. Then I can promise you another knife wound…and not the sexy kind. ”
He smiled, but it was taut and empty. At least the panic had receded, though.
“No, that’s not fair,” Nidori said.
I reached up and scooped her off my shoulder, pressing a kiss to her head. “We’ve got time to change his mind,” I whispered to her.
But doubt gnawed at me. There must be something really big at stake for Talon, if he was willing to let me die. And in order for me to win—to keep my life and to keep him—I needed to find out what. The more appealing option was that I needed to melt his brain to the point where he’d accept my deal. Because losing him, at this point, was starting to seem like an absolutely unacceptable option.
I pulled my bedroll next to his. “For warmth,” I said as he looked at me, but he didn’t complain.