Chapter Thirty-Eight Trey
Several Hours Later
The City of Traumstead
Approaching the Lord of Grimnight’s Evil Lair
“Where’s Wilde?” Maximus asked, the last person I expected to care.
“He had something to do,” I said. “Important mage business.” I hoped it was a lie, but it tasted like the truth. The last thing I wanted was to walk into the Lord of Grimnight’s lair and find Wilde on the wrong side of the fight.
Maximus snorted and shook his head, disapproval in every hard line of his face.
“Why do you dislike him so much? What has he done to earn your hate?”
For a long time, I thought he wouldn’t answer.
We picked our way around the trees growing in the roads, stepping carefully over the disturbed cobblestones.
The city felt different somehow, though I couldn’t remember what it’d felt like before.
There was almost a … freshness to it. Like a room that’d been recently aired out.
“There’s something wrong with him.”
I paused, waited for Maximus to do the same. The others tromped ahead, discussing the final details of our plan. “What do you mean?”
His brow furrowed in frustration as he opened and closed his hands, trying to grasp the right explanation. “Like a piece that belongs to a different puzzle. He slotted himself into our group easily enough, but he doesn’t fit the whole picture.”
Was Wilde part of our quest the first time?
I had flashes of him walking beside me, his hand in mine as we wound our way through the trees.
Another image of his eyes burning with anger as he fought …
someone. The taste of ink suddenly flooded my mouth, and I choked, trying to spit it out.
It faded as quickly as it came, just another half-formed memory.
Maximus’ eyes widened at my sudden coughing fit. “Are you alright?” He reached into his pack and pulled out a canteen of water.
I took a long drink, buying myself time to think of an explanation. Something that would smooth away Maximus’ hostile edges. “Wilde’s not wrong,” I said slowly.
Maximus pursed his lips and took the canteen back from me. He raised it to his own mouth to drink from it, maintaining eye contact with me the whole time, waiting for me to say something worth his while.
“He is … different though. I think there’s a lot of fucked up things going on in his head.”
“That would make anyone dangerous. It’s worse that he’s a mage. We shouldn’t have allowed him to join us.”
Why did he have to be so damn stubborn? “Wilde’s trying his best.”
“Best is subjective. If he’s evil, the ‘best’ thing he could do is lead us all into a trap.”
My heart sank as I realized Maximus was directing his ire at the wrong person.
It wasn’t Wilde who had once led the royal champions directly into the Lord of Grimnight’s trap.
Wilde had been part of the plan, I had enough vague recollections to know that, but he wasn’t the one who convinced the royal champions to go on a quest. Who had protected them through the woods only to hand them to the villain on a silver platter.
Maximus deserved to understand that I was the one who had betrayed them. “Maximus—”
Delilah scampered back to us, holding her finger to her lips to signal silence.
I pressed my lips together. This wasn’t the best time to explain the time resets to Maximus anyway. The information I could share with him would be just enough to be dangerous.
“What is it?” I mouthed.
“Minions,” she mouthed back.
Angelica and Fitz had already slipped between two houses, their backs pressed against an ivy-covered wall. Angelica jerked her head toward the other side of the ‘road’, indicating that we should split up. It’d be better if we weren’t all caught in one place.
Delilah hurried over to a building and crouched low to the ground, her head peeking around the corner to keep an eye on the people approaching.
Maximus joined her and gestured at me, but as I started to follow, I glimpsed a massive silhouette.
If I ran, the movement would catch their eye.
If I moved too slowly, they’d reach me before I found cover.
I ducked behind a wide trunk instead, arms and legs pressed against my body so none of me stuck out around the side. The uneven spacing between the trees would hopefully hide me from a distance.
“You really think there are adventurers headed to the lair?” one minion asked. Though they’d whispered, their low voice carried through the trees.
“Wilde said they should arrive soon, so we have to keep a lookout.” There was a soft smack of skin against skin. “Which means you need to shut your mouth and open your eyes, so we don’t lose sight of them.”
My breath caught in my lungs. Wilde had warned them we were coming?
The heat of Maximus’ accusatory stare burned me even from a dozen feet away.
Two huge orcs passed close to my tree. One of them carried a club, the other an enormous battle axe that could chop through me like kindling. The first orc paused and sniffed the air. “You smell something … perfumy?”
The other paused and lowered his voice. If I’d been farther away, I would have missed the words. “What kind of perfume?”
“Not sure. ‘S nice though. Kind of orangey. Maybe Dreamweed?”
“Fuck, hope it’s not more of those flying pigs. I swear, you kill one, and the swarm follows.”
“Report to the master, or look around?”
Report to your master, I silently urged.
The second orc paused for a long time. “You report, I’ll search the area.”
Fuck. I slowly slid around the trunk, hoping to keep the tree between me and them.
Delilah watched me with huge eyes. She waved for me to join their hiding spot. I shook my head. Her gesturing became even more frantic until she suddenly stilled.
I slowly turned my head to the side and peered into huge, glittering black eyes. A tusked mouth split into a wide grin. “Boo.”
I punched him in the face.
The orc yelped in shock and reared back, grabbing his bleeding nose. “Fuck!”
I ran toward Delilah, gesturing for her and Maximus to run away. She hesitated a second too long, and Maximus picked her up by the neck of her shirt, dangling her like a cat, and dragged her along.
We raced through the tree clogged streets, constantly changing direction and winding through buildings.
After a while, I realized I couldn’t hear any sounds of pursuit—and I hadn’t, the whole fucking time.
The orcs were huge and had no reason to be stealthy.
If anything, they should have called out to the other patrols, gathering more minions to pin us in so we couldn’t escape.
I slowed and called out to Maximus, “Wait, they’re not following.”
Maximus continued a few more steps, then finally slowed. At some point, he’d tossed Delilah over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Now he carefully lowered her to the ground. Her hair was even more frazzled and wild than usual, stuck in her mouth and her eyes.
“You could have at least—” she spit hair out of her mouth “—carried me like a proper princess!”
“You said you were a cat,” Maximus replied with a shrug.
She scowled at him. “That doesn’t mean you can pick me up by my scruff!”
“Yelling could still draw their attention,” I hissed.
They quieted down. We stood listening for a few seconds and once we confirmed no one had found us, Maximus glared at me with righteous zeal. “I knew he would betray us. The whole time, I tried to warn you, but none of you would listen.”
Delilah shook her head frantically. “No, no, he hasn’t betrayed us. It’s … it’s … a trick? On them, I mean! He’s uh …” She looked at me for help, didn’t see what she wanted, and babbled, “It’s a double-cross! He’s pretending to betray us so he can really betray the Lord of Grimnight!”
“Bullshit,” Maximus snarled. “We know nothing about him. He won’t even tell us his last name! Anytime someone asks him about himself, he stares at us like we’re roaches crawling through his pantry!”
“That’s an exaggeration—” I started.
Maximus was too absorbed in his rant to pay attention to me. “Why did you bring him on this quest? We never needed a mage! We can defeat evil on our own!”
Delilah backed away from Maximus. If she’d had fur, it would all be standing on end, trying to make herself the bigger threat. “I, uh, he’s a friend.”
“He’s a liar and a traitor!” The words echoed off the buildings around us.
Delilah cowered from him, like once he ran out of words he would resort to violence.
Maximus flinched and stepped away from her. He took a deep breath and said, “I’m not going to hit you. This isn’t your fault, Delilah.”
“You’re making it sound like it is,” she snapped.
He bowed his head and murmured. “I’m sorry. He tricked you, obviously, but the only person that reflects badly on is him.”
Tears dotted her eyelashes, and she insisted, “He didn’t trick me. He is my friend, and I trust him. He’ll help us with the Kingdom Defense Spell, you’ll see.”
Maximus shook his head sadly. “I can’t wait and see.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded. “What do you plan to do to him?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Nothing he wouldn’t do to us first, given a half a chance.”
I shook my head. “You don’t know him.”
Maximus stared at me steadily before declaring, “Neither do you.” Then he gestured to Delilah and said, “Let’s see if we can find the others. Hopefully those beasts didn’t capture them.”
“Orcs,” she corrected. “They aren’t beasts just because they work for an evil mage.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line but didn’t argue with her. Glancing at me, he asked, “Are you coming? Or do you plan to turn yourself in? Hope your boyfriend doesn’t kill you for trusting him?”
If I let myself be captured, maybe I could hear Wilde’s explanation from his own mouth. Or maybe my father would finish what he started. It’d be better to meet Wilde on my own terms, rather than someone else’s. “I’ll stay with you.”
Maximus’ shoulders relaxed once he received the answer he wanted. He led the way, his arm stretched out before Delilah in a protective gesture.
As I walked, something shifted in my pocket. I frowned and reached inside, pulling out an envelope. It was heavy and lumpy, like it held more than a simple letter. On the front, in loopy, stylized script it said:
For Treasure Banes' Eyes Only
Do Not Open Where Others Can See
Maximus and Delilah were several steps ahead of me. Once we found the others again, I’d have to hide the contents from four pairs of eyes instead of two.
I slowed my steps, carefully broke the wax seal, and pulled out the letter. It’d felt thick, but it was the same length as the address on the envelope.
How do you defeat an evil mage?
Meet me in the study.
A shiver ran down my spine. We’d had this conversation at the dinner table a few days ago. Was this a message from Wilde? Had he sent us something to use against the Lord of Grimnight?
The envelope still had a small lump, stuck in the corner. I shook it until two items fell into my palm, then stared at them in confusion. How will these help me defeat an evil mage?
“Trey,” Delilah called, keeping her voice low so we didn’t attract another patrol.
I stuffed the envelope and its contents hurriedly into my pocket. She eyed me curiously, but didn’t ask. As we walked, I pressed my hand firmly against my leg, making sure I still had everything.