Chapter 17 #3
“Bullshit.” Ravana stopped walking and gripped my arm. “Contracts put the weight in your hands. Without one, all the weight’s on theirs. Simple math.”
I bit my lips shut. Erick said the same thing when he explained Intentions to me, except he made it sound like a bad thing. Which, I guess, if he were trying to control me, would be.
Ravana nodded at whatever she saw on my face and kept walking.
“Cayden’s family doesn’t use contracts.” I hurried to catch up with her, still needing to defend my guys. “And Xan and Ezra are both orphans, so I don’t know how that would even work. And Rowan’s working on it.”
Ravana shook her head. “Excuses. Tell me straight, are you knocked up yet?”
I blushed. “Ah, no, we haven’t, um.”
Ravana nodded sharply. “At least you're smart enough to wait for that.”
My blush deepened. If it were up to me, I would not have been smart enough.
We came to the end of our alley, and two men stepped out of doors on either side. Messy, pastel hair of yellow and pink covered their heads, respectively. The shorter of the two, standing a few inches above me still, had a massive sword resting on his shoulders.
“Two ladies out for a stroll, I see,” the taller of the two said. A few leather straps crossed his worn tunic, and a series of dark dots covered his knuckles. He gave us a long once-over. “You’re entering Westwater lands, pay up.”
Ravana narrowed her eyes. “Ya sure we need to pay?”
The speaker ran a hand down his stomach and grabbed his junk. “Yeah. One way or another. Give me five minutes with your little friend there. She looks breakable, and I like to break things, and you both can be on your way.”
Ravana took a breath and held it. This time, she wasn’t touching me. In a blink, his throat split, blood pouring in thick streams as he gurgled and collapsed. Ravana’s dagger gleamed in her folded arms as if it had always been there. My stomach lurched.
The man next to him trembled and stepped back with his eyes wide.
I wasn’t much better.
Another man rushed out of the side door, pulling my attention away from the body. His tan hair was more the color of buttermilk than oat, and he was stocky, whereas Ravana was tall, but they had the same flat nose.
“Ravana, I—I didn’t know.” He fell to his knees.
“Find better men. This one attempted to force my friend.” Ravana wiped the blood off her knife on the frozen guy’s shirt, making the color drain out of his face. The smell of pee wafted.
“Yes, whatever you need,” the groveling man said. “Do you need an escort?”
I side-eyed Ravana, trying to figure out if she was someone important or if controlling time made her that powerful, and concluded it was probably both.
“Brit will be on my tail, with one of the Architect’s enforcers in tow.
” Ravana waved her mostly clean dagger. “Let them pass. They know where to find me.” She turned, forcing me to move with her, and linked our arms. “Welcome to the Westwater lands. We’re like the Architect.
” She let out a barking laugh. “In that, our lands are full of people we aren’t related to. But everyone needs toys, right?”
I swallowed. She wasn’t anything like the Architect, trying to build an accepting world for all. She hadn’t even viewed that man as a person. However, he hadn’t viewed me as a person either.
“Might is the true ruler of all,” Ravana grinned. “The only way to stay mighty is to prove it. Not baby the weak.” She sheathed her dagger. “If you don’t surround yourself with your enemies, how do you continue to grow stronger?”
I swallowed, and Ravana burst into a sharp belly laugh.
Maybe I hadn’t quite thought this through.
The Westwater territory made Xan’s castle feel unreal by comparison.
Heat cones burned in metal barrels outside tents. Armed guards loitered around the few buildings still standing. We walked through the remains of civilization, the kind that survived by shedding anything that resembled order.
Every family ruled differently.
Xan, who had only had his for seven years, ran his like a college campus. The Prophet ruled his like a cult, because that’s exactly what it was.
Everly’s family ran like a monarchy: grandparents at the top, everyone else scrambling beneath.
The Westwaters thrived on chaos, pulling me into my darkest memories.
Gandalf—scenario one—had been the most empowering man I’d ever met… until he wasn’t.
The druid and his followers spent weeks making sure I was a picture of health.
So they could sacrifice me to their fertility god.
Teivel had found me starving and wandering. Like a new pet, he’d collared me and pulled me into his world.
He was real. Not a lingering dream or a drunken flash, but flesh and blood, once again trying to control my life.
I squeezed my eyes shut. If he was real, so were the other two. Gandalf’s cool-blue gaze perfectly matched his twin boys. His voice—directing them as they clinically held me down and pulled at my clothes—made sweat break out along my spine.
What you carry will save them all. Let the burden fall to us.
His last words echoed in my memory.
A dip in the destroyed asphalt made me stumble. I grabbed Ravana, forcing my eyes open.
I wasn’t within Xan’s walls anymore, but I wasn’t alone.
My past was bad enough. What came next—the tests—made my chest tighten. I’d bolted before I could ask what they meant. I’d run with a stranger again.
Why did I keep doing this?
“What’s going to happen?” I asked, keeping the sudden panic out of my voice.
“No one knows. By tonight, you’ll have answers. Families’ll fight, Teivel’s full of shit, Alex won’t touch you. But they’ll still want proof you’re free. I want it too. Nothin’ personal.”
The knot of unease loosened. She wanted me to prove my free will, which, in essence, meant she hoped I still had it. It was a start.
I waved. “Don’t apologize. I get it. I meant what I said. I also accused Xan… er, the Architect of manipulating me multiple times. He’s too smart for his own good.”
Ravana grunted. “Too late to whine. We push through what’s in front of us.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
We walked past clusters of dilapidated buildings and mini tent cities. Trash and unidentifiable muck littered the ground. People didn’t stroll aimlessly; they walked with purpose or stood, clearly on some guard duty or lookout.
We approached another small alley. A trio of armed men with bright red bandanas tied around their arms momentarily stopped us before recognizing who Ravana was and allowing us to pass.
“Wouldn’t the last group have warned this one?” I asked.
Ravana grimaced. “How? When?” She raised an eyebrow.
“The Architect’s communication devices are unique.
And the man guarding the outer gate would kill all three of these we just passed to take their gate.
If I killed them for him, he could take it with no effort.
He’s had one of his guys trailing us to see if that exact thing would happen. ”
I slowed. “I hadn’t even noticed.”
“I am aware.” Ravana sighed. “The past was soft. Weak. Earth burned the dead weight, like it should’ve.”
I kept my eyes on the ground, hesitant to argue because, in some way, I agreed.
Not that I wanted to wipe out billions of people, but I had been a lower-middle-class white woman in a big city.
We paid our bills, and in daily life, most of the violence I saw was on a screen.
But it was still there. Just because it wasn’t happening to me didn’t mean the world was safe for everyone.
Inequality, people trying to do what’s right for themselves while hurting others, and outright evil filled the news.
I reflected on the cop who picked me up before my surgery. He could have taken me home; instead, he stuck a barefoot, mentally unstable woman in her pajamas in a cell, because that’s what our system did.
“That’s some deep thinking.” Ravana slowed to synchronize her steps with mine. “I thought you’d argue.”
I shrugged. “With great power comes great responsibility.” Corny, sure, but true. “Our world wasn’t fixing it. I’m not sure if it was fixable. If I could go back in time and stop the apocalypse, I would, but I can’t change the past, like you just said, and idealizing it doesn’t help anyone.”
Ravan cocked her head to the side. “Didn’t think you had it in you, Quinn. Consider me surprised.”
The sound of horseshoes hitting asphalt came from behind me.
“She impresses everyone; don’t give her a bigger head,” Brit called out.
I turned just as my friend dismounted. “Did’ja think I’d let you get away that easy?”
I grinned and ran to my friend, who tossed her reins to Joe and hugged me.
“Never, Brit,” I said, squeezing her back.
Brit pressed a hand to her stomach. “I’m cycling because of you, Quinn. I failed you once. Won’t again.”
I put my hand over hers and blinked with surprise. “Because of me? What did I do?”
Ravana clapped. “Save it. We’re exposed, and your big man’s a beacon.”
I glanced at Joe, decked out in his blacks and leathers with his massive, gleaming ax on his back.
Brit grinned. “My man.”
Ravana inclined her head. “Well done, now get. It’s time Quinn understood this world instead of being tossed around in it.”