Chapter 16 #2
“It is wise to have a solid plan before reaching The Shallows,” Algar chimes in.
“I agree,” I toss in. “If it’ll only take a few hours to reach this person, I think we can spare it. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Thane gives his head a slow shake. After several seconds tick by, he says, “Fine.”
“So be it.” Rynthea sighs.
“We’ll clean up the place a bit, then we go,” Thane says.
“Algar, help me get these bodies outside so we can burn them. Once we’re done, we’re leaving to find your little survivor, Rynthea, and we’ll have to make it quick because time is dwindling.
” He eyes the lady minotaur before gripping an armless body by the feet and dragging it toward the hallway, leaving a trail of smeared blood behind.
“I don’t know how any of you can trust him,” Rynthea says when Thane disappears behind the wall. She inspects her fingernails with a frown. “Great. Those scoundrels made me break a nail.”
“Thane’s not all bad.” Algar shoves one of the bodies onto its back with his foot. “He just has to warm up to you. But for the record, he hates being challenged. I know you have your scythesword and all, but don’t go swinging it at him, all right? I don’t want him killing you in your sleep.”
Torjack blanches. “He’d do that?”
Rynthea tosses her head back to laugh as she moves past Algar. “I’d love to see the fucker try.”
When she enters the kitchen, I realize that I’ve been silent during the majority of their conversations.
As I absorb my surroundings, I feel nauseated, and a tight sensation is developing in my chest. They all proceed with their tasks, moving the bodies or dragging them, as if this is a normal occurrence.
There has to be close to fifteen of them.
So much blood. So much death. Is it really going to be like this the whole way to Elphar?
My throat thickens with unwelcome emotions.
Dread. Uncertainty. Fear. None of this is normal.
“You okay, Zaira?” Algar pops up on my left, startling me.
“Yeah.” I force a nod. “I think I just… I think I need some air.”
“Oh, okay. Would you like me to—”
I hurry past him to reach the front door before he can finish. Once outside, I scurry around a corner while sucking in rapid breaths. When I find a wooden bench, I sit immediately and pull my knees up to my chest, breathing in and out with my head buried in my lap.
Just focus on your breath. Okay, Z? Breathe in and out.
That’s what Analla would tell me. But she isn’t here, and knowing that makes the breaths harder to control.
Knowing I’m surrounded by a group of killers makes my body swirl with anxiety.
I have no idea what kind of mess I’ve thrown myself into, but my mother was right.
I’m in the muckiest muck of all, and there is no going back now.
Stuck. I’m stuck with my decision.
I don’t know if I can do this. Surviving seems even less likely now, and that terrifies me.
Hot tears fill my eyes, but I close them to soothe the burn.
I want to tell myself I can make it work—but I’ve seen the worry in Rynthea’s eyes.
If a minotaur as strong as her doesn’t believe she can make it through The Shallows, how can I?
I don’t have a fraction of the strength she has, and I don’t know a damn thing about using weapons or combat.
I’m an ordinary mortal in my twentieth year, who spends most of her life reading, sipping tea, volunteering at refugee centers, and baking. I’m much too simple for such madness.
And then my mind circles back to Dulan, another ordinary mortal.
For some reason, the memory of him strikes me hard, to the point I feel stabbing pains in my stomach.
That poor boy was murdered in cold blood because he helped us.
What will his grandmother do once she realizes he’s missing?
How will she get her medicines now? Who will look for his body?
Or has it been burned by the fires we left behind?
Or worse, picked up by the Ruvainers and hung in the city center for all to call him a traitor?
I press the heels of my palms to my temples and squeeze my eyes shut.
Gods, this is too much.
I genuinely don’t know how I’m going to survive this journey. I’ll be lucky if I survive another hour of it.
Something soft rubs against my arm, then I feel dulled claws dig into my shirt as they climb their way to my upper body.
I lift my head to see Zephra now perched on my shoulder.
Her head is cocked at an unnatural angle as she ogles me.
Her big eyes bore into mine for a few seconds, then she brings her head closer as I sniffle.
Her furry crown rubs across my cheek to wipe some of my tears away.
“Oh, goodness.” I sniffle again, reaching for her with both hands. She settles into my cupped palms, peering up at me like she has a million questions she wants to ask. Dulan was right. She is really soft, and her pink fur is beautiful. “You’re the cutest thing, thief and all.”
She chitters, pointing her little paws to my left. I look in the direction she’s pointing and spot Thane standing next to a nearby post with his mask down and his eyes trained on me.
Oh, gods. Don’t tell me he saw me crying.
As he approaches, Zephra hops out of my hands and scurries toward him. I quickly wipe my remaining tears away. For some odd reason, Zephra climbs up his body to reach his shoulder and stares at him expectantly. Thane lifts his hand, offering her a mound of almonds.
“Good girl,” I hear him murmur as she devours them.
Zephra hops off his shoulder and scampers away.
“Did you tell her to come and do that?” I ask.
“Not exactly.” He steps closer. “I told her to run over and smack some sense into you. She chose a nicer deed.”
I fight a smile, lowering my chin so he can’t see my puffy eyes, but I don’t stop side-eyeing him.
“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” His face turns serious, eyebrows knitting, jaw setting.
“Yes, I do. I refuse to let my sister die.”
“That minotaur woman is right.” Thane blows a breath, standing close enough to block the sun from my view. “Taking this journey with me at your side is deadly—”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “I learned that back in Redclaw.”
“It’s deadly for the people who cross me,” he finishes.
I meet his gaze. His eyes aren’t as serious as usual.
There is a tenderness to them. Possibly a touch of sincerity.
Or maybe I’m just imagining it, just like I had in the bunker, and hours before that, when he was using his whispershade.
“I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you during this journey, Quinlocke. ”
With a hard swallow, I ask, “How can I be sure of that?”
“Because I wouldn’t have agreed to do this if I didn’t think I could succeed. If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I hate failing.”
I purse my lips together while staring at my lap. My clothes have so many holes and rips in them now. It’s all a sheer reminder of the chaos surrounding me. I definitely need a bath. And possibly a nap. My adrenaline is slowly seeping away, leaving behind only weariness.
“Can I ask you something?” My voice comes out softer than expected.
He lifts a brow of approval.
“You seem really determined to make it to Elphar, and I know it’s not just for my sake. Is there something there that you’re after, too? Do you want treasure like Algar?”
He’s quiet for a second, eyes drifting to focus on a cluster of trees in the distance. “There is one thing.”
I perk up a bit. “What is it?”
He seems to contemplate telling me. “The Tome of Azidel.”
“The what?”
He sighs. “It’s a book of spells written by the firstborn sorcerer.”
“Oh.” I pause. “Why do you want it?”
“Because there are spells in there that can increase the power of my magic.”
I chew on the corner of my bottom lip. “You seem pretty powerful already. Why do you want to increase it?”
“I have my reasons.”
I wait expectantly for him to continue.
“I don’t care to explain them right now.”
“Of course not,” I mumble. “It would be nice to know, though. Might make this journey of ours a bit easier.”
“How so?” he asks, lowering those amber eyes to me again.
“Because we both want the same thing, and that’s to reach the temple for something we desire. Better to work with each other than against, right?”
“Hmm.” I can’t tell if that’s a positive or a dismissive “hmm.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I still loathe that I’m doing any of this with a person like you,” I say, teasing, “but if it’s my only option, I may as well accept it.”
“You’re basically saying you hate me.”
“Hate is too strong of a term.”
His mouth twitches at the corners.
I smile a little. After a few seconds, I ask, “So what happens if Maliek finds you again?”
His jaw ticks this time.
I push my specs up the bridge of my nose.
“He caught me and Torjack in the inn before we made it out the back door. He was…choking me with this invisible grip—almost like the one you used when you tossed me out of the Tilted Crystal. Only his felt colder and sharper.” I shudder at the reminder of Maliek’s harsh magic, the fierce look in his eyes.
“He came after me and called me the noble one. I don’t understand what he meant by that. ”
Thane looks back toward the inn. “You don’t have to worry about Maliek or anyone else while you’re with me.”
“Because you won’t let anyone hurt me?”
“Glad you’re finally catching on.”
“Why does he want you so badly, though?” I prod.
Thane presses his lips firmly together as he steps back.
I stand up to scan the details of his face—those jagged scars and the dark flecks embedded in his irises. The hardness of his prominent features, the slightest hook in his nose, his sculpted lips.
“You’re a man of many secrets, Thane,” I murmur. “I knew that when I first met you. You were this big, blinding mystery, and I’m realizing you like it that way. You like that people don’t know much about you—you don’t want anyone to figure you out.”
“Your point?”
“I just can’t imagine all the things you’re hiding. Or who you really are under all that black and leather.”
He matches my stare, allowing several quiet seconds to tick by before stepping in closer.
Leaning down, he brings his lips so close to the shell of my ear that a chill runs down my spine, and a tingle slinks from my stomach to my inner thighs.
I clench my fists to chase away the illicit feelings that one action alone has brought me.
His warm breath spills down my chest, causing my nipples to pebble beneath my bra. I contain the desperate sigh brewing inside me as he says, “Don’t pretend my so-called secrets don’t intrigue you, Quinlocke.”
I close my eyes and swallow, ignoring the delicious stir in my stomach.
When I open my eyes again, Thane leans back with a faint smirk on his face and gives me a full once-over.
He then marches away, and perhaps it’s my imagination, but I swear I hear a dark rumble of a laugh leave him before he enters the inn, as if he knows his words and proximity have gotten the best of me.
I sit on the bench again with a huff.
What the shadows is this man doing to me?