Chapter Twenty-Six #2
Both men glanced her way and she sighed. “I said, odd that they chose to burn us. Beheading is so much easier. And public.”
“Oh, that’s because of you.” Dan nodded at her.
“Me? Because I’m a warlock?” she grimaced. Tugging on her chains, she regrettably found them stiff and unforgiving. No quick fingered escapes. She might be only chained by the wrists, but they were tight. Her knuckles scraped against the pillar. There would be no freeing herself.
“Maiden of Madness, from what I hear.” Dan shrugged as he continued.
Avelina scoffed, “Everybody’s so worried about this Maiden of Madness thing. What? Are they worried if they lop my head off I’ll start the second plague?” Dan made a face, same as Grahm. Avelina rolled her eyes. “I can’t actually do that.”
I don’t think. And unfortunately, her goddess wasn’t around for a quick interview to see if that was a thing she could do. No, probably not. But there were no records of what started the first plague, so for all she knew, the Paladins could be justified.
“The burnin’ is symbolic,” Grahm huffed, glaring at Dan. “Ya idiot. Don’t matter if you can or they think you can release a poison cloud anyway, since you turned Murderin’ Mary into ash, there ain’t no other big guns in the game.” Grahm hung his head down to stare at his boots.
“Except Cottonmouth,” Dan harrumphed. “Slick bastard’s probably laughing all the way to IronGarde right now.”
“Nope, they got him too. Found his tail in an alley.” Grahm jutted his elongated snoot toward Avelina’s feet.
Her heart stopped as they all glanced down to the base of her pyre.
At her feet was a massive slathair tail.
Avelina choked on the rapid emotions that went through her.
No. That’s what he deserves. Wait. No! But, the longer she stared, the softer all those voices got.
Dan and Grahm bickered again, lobbing accusations of misdeeds at each other.
Avelina reached a foot out to his tail to touch it.
Her toes barely scraped it, but it was enough to bring back all the times she spent curled up in his bed.
Back concaved to his tail, a pattern of scales she unconsciously memorized.
Not to mention that curious three finger wide dent in his tail where nothing grew, a weakspot.
She’d seen it and thought about driving a knife through it the first night only to concede that it wouldn’t do enough to kill him.
The tail at the base of her pyre was wrong.
That’s not him. It’s a decoy.
“That rat bastard,” she spat.
“What?” Grahm interjected. She didn’t say anything, stewing in her hate.
Because the more she thought about it, the more she thought about him, the more contradictory her emotions got.
On one hand, Callum clearly played her in some fashion.
Why have a decoy tail set up if not to get away?
He was running from something. Since Dan sat on the pew, and from the argument he had with Grahm, she gathered he was the one who sold them out to the Paladins.
Mary seemed like a wild card no one expected, but then again, with a name like Murderin’ Mary… was anyone actually surprised?
The whole thing was a mess.
“You know what,” Grahm exhaled heavily. “I’m glad they’re burning your ass, warlock.”
His words sparked a much deeper, unfiltered loathing. She spent too much of her life shirking away from bullies and men to let one get to her now. Thrashing in her chains, she erupted, “You hate me so much and I didn’t do a thing to you!”
“You did! You fuckin’ privileged little shit! Callum was givin’ you an out!” Grahm snarled back.
Her stomach sank and she stopped moving. “He what?”
“Wanna know why I hate ya? Why I’m glad, that even as I’m cookin’ alive I’m glad to at least watch you go up in flames first?” He beamed.
“Oh, please, regale me with it all! Please!” She laughed in a mocking fashion. “Please tell me it’s because I’m the kid of a Paladin, huh? Bet it really grinds your gears that I was raised by some mean ole’ Paladin, and yet I got stuck in the mud same as you?”
“But ya didn’t! Did ya? Nah, Cottonmouth took one look at ya and saw the moon and the stars!
I thought he just wanted some ass, and he’d throw you to the mud once he’d had a taste and used you up.
But no…he actually fuckin’ likes you.” The entire time he accused her with his words, his eyes bore holes into her.
“Shut up,” she demanded.
“And worst of all, this son of a bitch was gonna give you an out! Asked me, the night before, said ‘Grahm, when the others are breaking into the vault, knock the warlock out and put her on a one-way trip to Eshorion.’ And that got me thinkin’, why the fuck you’d be goin’ there if we were robbin’ the vault here? Then I realized…”
Oh…fuck. It was a trap. Callum made a trap for all of them…except for her.
“He was kicking me out,” she breathed. Callum wanted to drive her away. He was throwing her back to her old life? But then why fake his own death? Because if I love him, I’ll never give up on him.
Because he knows me too well…and I would never give up on him.
“Yeah, and listen, no offense, but why should you get away unharmed when I was there under Mad Madeline? I was the one who looked out while he picked a fight with the biggest, baddest outlaw there was? And when he took charge of the crew, driving her just as batshit sister out to the other side of the swamp, what did I get? Fucker didn’t even thank me.
Never does. Never will. So, I’m glad he’s dead.
And I’m glad you’re gonna burn. Cause then none of us get out.
All that palm grease, all that dick you took from him? Didn’t fuckin’ matter, now did it?”
Avelina’s gaze steadily rose from the decoy tail to Grahm.
He seethed in his seat. All teeth and scales and hurt.
Grahm was told to hand deliver her to safety and couldn’t stand to think he would never get the same treatment.
Fury that licked up her spine. He’s lucky my hands are bound.
He’s lucky I can’t cast right now.. She wanted to tear his face off.
The thought of him writhing as she melted his face off was enough to get her high.