Chapter 26
Kiora
I MADE US FOOD. WAS I a good cook? Hell no, but I did my best, and the vegetables were only slightly burned.
Growing up, Mom did all the cooking. Dad wouldn’t have it any other way. When I tried to cook, he told me it tasted disgusting, and I should stop wasting his money. He said it about a lot of things I tried to do, killing all the desire to have hobbies.
And then I was on the run and living in a truck. There wasn’t much opportunity for cooking. Still, I did my best under the guise of wanting to return the favor.
Troy left me to it instead of hovering, which helped my nerves. The last thing I wanted was someone watching me screw up.
Right before serving, I crushed the two flenitons into fine powder and mixed it with Troy’s pasta. It wouldn’t hurt him. No lasting damage, at least. Unless he had allergies. Did he have allergies?
It’s not like I could casually ask him, “Oh, hey, honey, by the way, are you by chance allergic to fleniton or any of its ingredients? No? Great. Eat this.”
I shouldn’t care if I hurt him, but Kitty was whimpering. She didn’t want to leave. Between the two of us, she was clearly the hussy with no standards. She’d even sleep with the enemy. Yeah, that was all totally her fault. I was not at all attracted to Troy’s muscular body and that stupid charming smile.
I rubbed my chest right over my heart. Fine, I was attracted to him, but that was it, just a physical attraction. I couldn’t allow it to be anything else.
“Food’s ready,” I called out and desperately tried to make my heart stop beating so fast. This was no time.
Troy strolled into the dining room armed with that stupid gorgeous smile of his. It wouldn’t work on me—not anymore.
“Sorry,” I said as I gestured at the food. “I’m not as good of a cook as you are.”
“Thank you,” he said instead of agreeing or disagreeing with me because well... agreeing would be mean and disagreeing would be a lie.
Troy gave me a quick peck on the lips before taking his seat, then dug in. The fish was only somewhat cooked. Crispy on the outside and completely raw on the inside, which was fine. I liked it that way. The veggies were pretty much inedible because of how badly I had burned them, but the pasta was a success.
Troy clearly had a similar opinion, polishing off the pasta and the fish and only pretending to eat the veggies. That was fine. He got the crushed pills, and if there was any funky taste to it, he must’ve attributed it to my terrible cooking.
“I’ve never had fish prepared this way,” Troy said. “I like it.”
“Thanks. It was a stroke of accidental genius.” Meaning I wanted to cook it all the way through but screwed up and undercooked it. An accidental genius sounded better, though.
Troy chuckled, then yawned and stretched. “I think my insomnia is finally giving me a break.”
“You should take advantage of it while you can.”
“Are you going to keep me company?” He reached for my hand and laced our fingers together, then he straightened. “I completely forgot to tell you, the naga got arrested for breaking and entering, and the other two got arrested when they tried to attack my boat. Not saying the coast is completely cleared because the entirety of their organization is humongous, but the immediate threat is over.”
But it wasn’t. Even if what he was saying was true and those three were gone, I knew what I had overheard.
“That’s a relief,” I lied. Well, it wasn’t a straight up lie. I did want those three out of the way. If they really were gone, my escape would be a little easier because I wouldn’t have to hide from them, too.
Troy’s body relaxed again, sagging like it weighed a ton. “Damn, the exhaustion is really hitting me hard.”
“Come on, let’s hit the hay,” I said as I got up and pulled Troy along.
By the time we got to the bedroom, Troy was half-asleep. I helped him into bed and even tucked him in, then stayed by his side for a few minutes until he was deep asleep.
Kitty whimpered the entire time. She didn’t want to leave. Good thing she wasn’t in control of our body because my body was ready to go-go-go. I needed to get out of here. Now. To run and never look back.
I emptied my backpack so it wouldn’t slow me down. I could replace all of it, but I couldn’t replace my own freedom.
As I walked out of the room with the bag over one shoulder, I looked back at the first man who had ever made me feel safe, even if it was all a lie.
No, I couldn’t think about him now. He wasn’t the good guy. I couldn’t regret having to leave him.
I walked to the mouth of the cave and opened the chest with all the climbing equipment. There were a few harnesses. I’d definitely need one of those. Having no idea how long of a climb I had ahead of me or what might happen on the way down, I took a few lengths of rope.
The biggest problem with my idea was that I had never done any mountain climbing, so I had no idea what I was doing. Still, I knew I couldn’t leave my rope behind because I might need it later and because it would help Troy track me down. So, I made sure I could easily pull the rope out when I hit the next ledge or whatever was below me.
When I approached the hook embedded in the rock, my stomach clenched in fear. I wasn’t even looking down, and I was already terrified just because I knew how high up I was. Climbing was the dumbest, most reckless and only idea I had. The chances of me surviving suddenly didn’t seem so good. But it was either that or stay here and staying wasn’t an option.
I secured the rope to the harness, looping both ends multiple times, so I’d have better control over it. Then, I inched over the edge of the cliff.
My stomach dropped when there was nothing for my feet to step on. Absolutely nothing. Still, I lowered myself a little more. And more, and more. I forced my eyes to stay open but refused to look down.
A small eternity later, I stepped on a ledge and found the next hook, or whatever these things were called, embedded in the rock. Good thing, too, because the rope would’ve only lasted another twenty feet at most.
The third ledge I hit was a wider one and to the side of it was an area I might actually be able to walk on like a normal person. There were even trees growing.
I carefully climbed the rock wall until I reached the more manageable terrain, then I detached the rope from the harness and pulled it all the way out so I wouldn’t leave any evidence behind.
The area I found myself in was small, but I found an entrance to another cave, this one only a few square feet with the ceiling so low that someone as tall as dragon shifters tended to me would have to duck their head. To me, it seemed like the perfect place to take a break.
If I’d tried to keep climbing, my arms might actually fall off. Even with my exercise routine, my body wasn’t made for this.