Chapter 10
Ten
Hours had passed and Armienti trudged with Autumn through the snow and ice to the location where Valdez’s ship had been docked. He scoped the area, making sure it was safe.
But something didn’t add up. Something was wrong, his gut screamed.
It took him mere moments to determine Valdez and her crew of Zexian soldiers were indeed gone. Judging by the smoking bones and half-drunk goblets of wine, they’d left in a hurry.
Autumn’s eyes were sunken and glazed with red from crying so hard. Ice and snow crept up her calves. How he pitied her.
He’d offer to carry her, but she was proud and would decline his assistance regardless. She despised him like she’d once despised Dante, his older brother.
Probably even more after all was said and done.
This whole ordeal was all his fault. Nothing was worse than this horrifying realization. What a fool he was to trust Valdez. He should’ve known better, considering her reputation.
She was the biggest snake of them all.
If he allowed his emotions to get the best of him, he would’ve broken down and cried as well.
For the first time, he couldn’t see his way out of a terrible situation. Usually he could predict the outcome, or there was light at the end of the tunnel. Some kind of hope. But this…
Even after everything they’d suffered through, he couldn’t fathom why Valdez would give up her game and leave. Why was she in such a hurry?
His stomach churned. It wasn’t like her not to win. She enjoyed beating others. Murdering was her favorite pastime, besides of course, torturing Autumn. It was clear from the get-go she had it out for them. Autumn more so, but still…
Something more important must’ve come up. Something more important than killing him and Autumn for sport.
He sighed, skin erupting in goosebumps. He was terrified to find out. The Grand Supreme was the only option he could think of.
He must have needed her for something sinister.
Growing up, he was fortunate that he never had to deal with The Grand Supreme first-hand. Dante had always been there to bear the brunt of the blows, but Armienti had to take responsibility—and he wanted to. He wanted everything to be different.
He could no longer toil in Dante’s magnificent shadow. It should’ve been him basking in eternal sunlight all along. Dante was the true nobody. He was not emperor material.
What can I do now, and from here? Dammit.
“What are we doing? There’s nothing here. I’m cold and hungry,” Autumn pouted, her heeled boots skidded against the snow and ice. Poor thing was freezing to death.
“Just a moment,” he knelt in the snow, searching desperately. It had to be here somewhere. It had to be.
He stopped when he discovered the frozen decapitated body of one of Valdez’s Zexian soldiers decorating the ice and slush with his sticky black blood.
Autumn gasped, covering her mouth and turned away. “If you think I’m going to eat that creature, you’ve lost your mind.”
He chuckled. Apparently, she wasn’t starving after all. But food wasn’t what he was searching for. He reached through the pockets of the cadaver. There had to be one here somewhere.
Relief flooded through his bones as his fingers slid across the screen of a communicator. Thank the gods above.
Autumn grinned, hopping up and down. Her pure child-like happiness warmed his cheeks, even during this heinous situation.
The power bar flashed, and he hesitated for a moment. When Dante learned of his betrayal, he was going to roast him alive. But what choice did he have under the circumstances?
Oh no. His stomach tumbled. Oh no, no, no, the device was about to take its final breath and there was no charging station in sight.
He managed to punch in Ronan’s number, fingers trembling with every character. He couldn’t handle speaking to Dante. Ronan had always been easier to talk to. One ring and he picked up.
“Hello? Hello? Ronan, are you there?” He asked hopefully.
Tick, tick, tick, a beeper flashed and sounded off. Armienti dropped the communicator in the snow and took Autumn by the arm.
“What are you doing?” she gasped. “And why is the communicator making that noise?”
Armienti didn’t have time to answer. Instead, he flung Autumn over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed. Her fists connected with the aching muscles of his back. He winced as he soared high into the air, and a fiery explosion of snow, debris, and ice erupted beneath them.
His ears rang with deafening silence. His heart sank in his chest.
Valdez had left them a parting gift. It was so like her to play tricks.