Chapter 44 #3
‘Or longer,’ Ruben adds. ‘How are you doing, Rose?’ He’s looking at me like my magic might go off at any moment, and that feels valid.
I’m aware that this is the longest I’ve gone without slipping or accidentally firing off ice magic, and it feels like I’m on borrowed time.
‘I’m fine.’
‘Still,’ Ruben says gently, ‘hanging out in any highly populated area for any length of time feels like a bad move, so I suggest we go west via the Rowell route.’
‘Yeah.’ Caz nods. ‘We can easily bypass the city itself, as long as we’re okay for supplies.’
‘Why do we need to bypass Rowell?’ Ruben asks with a frown.
‘Besides the fact that I’m an accident waiting to happen, there’s also the small matter that I killed Zara Duarte during the Retterheld.
The Duartes are practically royalty there, and I’ve no doubt she sent letters home cursing the runt who survived when her brother didn’t.
Not to mention the injuries I caused before I killed her …
’ I shrug. ‘Definitely best we avoid Rowell. It’s safe to say I don’t think I’m the gifted they wanted. ’
Ruben looks astonished at my admission, while Stide looks impressed.
Caz grins. ‘Yep, our Rose is a total badass.’
To be fair, they haven’t seen much of that side of me. Mostly I’ve just been a raging magical liability.
‘So we’re agreed?’ I say, keen to keep moving forward. ‘We go the Rowell route?’
Everyone nods.
‘Okay, I guess one of us should tell Kyor,’ I suggest. ‘Step forward if you volunteer.’ As one – as if they planned it – the group steps back, leaving me on my own.
‘Like we were just saying, you’re the badass.’ Benny grins. ‘And you’re the love of his life. And besides, he wants me dead.’
‘He won’t kill you now. If he was going to, he would have done it back in Galreck.’ I look at the Quiet Ones. ‘Why can’t one of the Sannings tell him?’ I suggest, only for Stide to laugh, sharp and unrestrained.
‘The Rose is funny,’ she says, grinning widely. ‘She has such humour.’
Grimacing, I scan across the rest of them. Ruben, who’s looking at me with raised eyebrows, and Stide, who’s picking nonchalantly at her nails next to Thessa. Loch is pointedly chewing on an apple core, even though he’s down to the pips. Caz and Benny are looking anywhere but at me.
‘Fine. I’ll tell him as soon as he gets back,’ I assure them.
Annoyingly, that happens to be the very moment Elska’s soft, padded footsteps stalk out of the trees in front of me. While I can’t see Kyor, I don’t doubt he’s not far behind.
‘No time like the present,’ Benny mutters.
With a flick of my wrists I send a vine up and around his legs. His eyes widen in shock, but the grip is loose and he pulls himself free easily enough.
‘I was just saying,’ he mumbles, holding his hands up in mock-surrender.
‘Well, don’t.’
The moment the dire wolf sees me walking towards her, Elska drops her shoulders and growls.
But rather than recoil, I look her straight in the eye. ‘Oh fuck off,’ I snap. ‘I didn’t know about the rebels for long. I’m not the bad guy here. If anything, that’s Benny.’
‘Hey!’ Benny objects loudly, as I quite literally throw him to the wolves.
Elska’s ringed eyes widen momentarily before she responds with the type of menace that used to turn my insides into liquid.
Spittle drips from her muzzle as she bares her teeth at me.
One snap and I’d lose an arm or worse. But …
I’ve slept against her, she’s kept me safe, and together we worked hard to save his life.
‘You know I wouldn’t ever hurt him. Let me speak to him. Now.’
I stare at her, hands on my hips, and she huffs out a breath at me.
‘You know she doesn’t understand every word you say,’ Kyor interjects, appearing at her side and rolling up his sleeve as he leans against a tree.
There’s something so casual about that action.
As if he isn’t the single deadliest fighter I’ve ever seen.
Or at least he was. With his arm still healing, only time will tell if he can reclaim that title.
Still, my heart skitters at the sight of him and the fact that he’s speaking directly to me, but I force myself to stay focused.
‘She understood what I meant,’ I respond.
‘She got the gist.’
I look the wolf in the eye and offer her a brief nod.
With a slight sniff, her mouth closes and the snarling stops, and a feeling close to satisfaction grips me. I raise my hand to stroke her as a sign of goodwill. The growl is instant. I hurriedly pull back.
‘Okay, not at the stroking stage yet,’ I say, retreating. ‘Good to know.’ I turn away only to remember the entire reason I had to come over here.
‘We’re going west to Rowell,’ I say, looking straight at Kyor.
‘Why?’ he questions, face unreadable.
‘Because of the boats or something. Something about Vypash. Anyway, that’s the group consensus, so that’s the way we’re going. You should let her know,’ I add with a nod to Elska. With that, I turn around and walk away.
One step at a time. That’s all I’m going for.
And now that I’ve made the first one, maybe he’ll make the second.