Chapter 41 Bash #2
Xeni and I walk into the courtyard hand-in-hand.
Everyone mills about in small groups, and lunch cooks in the center.
There are large bowls of pasta, sautéed vegetables, and cut fruits.
The aromas make my stomach growl as I grab a plate and pile it with an embarrassing amount of food, and Xeni does the same without shame.
Curious eyes follow us as we spot Cato, Ego, and Sakane sitting at a table together, their plates in various forms of empty.
Ego leans back with a knowing grin. “There you guys are. I was beginning to think you’d become part of some sort of ritual sacrifice.”
“And yet, you stuck around,” I say as I gesture at her spotless plate.
She burps quietly and thumps her fist on her chest with a satisfied sigh. “Food takes priority sometimes. If we didn’t find you by, say… eh, tomorrow after dinner, I would’ve come looking for you.”
“After a few more meals,” I deadpan.
She grins with a nod. “Exactly.”
“Has Sovran spoken to you guys yet?” I ask, settling into a seat.
Xeni drops beside me, his thigh pressing against mine, and everyone at the table collectively shakes their heads.
“He got Xeni’s vehicle ready for us,” I say.
Cato’s brows fly high on his forehead. “How’d he manage that?”
Xeni snorts through a mouthful of food. “Honestly? We aren’t really sure, and getting a straight answer out of him is impossible. All we know is he found it—”
“How?” Cato repeats with genuine bewilderment.
Xeni smirks as he glances at me from the corner of his eye. “Someone in this camp picked me up hitchhiking when I was on my way to the city.”
“Who?” Ego asks, leaning forward with too much curiosity for my liking.
“Don’t fucking worry about it,” I snap.
Her eyes light up as they dart among the strangers. She’s a bloodhound on the hunt for drama, trying to scent fresh gossip.
Xeni breathes a laugh as he takes my hand under the table, giving it a squeeze. “No one of consequence. They knew where they’d picked me up from, so I guess Sovran convinced them to take him.”
“How’d he get it running, though?” Cato asks, still baffled, but Xeni and I both shrug.
“More power to you if you want to drag that out of him,” Xeni says. “I had more important things to do this morning.”
“I think he means Bash,” Ego whispers loudly to Sakane, who chokes on his drink as Xeni bites back his smile.
“So, that’s it, then? We’re leaving?” Sakane asks, and Xeni nods. “How long is the drive to your village?”
“We aren’t that far out of the city, so it’ll take us two days,” Xeni says. “If we leave after lunch, we should make it by tomorrow night.”
“Will they be happy to see us?” Sakane asks with obvious concern in his eyes. Like Ego, he’d never left Atlanta, but he lacks her confidence in new situations.
Xeni nods slowly as he finishes chewing. “The plan was always for me to convince Bash to come with me. A few extra leeches won’t be a big deal.” He tosses a haughty glance at Cato as he says it.
Sakane’s attention shifts behind me and Xeni, and I turn as Sovran approaches. He drops onto the bench beside me, and I swear it groans under his weight.
“You have satisfied your appetite?” he asks.
Xeni snorts as I jab an elbow into his side.
“Oh, yeah,” Xeni says, still trying and failing to hide his grin. “It’s been satisfied.”
Sovran’s brows knit, but he doesn’t comment on Xeni’s giggling even as Ego snickers too. I shake my head and shoot him a look that I hope conveys my apologies for their behavior.
“Good,” Sovran says with a decisive nod. “You will leave shortly.”
“Oh… kay,” Ego drawls. “Way to be subtle about wanting to get rid of us.”
Sovran fixes his eyes on her. “You eat a lot for a small human,” he finally says. “I am merely concerned about their supplies.”
Ego shrugs, stabbing a piece of apple off Cato’s plate before he can object.
“What will you do, Sovran?” Xeni asks. “Are you going back to Atlanta?”
Sovran nods and stands. “There are things I must do there. Loose ends to be tied before I leave the city.”
“You’ll leave?” I ask.
He stares off into the distance for a moment. “My time there is at an end,” he answers, once again falling into his cryptic riddles, and this time, no one tries to solve them.
We collect our bags and walk as a group around the corner, where Chakri and Johannes wait. Beyond them is a black SUV with a crumpled hood and cracked windshield.
My brows fly up as I glance at Xeni. “You drove that deathtrap?”
He pats the dented front quarter panel lovingly. “That thing took out the fence at Ljómur and kept kicking. She’s seen better days, but she’s good. Well,” he adds with a grimace, “she was, until she overheated on the drive down.”
“The engine’s been repaired,” Johannes says as he crosses his arms and nods at the vehicle. “We have an incredible mechanic that looked her over. You won’t have any problems getting home.”
“I could’ve fixed it,” Cato mutters.
Xeni turns to him with another syrupy smile. “Aw, of course you could’ve,” he says in a placating tone.
Cato scrunches his nose at him, an argument brewing on his tongue.
I interrupt before he can get Xeni riled up. “You said there’s fuel?” I ask Sovran.
He nods. “Fuel, food, and water. Plenty to get you home safely.”
Xeni’s snarkiness fades as he approaches Sovran, displaying a rare seriousness as he dips his head in a bow. It’s a show of respect rarely given by their side, and always towards someone viewed as a superior.
Considering where Xeni came from and how his parents raised him, it’s a big offering, and I hope Sovran realizes the enormity of the gratitude Xeni is showing him.
“We owe you our lives,” Xeni says, face still pointed at the ground, before lifting it to meet Sovran’s gaze.
That same fire burns in Sovran's golden eyes, but there’s a hint of something affectionate as a tiny smile flits over his lips.
“Without you, those tunnels would’ve become our tomb,” Xeni continues. “My father would’ve died, yes, but we never would have escaped. Bash would…”
Xeni trails off, then slips Sovran a piece of folded paper.
“That is a map… a rough one,” he admits with a self-deprecating laugh, “but it shows where our village is located. Memorize it and destroy it, please, because I cannot risk the lives of my friends who are sheltered there. But if the time comes that I can ever be of help to you, I am your servant. I owe you a debt that I fear can never be repaid.”
Sovran clasps Xeni's shoulder, and Xeni’s eye flares as Sovran dips his head in return.
“Your actions have transformed the future, Xenesis. Your father was a plague for hundreds of years. He changed the course of history for both his world and this one. You were the only one who could stop him. If there is a debt between us, it is I who owe you my gratitude.”
Xeni pulls his lips into a tight line as he tries to keep his composure and gives another small nod. “My offer remains, all the same.”
“I believe we will meet again,” Sovran says, giving Xeni’s shoulder a squeeze before releasing him. “And when that day comes, I will be glad to call you friend.”