Darius groaned with maximum displeasure, rumbling the space around us as he threw his head back. “You don’t know how badly I loathe you right now.”
“And continue doing it silently. I already know your opinion.”
Darius grumbled his voice and began to get up. “I’ll do it silently.”
I tightened.
“Finally.” Troy muttered.
Darius gritted his teeth and kicked dirt in his direction. “I’m not doing that! I’m going to find real food.”
“Then we hope for your success.”
“I don’t need anything from you.” He walked away into the dark but Troy was still watching. I was at least glad he didn’t try acting against Zayden.
“Let him be.” Zayden said. “You need time away from each other.”
“It’d take a little more than that.” It was clear Troy was frustrated while he took off pieces of his armor for some unknown reason and placed them beside him.
“Too bad you can’t walk, Ruby.” Zayden joked.
She frowned. As did I. “Taking amusement in my pain?”
“No.” Jaylyn said, leaning towards her while talking through her teeth. I hated even hearing it. “He means it’s too bad you can’t go after him and help.”
Her eyes widened and she tried not putting them on me. I saw her avoiding it. “Oh! Can I crawl after him then?”
Zayden and I both lifted our eyes and spoke with a deep dominant voice. “No!”
“And it was also a joke.” Jaylyn whispered.
“Then you shouldn’t make it sound so fun. I’m dying a little myself.”
Zayden’s eyebrows rose with curiosity. “It’s been over six months for you?”
“More like over six days.” I muttered in irritation. “And she’s fine.”
Ruby sighed and buried her face down on her knees so she wouldn’t say anything else. She completely disagreed with me of course, over six days without a man was torture but she knew when not to say anything. My mood was vexed enough. I remained stiff at Zayden’s side to show it while the fire crackled in front of us.
The mask I wore on the outside resembled anger like they all would expect but on the inside I was mesmerized to be less than a foot away from him. All I had to do was reach out my hand and make him mine but I wouldn’t. He was lead in taking us to our deaths and I just wished it was over. Death would be a great release to this inner pain. Every second I spent at his side hurt. I couldn’t bear the thought of a future with him, the enemy but couldn’t see my life without him either. I was torn.
My eyes were staring straight into the fire so they wouldn’t shift to my right towards him and I was locked inside my own mind, waiting for it all to end. The others sat around in what seemed like an endless silence and I thanked them for it without saying it. I liked the silence.
My eyes were focused on the fire in front of me and I was solely concentrated on it. My breathing was slow but steady and the fire became the same.
“Ah—Adele—” Ruby whispered softly. She probably saw what was happening with the fire and was hoping no one else did. “Adele—” She picked up a small pebble at her feet and tossed it at me. “Adele!”
Before it hit me, I blinked and quickly brought up my hand, catching the pebble from the air but spoke calmly unlike my reaction. “What?”
“You’re doing weird things and you said—”
“Relax. I’m fine.”
“You sure?” Jaylyn asked. “You’re seeming a bit distant.”
“Genius diagnosis, Jaylyn. If I wanted your wisdom I would have asked for it, like what am I seeming now?”
“Ah—self-heated with your own rage? Maybe you should take your coat off and let out some of that steam before you combust and kill all of us.”
“How about no? I’m not about to play that card here.”
Zayden tossed the last bit of food into his mouth with a question. “Play what card?”
I sat still and didn’t say a thing to him, not even looking over.
“The usual simple fix card.” Ruby smiled.
“Shut up.” I muttered.
“And what is that?” Zayden asked, glancing at me for a mere second but knowing I wouldn’t answer and looked back to Ruby.
She still had the smile on her face and neglected to listen to my quiet demand. “The ‘give me what I want because I have what you want’ card.”
Zayden got it right away and laughed. “Neither of those two things are going to happen.”
“So, you say now but she does have a way of changing things.”
I sighed from the annoying talk about me right in front of me like I wasn’t sitting right here and had to end it. “Can we stop talking about this? It wasn’t even close to a suggestion.”
“Awe, you don’t really mean that.” Jaylyn smiled. “You can’t think we haven’t noticed.”
“Don’t talk like they’re not sitting here! This conversation is over. Ended. No more discussion. We clear?”
“But—”
“We clear?”
Ruby and Jaylyn looked at each other when they saw my eyes flicker in Zayden’s direction and just smiled.
“For now.” Ruby said.
My eyes rolled and I put my head down to end all conversation completely but it was quickly lifted again in reaction to a loud sound.
Darius had come back, dropping a small deer where he was sitting. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me.”
“Do we get to eat that?” Jaylyn asked.
“It’s why I got it.” Darius kneeled down and began to cut it open.
“Awe. Isn’t he just the sweetest?” Troy joked.
Darius looked up with narrowing eyes. “It’s more like simple logic. If they’re going to survive long enough for us to get home, they need to eat. I can’t carry all of them.”
“As you are completely right.” Zayden said. “At least one of you are thinking properly.”
Troy’s eyes rolled. “Read a little deeper into his intentions and you might disagree.”
“What is with his attitude today?” Darius asked Zayden.
“Same as what’s with yours.”
Darius laughed and glanced up at Ruby. “I suppose so.”
“Just cook that and bury the rest.” Zayden tossed a bag to him that landed with a clang from something inside. “We don’t want any unexpected visitors tonight.”
Darius picked it up and set up a stand over the fire, putting a pan on top so it would get hot while he cut thin pieces of meat from the deer. “Be lucky I can get enough out of this thing for us.”
“Then you should have gotten a bigger one.” Troy said.
Darius didn’t look up. He continued with his work. “That would have required me going farther. It was the straggler of the herd.”
“Well—”
“It’s fine.” Zayden thankfully cut in. I was getting a bit tired of the male version of Ruby and Jaylyn arguing. “We’re still days away. We’ll come across something else. In the meantime, this will be enough.”
Troy left it alone and so did Darius. He continued with the quick meal and began putting the pieces on the pan to sizzle.
Not another word was spoken while we waited. I kept my eyes straight forward, not to put them on Zayden for even the slightest chance that he’d notice and say something else. I didn’t want to see him, knowing it may start to weaken my thoughts of revenge and that was something I never planned to give up on. My father at least deserved that loyalty in me and I wouldn’t let him down even if that meant I would have to wait a little longer and suffer a little harder every second I spent at his side.
“How do you ladies like it?”
I still didn’t move or even have to blink to stop Ruby from letting out any kind of zany comment. “Don’t even.”
“What?! I wasn’t going to!”
“I bet. He was asking about the food.”
“Oh. Um. I’m not really sure.” Ruby sa
id to Darius. “The way Adele always makes it?”
“And how would you think he would know that?” I asked.
“I don’t know. How do you make it then?”
I sighed and shifted my eyes towards Darius. “She likes it done but just, not too dry but not too chewy like it were raw. Jaylyn is the more ‘I need to eat now before I wither away and die’ type so you don’t have to cook hers that much. She’ll eat just about anything the way it is.”
Ruby quivered. “I can’t stand that.”
“And you?”
I let the question linger on my mind before I looked away. “I won’t be eating.”
“I’ll have hers!” Jaylyn smiled.
Darius held back his smile from her sudden upbeat desire to have my portion of the food and he looked towards Zayden like he was waiting for the final decision.
“Set it aside to be saved. She will be eating it.”
My eyes rolled from Zayden’s tone like he planned on making me if he had to but they never landed on him. I kept my silence and all looks of my detestation shrouded away by turning my back from everyone and leaning up against the log I once sat on.
I heard Zayden move and he spoke in a soft private voice. “You know, you have serious issues. Did you know that?”
I kept my eyes from him. In fact, I closed them completely. “Goodnight.”
“All right. I understand your disposition but if you think I’m allowing you to stay out in the open like this, you should probably think again, Love.”
I sat up a little and looked at him for the first time in the minutes I spent next to him and it was like I was frozen cold all over again. “What?”
Zayden merely looked up at the shelter. “Don’t make me make you because you know I will.” I remained quiet and was tapping my foot rapidly on the ground that caused Zayden to raise with a heavy sigh. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”
He turned to me and clutched my hand, pulling me to my feet. “Hey!”
“Do I have to point you in the right direction?”
I glared at him and shot back with my own sarcastic remark. “But I might get lost walking ten feet. Maybe you should carry me so we know I’ll make it there.”
Zayden raised one eyebrow as he flashed his charming crooked smile and did something I didn’t expect. He quickly tossed me up over his right shoulder.
I was caught completely off guard to the surprise of it and had a hard time trying to get free. “Zayden! I wasn’t serious! Put me down right now!”
He didn’t listen and I was taken inside the shelter. I feared to be alone with him but I couldn’t stop it.
Chapter 13
Troy
I tried holding in my laugh while Zayden carried Adele into our sleeping quarters. She obviously wasn’t thinking he’d do that but my laugh was more in amusement to how Darius must feel right about now. Zayden makes the rules and if he wanted to show Adele a thing or two about who’s in charge then he had a right to.
I looked at him and just as I thought, he didn’t look pleased but I knew Zayden. He probably wasn’t in the mood to show her anything.
“Is that allowed?” Ruby’s voice was anxious while her thumb pointed back over her shoulder.
Darius only briefly glanced up at our sleeping quarters and continued tending to the cooking meat. “He’s the one in charge so apparently.”
Ruby’s breaths were becoming quick and she looked at Jaylyn. “I bet she wasn’t expecting it to turn out like this!”
“You don’t know that it’s him.” Jaylyn replied low enough to be thought a whisper.
“Why else would she be so angry?”
“I could think of a few reasons.”
I looked at Darius with my own curiosity and he asked the question for me. “Don’t know that he’s who?”
Ruby and Jaylyn both shifted their eyes towards us, maybe a little unsure if they should answer.
“I’m sorry. You did not hear me just say that.” Jaylyn said.
I smiled to the nervousness in her perfect beautiful voice. “We kind of did. You know something?”
“It’s nothing relevant. Just a past thing.”
Ruby was very vague and Darius looked over at me even more curious than before. “You mean to say that they know each other?”
“Well, not exactly. I mean, he doesn’t know her but if we’re right, she knows him.”
“How?”
“We really shouldn’t be talking about it.” Jaylyn started fiddling her fingers together cutely from the nervousness of the topic. “It was a long time ago.”
“Well, how do you know it’s him?” I asked.
Ruby grabbed her hands to stop her while she answered me at the same time. “She’s been to your city on sort of a little vacation before we got into this life. She’s seen him before. His eyes are what she remembered most. They’re unique in a way that would be unforgettable to one seeking them. She’s described them to us as the color of the crystal waters of the south.”
“It runs in the family.” Darius smiled.
“See? I’m telling you it’s him.”
“Okay but even if that’s true, I don’t think it’s going to change anything.” Jaylyn told her. “She’s clearly already accepted it now that she knows who he really is. Her attitude has proven that.”
Ruby took a breath in and let it out like an agreeing sigh. “Yeah. That’s so like her.”
“Here.” Darius had two pieces off the pan and on two small tin saucers. “First two are yours.”
“Thanks.” Jaylyn leaned across the fire and took both plates, handing one right off to Ruby.
She kept it in her hand and stared down at it. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat it with over there, would you?”
Darius looked around and started digging through one of the bags. “Sorry. We’re a little shy on utensils but I’ll let you have one of these knives if you promise not to kill me with it.”
Ruby smiled. “Murder never made it on the list of things I want to do to you.”
Jaylyn quickly elbowed her but it wasn’t quick enough. Darius already started to smile and looked over at me. “How long do you think he’ll be?”
I laughed. “Not long enough. Just let her have that instead.”
“Damn.” He moved himself forward just enough to hand off two small daggers. “Here you are. You can have this one, Blondie.”
“Thanks. I had no idea I was blonde.”
“Sorry if that offended you.”
“It didn’t. It’s pretty obvious what color my hair is in any light.” It was true. Her hair was so blonde, almost white even; the perfect shade of ivory.
Ruby grabbed everyone’s attention when she let out a pleasured moan with a mouthful of food.
“You all right?” Jaylyn asked.
“It’s so yummy.”
Jaylyn scooted herself a few inches away from her just by the gratifying tone she used to say it and I laughed again. She was so cute. Anything she did was only pulling me in further.
“I’m glad.” Darius said.
“That’s great.” I sighed. “Now get ours going.”
“All right. All right. Give it a few minutes.” He put two more pieces on the pan and let them cook.
“Psst.” Jaylyn was quietly trying to get my attention but was still heard by everyone because it already was quiet. “How exactly am I supposed to eat this without—”
Her eyes moved to Darius and he questioned it before I could answer. “What? Don’t want me seeing your face?”
“That concern crossed our minds.”
“It’s okay. You have nothing to worry about. You won’t be first. Once you see me get to her, then you can worry.”
Ruby moaned again. “Why can’t it be now?”
“I’d like more than anything for it to be now but Zayden has made it clear that won’t happen and I’ll keep it that way until he changes his mind. So, Jaylyn, you’re perfectly safe.”
“T
hank you. Sorry that I assumed.”
“I’m sure it was actually Troy’s worry and he was just trying to protect you since he claimed you from the beginning.”
Oh, no. I couldn’t believe he just mentioned that and I felt so embarrassed.
“What does that mean?” Ruby asked.
Jaylyn looked just as curious and Darius laughed. “Oh, Troy, you didn’t tell her? You should really tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
I had no choice now and just hoped that she didn’t see bad in me. “Well, we knew you were coming at some point and I did a routine check to see when that would actually be. I saw you before you even got to the border and knowing what was going to happen to you, I requested not to have to share you.”
Ruby laughed but my focus was on Jaylyn. She said nothing and it was starting to worry me until she smiled. “You picked me to rape over them? That’s so sweet!”
That was completely not the reaction Darius nor I were expecting but I took it. Jaylyn came over to me with her smile and removed her mask, kissing me for a second time. I wasn’t expecting that either but I couldn’t refuse her.
“Yippee, Jaylyn.” Ruby muttered. “You win again.”
“Don’t feel bad about yourself.” I said. “Darius wanted you firstly because of your name then asked if you were wearing red and your fate with him was sealed when I told him you had red hair.”
“Really?”
Darius cleared his throat and I was glad it was his turn to be embarrassed. “I know what I like and you—well, I need to stop thinking about it. That’s what I need to be doing.”
Ruby smiled and crawled over to him as best she could with her injured ankle and planted a kiss on him. He was stunned by the surprise but it didn’t take him long to retaliate and start kissing her back.
Jaylyn and I smiled as we looked over at each other and let it continue while Jaylyn inched herself just a little farther towards me with her food. “Should have seen that coming.”
I laughed and glanced in their direction. “Yeah, he’s been wanting something, obviously mad because I already had but I think that’s enough before Zayden senses misbehavior.”
I cleared my throat loudly but Darius put up one finger for me to wait. I just laughed and leaned over, punching him in the arm lightly so he would actually stop or who knows where things would have gone. That was an expression mostly. I knew where it would have gone and he would have done her right in front of us but they did finally stop.
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