“What guarantee will I have if I hand her over?” Callon asked.
My head fell back to look at him. Had he really said that? Fucking bastard.
His fingers pressed into my shoulder, but he needn’t fear. There wouldn’t be any jumping up in indignation. There wouldn’t be much movement of any kind. It was too hard to breathe through the pain from the knife that had gutted me. Of course Callon would go along with the Magician. Why wouldn’t he? He owed me nothing. Less than nothing, after manacling myself to him. Why was I surprised?
“Whatever guarantee you need.” Harlow was smiling, as if the deal was done.
“I want time to think it over,” Callon said.
With every word, the hope I’d misunderstood died. My shoulders shrank so low that Callon would have to kneel to keep his hand there. Then I was bending forward, resting my arms on my legs and letting my head drop as well.
He’d never agreed to help me. It wasn’t a true betrayal. So why did it feel like one?
I glanced over at Tuesday, who was being held back by Koz’s arms around her waist. Her eyes were trained on Callon, and they were saying much more than if she’d been screaming.
“The Magician is prepared to give you several days,” Harlow said.
Callon took a step forward. “Tell the Magician I’m taking a week.”
“I’ll pass on your message.” The man bowed and then turned and bowed to me as well, that smile still there.
The second Harlow was gone, Koz dropped his hold on Tuesday.
She launched herself at Callon. “You’re a monster!”
Koz was on her again, swinging her away from Callon before her nails could meet his face.
Callon remained standing where he was, as calm as he’d been before she lunged. His eyes met Zink’s and he tilted his head toward where Harlow had left.
My butt didn’t budge off the ground. It was easier to remain sitting than stand on wobbling legs. Plus the movement might make my already-churning stomach decide it needed to empty as my options, or lack of, settled in my mind.
There wouldn’t even be a chance of running. As sure as Callon was chained to me, I was to him. The rage turned inward. I’d willingly entrapped myself and handed him the key to my downfall.
The camp was quiet, other than Tuesday crying, her rage turning to sorrow. At some point, Koz’s lockdown had turned to consoling as he rubbed her back. It was good someone had it in them to do it. Right now, I was too empty. The only thing filling that emptiness was the urge to take the knife I’d eaten dinner with and plunge it into Callon’s heart, in the hopes he might feel a fraction of the pain coursing through me.
Why had I thought part of him had wanted to protect me? He’d been stuck. That was the beginning and end of it. As the person who’d stuck him, I should’ve known. From the second I’d met him, everything had revolved around dumping me.
I’d been so stupid. There was no end to the error I’d made. How had I thought I could pull this off?
Zink stepped back into the clearing and nodded in Callon’s direction. Callon tipped his chin and Koz let out a sigh of relief.
Callon immediately walked back to where I was, and I finally found the strength to get to my feet so I wouldn’t have to look at him. He followed me, blocking my view. I would’ve kept moving—my feet wanted to run from him—but my pride kept my chin up, shoulders back, and, by some miracle, my eyes dry. Tears had never been my thing, but this situation would make rain in the desert. Plus, that wildness that was growing inside me was poking her head up, getting ready to fight.
If he thought this was going to be the live-and-let-live moment, where he told me he was only doing what he had to, he’d better plan on living an eternity. That was how long it would take for me to get there. I didn’t care if it made sense. My feelings right now had nothing to do with logic.
“I’m not going to hand you over. I’m buying time.” His voice was short, as if I’d irritated him.
“You aren’t handing me over?” Sure he wasn’t. I snorted. It didn’t make any sense. He wasn’t going to risk everyone here to save me. I was nobody to him and he was going to save his own ass, just like everyone always did.
“Although it would be much easier, no, that’s not what I’m doing.” The ire in his voice was growing.
“Why not? Give me one reason you wouldn’t.” I nailed him with my full glare, and what a look it was. If he was going to bullshit me, he was going to need to do better than that.
He crossed his arms, muscles tensing and the vein in his neck looking about to burst. “Because I said I wouldn’t.”
Oh, well, that explained it all.
He couldn’t even come up with a reason. I rolled my eyes in response.
Tuesday plowed into me from behind, hugging me. “Thank you!”
Who was she thanking and for what?
She was staring up at Callon. “I’m sorry. It was a knee-jerk reaction when I heard you say that to him.”
Seriously? She was believing this bull? Tuesday was back to hugging me, and I didn’t have it left in me to tell her how wrong she was. Or argue when she told me I was the one who was wrong.
“Now what?” Koz asked.
Callon spared me one last glare with those steel eyes before he walked over to the guys.
“He won’t act on us until after the week,” Callon said. “If we take the west pass around…”
I listened to them plan a way forward, and I wondered if he’d tell them it was all a lie once I fell asleep.
20
Trust but verify. There was a guy back in the village who used to say that. No one ever questioned him. He read a lot, so everyone thought that must mean he was smart. I’d silently disagreed. I always thought it should be verify then trust. That made a whole lot more sense. Otherwise, you were running around and trusting everyone. Talk about a setup for disaster.
I’d lost count how many times I’d been lied to. Callon seemed like a straight shooter, but that meant nothing. Lots of people seemed okay but weren’t. How many times had Baryn told me that he’d let me go? How many times had I believed him when I’d been too young and stupid to know better? Or the people he’d sent in to trick me? I’d lost count of the parade of liars I’d met. But I was supposed to trust Callon, with all those gaping holes in his story? I’d spent the last three hours of our walk peering through them.
“Where are you going to meet up with the Magician in a week to give him his answer? I didn’t catch that detail.” Because I’d heard the entire conversation, and nothing had been said about that.
Callon glanced at me, as if he knew every thought in my head, before looking forward again. “Stop it.”
“Yeah, stop it. You’re acting weird,” Tuesday whispered beside me.
I ignored her. I had to or I’d start yelling at her, asking how she could believe what he said. Didn’t she see it made no sense? He wasn’t going to risk himself and his guys for me. It was never going to happen, and that was the biggest gaping hole in this charade.
“What? I didn’t hear that detail,” I said, hurrying after Callon as he picked up his pace.
“Stop trying to figure out how I’m lying.” His voice wasn’t raised, but there was a rasp to it that sure sounded like his nerves were being rubbed raw.
“I don’t know why you’re getting defensive. It’s a logical question.” Especially if you had nothing to hide. He could be marching me toward the Magician right now, and I was supposed to be a lamb to the slaughter without a peep?
“Getting him a message won’t be a problem. He has men tracking us at this very moment.” His pace picked up even more, as if he was trying to put space between him and my questions, or maybe just wanted to get the hell away from me.
I still couldn’t stop. The fact that I wasn’t flat-out calling him a liar was about as much as I could hold back.
“He’s following us right now?” I glanced over my shoulder. “Then why aren’t we running? Why are we right now walkin
g in the middle of a field as clear as day?” After all, he did say he wasn’t going to hand me over. If that were true, we were as vulnerable as could be.
“Because that’s not the plan.” He spoke like he was having trouble getting his jaw to relax.
Oh, so now there was a plan? No one had told me there was a plan. I didn’t hear them talking to Tuesday about a plan.
“I’d love to hear—”
He swung around so quickly that I nearly ran into him.
He grabbed my arm, halting my progress. “Don’t,” he said, his voice low, his eyes a tinge of red swirling in the heart of steel.
Everyone else kept walking, flowing around us like water around a boulder. Water with big, nosey ears and eyes.
I tossed my hair back. “Don’t what?”
“Do. Something. Stupid.” Frustration exuded from his every move.
It was a cool act, but I’d been swindled too many times before to buy it. I wouldn’t stand around waiting to get stabbed in the back anymore.
“I promise, I won’t do anything stupid.”
His eyes burned ice cold, but he dropped his hand. He shook his head, as he had in the past, disappointment thick in his stare and movements. This time I wouldn’t let it gut me. I knew what he was now. No better than the rest of them.
Callon and I didn’t speak again, didn’t make eye contact. I didn’t know what his problem with me was, but I didn’t want to see his lying face.
We managed to maintain our distance for the entire day. Every hour, his guilt became more obvious to me. With each foot of distance he maintained between us, I knew I needed to take steps of my own.
Damn if I’d lie down for anyone again. I’d been trampled on for years and it would never happen again, not willingly. The rabid animal inside of me was chomping at the bit, and I wouldn’t hold it back.
By the time we stopped to make camp, I knew what I had to do. There’d be a few hurdles, but nothing I couldn’t manage.
Callon’s attention finally landed back on me. His stare could’ve burned me alive where I stood. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking back at him.
“I’ll hunt tonight,” Callon said to Koz, who usually caught dinner. “Keep an eye on things.”
After one final stare, Callon disappeared into the woods.
Keep an eye on “things.” Callon might as well have said “Teddy.” The only thing Koz wanted to keep an eye on lately was Tuesday.
Still, first obstacle cleared. Obstacle two approached.
“What are you thinking? I see that look in your eye.” Tuesday was studying my face, tilting her head this way and that, trying to find the right angle that would unlock all my secrets.
If we weren’t surrounded by superhuman hearing on every side, I might’ve told her. I wanted to tell her. Every time she’d looked at Callon today, big, innocent eyes full of trust, I wanted to smack some sense into her. But I couldn’t. Three pairs of ears were trained on us, and all of them were ready to report back to Callon.
“Nothing. What are you talking about?” I smiled, relaxing my shoulders, letting my arms hang limp. It was a good thing I lied better than she did.
Even so, she didn’t seem convinced as she tried yet another angle.
“Tuesday, I’m good.”
Maybe I wasn’t that good of a liar, because she was latching on like a grizzly with fresh salmon. I was half expecting her to snarl at me or swat me with a paw.
Koz walked over. “Tuesday, do you need to go to the stream?” He wasn’t smiling. He wouldn’t be that obvious, but his eyes were mighty gleeful. I’d heard the noises when they’d stolen a few private minutes.
The grizzly suddenly appeared more doe-like. “Sure.”
Oh yeah, those two wouldn’t be paying attention to anything in about five minutes.
The grizzly made a quick return as Tuesday turned to me one last time. “We’ll talk as soon as I get back.”
“Sure.”
Her and Koz disappeared. I turned to the last two guys, who wouldn’t be much of a hurdle at all.
“I’ll be right back.” I hooked a thumb toward a different patch of trees, knowing they’d assume I needed some privacy.
Hess and Zink didn’t glance up, too busy sharpening knives and building a fire. I swung close to Koz’s stuff as I walked, plucking up the knife he used to carve up dinner. As soon as I was out of sight, I quickened my steps, knowing the seconds were ticking by.
Callon had said the Magician was probably still tracking us. That I believed. The feeling of being watched hadn’t left me all day, and I knew the guys well enough that I could tell that they’d been off a bit too. They might be planning on screwing me over, but that didn’t mean anyone trusted the Magician. It was a big, murky mess of distrust all around.
I continued to hurry in the direction we’d come from, figuring if they were following us, they would be this way. My legs were already sore from so much use, but I pushed faster. The clock didn’t care about muscle aches.
“Harlow?” Not knowing the range of beast ears, even in their human form, I couldn’t risk yelling.
A man stepped out of the trees about ten feet away. Three more joined him. None of them were Harlow. These looked more like the men who’d shot at us. Still, if they worked for the Magician, they’d work for my plan.
They didn’t approach me, keeping their distance. They probably thought I was bait for a trap. It was smart thinking, because why else would I be here?
“Are you with the Magician?” I asked, needing to get this ball rolling before someone from my group found me.
“Yes,” the guy with blazing red hair said, his eyes darting behind me as he tried to figure out what this was about.
These were definitely lower-level men, their clothes not much better than I’d had back at the village. Their hands had the kind of worked-in dirt that wouldn’t wash out easy. They’d suit my purpose well enough.
“I’m so happy to have found you.” I took a step toward Red. He immediately took a step back. I hadn’t been prepared for that. I was going to have to really play this up. “Those horrible people are holding me hostage. They wouldn’t let me go!”
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to look as meek as possible. They stared at me like I was an eight-foot giant. Weren’t balls a prerequisite for being a thug? This was ridiculous. Was I going to have to collapse onto the ground crying?
“Can you please help me?” I tried to pitch my voice as high as it could go.
One of the men, with long, greasy hair, finally took a step forward. He only went as far as Red had. “If we bring her in without Harlow, we’ll be the big shots.”
“You mean if I bring her in. Not we. I’m in charge,” Red said. “I don’t have to share a fucking thing with you.”
Greasy shot a side eye at Red. Red was too busy looking at me, counting up his new favor, to notice.
Red, fearing Greasy might upstage him, stepped forward. “You can come with us. We’ll take care of you.”
I kept my head down, my arms wrapped around my waist as he approached. He needed to be in range. I couldn’t strike until he was close enough. I needed to take him out, a killing shot.
Red’s hand came around my shoulder, and I moved my hand to the knife tucked into my waist. Before he could see what I was about, I thrust it at him. It ended up being more of a swipe than a stab.
“What the fuck?” Red screamed, jumping back and putting his hand to where he was bleeding through his shirt, near his stomach.
Dammit. I’d only nicked him. Would that be enough?
“Fucking bitch!” Red continued screaming. “Grab her,” he yelled to his three backups.
Greasy was quick to circle me along with his two friends. That was when I knew two of them would die soon. Would one of them die tonight, by my hand? I couldn’t tell. Even in the vision, it was hard to make out how they ended up lying on the forest ground, bloody.
I waved the knife, trying to keep them at bay.
I needed to take one of them out or it would never be enough. My plan wasn’t the strongest to begin with, but if I didn’t have a dead body, how was I going to start a war with the Magician and Callon?
One had to die.
They circled around me, and I spun with them. Then the sound of wind chimes tinkled in the air, so soft it was almost like they weren’t really there. We all froze. The Magician’s men looked at each other while I tried to figure out what the noises were.
“Is that what I think?” Greasy asked Red.
Hand still on his stomach, Red said, “Nah. Can’t be. They’ve been long gone.” He was shaking his head, but his eyebrows rose and he was looking all around.
They? Who are they?
The chimes faded as quickly as they’d started. It was as if we’d all taken a time-out that had just ended. I crouched low, wondering who I had the best chance with, when Greasy lunged for me. He took me down easily, knife and all. Pinning both my hands to the ground, he smiled above me as he squeezed hard on my wrist, his stench making me gag.
I didn’t let go easy. Once the blade was lost, so were my chances. I had to notch this situation up a thousand degrees for it to work.
All of a sudden, there were screams beside us. Both me and Greasy turned our heads. Before I could figure out what was happening, a flash of silver and black ripped Greasy off me. No one took his place as all eyes went to the beast taking center stage, the one with its jaws on Greasy’s neck. The beast gave a violent shake of its head and then dropped a limp Greasy to the ground. Right next to Red’s body.
That was it. The other two took off screaming and the beast gave chase.
Well, if this didn’t ruin any chance of negotiations, I didn’t know what else I could do. I stood there in the clearing, staring at the dead bodies. Something was definitely wrong here. I’d only given Red a scratch, but Callon had killed him. If he’d planned on double-crossing me, that wouldn’t have been the move to make.
I sucked a breath in. Well, fuck me. I might’ve read this one a hair wrong. Maybe, once in a rare moment, trust then verify was in the right order.
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