“Why? Does that excite you?” Her pulse flickered. “I’m nothing but a useless whore, remember? You said so yourself. I wouldn’t want you to end up getting your hands dirty with the trash you’ve been forced to drag around with you.”
She tried to step by me, but I reached out and gripped her arm, spinning her in my direction. “I never said you were a useless whore.”Did I?
For a split second, her smirk faltered. For a split second, I thought I saw the Rummy beneath the mask.
But that’s all it was—a single second in this life of pretending.
“Trust me, your face has said enough.” She ripped her arm out of my grip and marched back toward Xavier with a single glance.
I waited until I could take a deep breath without shaking before returning to the group. If we hurried, we could make it to the Whispering Caves before dawn. From there, it would be a long trip the rest of the way home.
And that was assuming Cornelius hadn’t already noticed our absence.
Chapter 23
Rummy
How had I ended up in the middle of the woods, riding on horseback with filthy males,again?At least this time, my ass had gotten used to the saddle much faster. Plus, Matthias wasn’t with us. That guy gave me the creeps, anyway. The awkward silence was much better than his repeated attempts at conversation on the way here.
We rode for hours, and to my surprise, I managed to lead the group without a single complaint.
Well, an out-loud complaint.
The thick mass of trees around us eventually gave way to a large, open field just before the sun rose around us. The sky was a soft orange—a sight that almost made me want to become an early riser. Almost.
“We’re getting close,” I called to Xavier and Jessiah, who rode silently behind me. “I recognize this place.”
“I’m surprised you recognize any of this,” Xavier said. “You were practically unconscious the entire trip.”
“Please. I think I’d remember this place even if I were dead.” It wasn’t a lie. There was something distinctly eerie about the Whispering Caves. After the episode on the way here, I wasn’tjumping at the opportunity to hear those creepy voices again. But the only other way to pass the caves was to have Jessiah fly us over them, and then we’d be stuck on the other side with no horses and a multiday trek ahead.
So, I was ready to face those voices again.
That’s all they were, right? Voices. Random sounds. Nothing meaningful.
That’s what I told myself.
I tried to ignore the cramp in my chest at the thought of moving further and further away from Pericius. What Cornelius was doing…it was horrible. He stole theessenceof those people for himself.
Simply because he wanted to be powerful.
But why did I feel like I was leaving a friend? Why did I feel like I was leaving someone who might’ve actually thought I was important for once?
A few minutes later, the massive stone structures on the horizon came into view amidst the sunrise. “That’s them,” Jessiah said from behind. “We’ll make it through as quickly as possible and we’ll be on our way.”
“Right,” I snickered. “Because things usually turn out that simple for us.”
“It’ll be fine,” Xavier said. Though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than us. “We survived it once already, right? The second time should be no big deal.”
Still, I saw him take a large, shuddering breath as we drew our horses closer.
And closer.
“You go first, Xavier,” I pushed. “The gods seem to like you more than us.”
He pulled back on his horse’s reins. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t wake up with this impossible headache two days in a row.”
I rolled my eyes as Jessiah pulled his horse up to mine.
