I wasn’t even at the end of the side-street before my stomach started to twist painfully. A feeling like vertigo swept over me and my mind spun. This was the sickness Weston and the others had been talking about.
What an asshole I had been. He’d told me about this, over and over. He said he’d seen it, that the pack knew people who’d experienced it. I hadn’t listened.
I wanted to tell him I was sorry, that I was just as much at fault in our communication breakdown as he was. I’d been just as stubborn, if not more so. He’d relented; I had not.
I wished he was here, standing beside me, holding my hand as I walked this chemical-coated journey. Or just here for no other reason than I wanted to see his face. Hear his voice. See the rage, or lust, or humor glinting in his eyes.
The pains in my stomach got worse as I walked through the city. At one point I staggered to the side of the road and braced a hand against a wall, bent over. I wasn’t the only one. Other people I noticed had hunched in places, holding their stomachs for a moment. When they straightened, they took a deep breath and continued on, their movements slowing, their walk turning into more of a trudge. After that, things seemed to even out for them.
I felt the same effects and mirrored the same actions until I found myself stopped at the mouth of an alleyway, staring intospace, imagining a large ball the size of a house rolling through the cobblestone street in front of me. The image was crisp and vibrant. Birds swooped down onto it, colorful and lovely. This was the part of the product I’d devised, though it made me feel much more stationary than usual.
Having had enough, I closed my eyes and went through the steps necessary to rid my body of the effects. It still worked, just like usual. That was a relief, at least.
I’d need to peel off the waxy portion and figure out what it was made of. I was well-versed in reverse engineering. It’s how I’d gotten into this trade in the first place.
When I opened my eyes, it was to a hawk-like stare on a stern face.
“Hello,” the man said. His clothes smelled fresh. Other men stood around me, one on each side of me and one behind. “I hear you had some questions about how Granny altered your product. It is your product, is it not? The drawing we were given matches your likeness perfectly.”
My heart picked up speed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said in a slightly confused tone, hoping my alarm didn’t show on my face.
“I think you do. There’s a big reward for whoever brings you in. Alexander will be happy to come and collect you himself.” He glanced at those around me. “Take her.”
Chapter 27
Hadriel
“Ihope she’s laying low.” Burt said as he led a sturdy horse with a cart attached. We were making our way into town a little before midday.
Our trek had two functions: to get supplies, and to drink and pretend we were looking for a woman we did not want to find. Six of us had been dispatched for these tasks, with everyone in our group sympathetic to Aurelia. Tanix said I shouldn’t go at all, he didn’t trust me to do the right thing.
That guy was ass-backward and his grief wouldn’t let him see it. I felt for him, I really did, but he was being a serious cumgoblin about the whole situation.Do the right thing, as though marching a naive woman who’d been shit on all her life into the clutches of the dragons for a crime she didn’t even know existed, was the right thing. Fucking ridiculous.
I also felt for the alpha. His grief at letting her go was showing. He could usually hide his feelings, but he couldn’t hide the ragged remorse at letting her walk away. He craved her, it was obvious. He liked her, too. He’d found companionship and budding feelings, I could tell. Now he was fucked. Karma—it always got you in the end.
“She’s used to avoiding people, I’m sure she’s being a wallflower,” I said as I took in the houses and scanned the edges of the cobblestone streets. A familiar wrapper was entwined with a bit of litter. “We got Granny’s drugs in this town.”
“What town in this disgusting kingdom doesn’t,” Nova growled. She was our baby-sitter for this foray. She was the dependable, trustworthy one who’d probably be dragging me out of the pub later and asking if I wanted to try girls. She thought pushing vagina was hilarious. Very strange sense of humor.
“We’ve seen a couple, but, yeah.” I tsked. It was a damn shame. “Well, okay. It’s been fun walking with you all. If you need me, I’ll be in a tavern down the way. Hopefully they have a juggler or singer or someone I can incite into a bar fight.”
“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” Nova warned.
I put out my hands, indicating my drab attire. “I’m wearing the equivalent of a brown sack, aren’t I? I know what I’m about.”
“You disprove that statement every time you open that mouth,” Burt mumbled.
“I know you love me, Burt, but tone it down a little, will ya? The others will get jealous.”
He frowned at me.
“I’ll go with you,” Nova told me, her hand on my arm to steer me right.
“Don’t water down my fun.”
“Do I ever?”
