He places a hand on the small of my back, and we leave the cracked mountain, my arms scratching against the fissure as we go. It feels like it takes even longer to get out than it did to get in.
Finally, sounds of the villagers begin to trickle in, and a moment later, we step back into the pavilion. All is as it was. Drinking and mingling, the man in the other corner still playing his instrument. It seems like I stepped out into a different world. I wonder what they’d think if they knew there was a person just inside this mountain whose tongue had begun to disintegrate right there in his mouth.
The walk back is quiet, and no matter how many breaths I take, I swear I can still smell the stench.
When we get to the cave, Slade stops me with a hand on my arm. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Too many thoughts at once.
Slade’s plunged in blue light, though there’s no missing the apprehension in his eyes. “I’m King Rot for a reason, Auren.”
“I know,” I tell him. And I do understand. I know he’s gotten his reputation for a reason, just as I know that he does things to protect his people and his secrets.
But he’s right—there is a difference when you see it firsthand. Just like when I crossed out of Sixth and saw the bodies trussed up like meat on a skewer. Just like I saw those guards in Ranhold, collapsing on the floor as their organs began to rot. It’s different to see it, and it’s different when I know a man has been left to suffer just to appease whatever it is inside of Slade that drives him to do it.
Because he’s King Rot.
And I...
I have a piece of that rot inside of me.
CHAPTER 35
AUREN
When Slade and I reachthe Grotto, I come to a grinding halt. Because I’m not doing this. I’m not going inside and stewing in questions. The old Auren would’ve done that, would’ve been too nervous to bring the subject up. But that’s not me anymore, and Slade isn’t Midas.
He stalls next to me. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re not going inside,” I tell him, chin tilted up, steel in my chest.
“We’re not?”
“No. Turn around and lead the way,” I say, hand gesturing toward the outside.
“Lead the way...to where?”
“Toher.”
“Auren, what you heard...” His words shred into frustrated scraps.
“I know what I heard. And you and I...there are still a lot of secrets. So many things we don’t know. But I’m not going to just go inside and fester, waiting around until you think I’m ready to hear what you have to say. So take me to her. You said past, present, and future, right?”
He sucks in a breath, but I look him in the eye without faltering. Because the only way to walk a new path is to stop yourself from using the same stumbling stride.
Even if his present is as shocking as a living corpse.
Even if his past might break my heart.
Even if his future isn’t guaranteed.
Emotion drips thickly down my throat, clinging to the back of my tongue. “I won’t ever again give myself to someone who doesn’t give himself back to me. So if there’s someone else here…I need to know about it.”
I see his throat bob, his eyes flicker. This is a split in the path. He knows it, I know it. If this were Midas, he’d pick one way.
But Slade...
Slade picks another.
