“I’m hungry.”
“It’s the middle of the night. How can you be hungry?”
“Will you go to the diner kitchen and bring me a slice of Maika’s apple pie?”
“Really?” But he was already getting out of bed.
“If you don’t want this to happen again, maybe you should consider stocking our kitchen.”
Morgath muttered something in orcish and walked out of the bedroom without even putting clothes on.
Audrey heard the front door open and close. She moved fast, throwing off the covers and rushing to where his trousers lay discarded on the floor. Her hands shook as she dug through the pockets until her fingers closed around the metal ring of keys.
She tried them one by one in the trunk’s heavy lock. The fifth key turned with a satisfying click, and she lifted the lid carefully, peering inside. The moonlight coming through the window gave her just enough light to see by, though she had to squint and lean close to make out the details.
Inside were old leather-bound books written in orc language, probably spell books based on the strange symbols she could make out. There were crystals of various sizes and colors, some that glowed faintly, which she tried not to touch. She found mage’s robes folded at the bottom. Morgath must have worn them before he became captain and chose to take the tattoos of his rank instead of dressing like a traditional mage.
Finally, at the very bottom, she found a skeleton key. It looked identical to one of the keys already on the ring.
“Bingo,” she whispered.
She was pretty sure this was a copy of the key to the locked door in his hut.
She took the skeleton key and closed the trunk, locking it again. She replaced the key ring in his pants pocket, then ran to her own bedroom to hide the stolen key among her things.
Morgath came back just as she was returning to his bedroom. He carried a tray with half a pie on it.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What were you doing?”
Audrey yawned and stretched her arms above her head.
“I needed the bathroom.”
“And you couldn’t use my bathroom?” he asked.
She waved him off dismissively.
“I have all my things in mine.”
She grabbed the pie from him and took a few bites, chewing slowly as he watched her.
Morgath rolled his eyes and climbed back into bed.
“You weren’t even that hungry.”
Audrey pouted as she placed the plate on the bedside table.
“I drank some water. It turns out I was thirsty.”
Morgath pulled her close. Her heart was beating wildly against her ribs, but when she heard him snoring softly a few minutes later, she knew he didn’t have a clue about what she’d just done.
He woke up early, when the sun was barely up. Audrey pretended she was still asleep, keeping her breathing even while she felt him shift beside her. He kissed her forehead, and for just a moment, she felt warmth spread through her chest before she forced herself to ignore it. She shouldn’t feel anything for Morgath, shouldn’t let these small gestures affect her.
He got up quietly and dressed, moving carefully so he wouldn’t wake her. She heard the front door close but waited another few minutes to be sure he was really gone.
Audrey jumped to her feet and went into her bedroom, grabbed the radio from the bottom of a drawer, and turned it on.
Tyler was the one who answered.
