“Well, that was interesting,” Ory states as he turns to look in the direction that Suryn just stormed off in. “Looks like host duties now fall on me.”
Ory doesn’t look nearly as bothered by this fact as Suryn was. That should probably concern me, but at this point I’m done. I just want out of this room, away from these people and hopefully somewhere I can pee.
“Follow me,” he announces, turning swiftly and almost taking out Becket with a wing.
I take one more look around the room and wonder when these guards will wake up. I trace the now empty thrones and spot the starlit night sky through a window on the far back wall. We need to figure out how the hell to get out of here, and the first order of business...is getting those fucking Chosen marks off of my Shields.
14
I’m dead on my feet by the time Ory shows us to where we’ll be staying. He led us through what had to be a hundred hallways and several different floors. I’m pretty sure it was done to confuse us, in which case he succeeded, because I have no fucking clue where we are in relation to where we came in. Luckily for me, I just don’t fucking care.
Ory is standing in the doorway of the suite of rooms we’ll be occupying for ourhopefullyshort stay in this hell hole, informing us that food and drinks will be brought up promptly and going through some kind of itinerary he’s set for us tomorrow. He must have come up with these activities on the hour long walk it took to get to these rooms. I’m pretty sure the Sovereign just stated that she wanted us kept away from her; I didn’t hear anything about all these tours and interviews and shit that the winged windbag is going on about.
I rub at my tired eyes and promise my bladder for the thousandth time that I’ll empty it soon. Ory is still droning on with no hint that he’s going to leave us alone anytime in the near future, so I decide I need to take matters into my own hands. I walk right up to Ory. He seems confused by my approach but doesn’t stop jabbering about whatever the fuck he’s going on about.
“Sentinel,” he greets mockingly as I move until I’m chest to chest with him.
I don’t say anything, and he smiles over my head like he thinks I’m trying to intimidate him but he’s just too tough for that. I run my hand slowly up the frame of the door and wait until he looks down at me. His aubergine eyes flicker with suspicion and then interest as I look up at him and smile sweetly. Ory presses against me slightly, reading what’s happening all wrong. I lift my other hand and place it gently on his chest, and then I shove him out of the doorway and promptly slam the heavy black door in his face.
I lean against it and sigh. I can just make out Ory snickering on the other side, and I shake my head.That dude is a fucking weirdo. I sag against the black lacquered wood door and take in the room. We’re finally alone. There’s so much to talk about, and yet I don’t feel ready to dissect it all in this moment. So instead, I take in the details of this suite they’ve exiled us to.
I push off the door and join the others in the large room that’s the nucleus of the suite. Its walls and floor are made of that same soft cream stone. There’s carved vines and blooms in the corners that rise up to a high ceiling. Rugs and sofas sit in the middle, and a large dining table is pushed against a back wall that looks like nothing but windows from the top of the table to the very high ceiling.
I walk over to it and try to get my bearings with what I can see outside. It’s near impossible. I don’t know this place well enough to pick out any landmarks in the city or around it. It doesn’t help either that they don’t have electricity. Apparently, everything is lit up with fairy light. I’m not sure if that’s a spell or if there are Sentinels out there responsible for the little white orbs that dot the hallways, the streets of the city, and the ceilings in this room. It’s definitely not actual fairies like I first thought when Ory announced what the light was. He was quick to make fun of me when I tried to talk to an orb, hoping the little tinker bell would show his or herself.
Several open doors lead off of the main area, and I can see four large room options. At least we’ll all be together within hearing and fighting distance if push comes to shove around here. No one’s really saying anything. We’re all just looking around and doing our best to fight off the exhaustion that’s clear in everyone’s features.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m about to pee my fucking pants. Now, we all obviously need to talk and come up with a game plan, but can we sort out our bodily functions first?”
I don’t really wait for an answer before I dash through the closest door on my right in a desperate hunt for something that resembles a toilet…or a vase…fuck it, I’d take a bowl at this point. I’m doing the pee dance by the time I track down the somewhat hidden entryway to the massive bathroom, and I make it, just barely.
My bladder now blissfully empty, I wash up and quickly exit so someone else who’s in desperate need can manage their shit. I plop down on one of the soft red sofas. I’m so dirty that I feel bad sitting down on the plush furniture, but then I remember where I am and proceed to rub my nasty self all over the cushions. A little something to remember thefilthy muttby.
“So what the fuck are we going to do?” I ask when everyone is headed back into the room and settling comfortably on some piece of fancy looking furniture. Bastien and Valen saunter in and proceed to pick me up, plop their asses on the couch I was just lying on, and then set me down across their laps. I’m too tired to object, and even if I did, it would be empty. They all know that I like the manhandling.
“Well, we need to get the hell out of here, but I’m not sure how,” Sabin states, and several of us grunt in agreement.
“The issue is the Chosen marks. If we could get rid of them, then we could at least try to make a run for it,” I state on a massive yawn.
I have to make a concentrated effort to keep my eyes open. Bastien is running his fingers through my hair and slowly working the tangles out while Valen is tracing patterns on my leg that I’m finding very soothing right now.
“Is there a way to get rid of them?” Becket asks as he looks down at his hands. “These are just the beginning ones, right? We don’t get any more unless we…” He trails off, apparently not wanting to talk about thefuckingthat leads to the whole shebang of Sentinel markings.
“I don’t know,” I once again admit. “I’m seriously starting to hate those fucking words,” I add on a growl.
“Do you think if you marked them, it would trump the other Sentinel’s claim?” Ryker asks, his gaze contemplative.
“I did mark them. That sure as fuck didn’t keep what she did from happening,” I point out.
Ryker shakes his head. “No, I don’t mean mark them as your Shields, I mean mark them as your Chosen?”
Bastien stiffens underneath me, and Valen’s soothing patterns suddenly stop. I stare at Ryker for a moment just to be sure I heard him right.
“I don’t know if it works like that,” I offer hesitantly, trying to think through the ramifications.
If it got us out of here, it could be worth it. But then what?
Ryker sighs. “It might be our only option. They can’t stay here linked to that female. You heard what the Sovereign said, she’s going to kill all of them.”
