When his control returned, the rope was tight around his wrists, digging into his already aching skin.
“We’ll get to the fun revenge bit,” Felix told him, “but first you’re going to fix the mess you made.”
“The messImade?” August’s face twisted into a scowl, fury burning through him in a rush. The jagged edge of betrayal was still an open wound, raw and stinging. After what Felix had done—all the damage, all he’d stolen—there was nothing August wanted more than to drive a dagger straight through his heart. And now Felix had the nerve to blamehim? “Don’t you dare pinanyof what happened on me, you arrogant—”
Felix clasped a hand tight around his throat and slammed him hard against the wall, cutting the sentence short.
He leaned in close enough for August to see the gold flecks in his eyes in vivid detail. “You haven’t changed a bit, have you?” In a blink, his expression smoothed back into calm, and his hand fell away. “We’ve got a long walk ahead of us. Best get moving.” A quick flash of a smile, then he spun and slipped through the door.
August twisted a bound hand to rub his throat. He found Lottie on the other side of the room, concealed by shadows. Herworried gaze held his for a moment before Marlow grabbed his shoulder and shoved him forward.
“You chose an odd place to hide out,” Felix muttered as they walked. “Didn’t take you for the woodsy type.”
The journey from Bedwyck had felt endless, and going to Haverglen from here would be a full day’s journey. Possibly longer with the way the aesling was dragging himself along. Though Felix was struggling himself.
The first light of morning filtered down through the trees, the sky a bruised purple, but the path ahead was still cloaked in shadows. Wind sighed softly through the branches, and their shuffling steps carried through the stillness of the forest, disrupting the calm buzzing of insects.
Felix glanced back over his shoulder. August was saying something under his breath, his dark eyes distant.
“What are you mumbling about?”
He responded with a glower.
“Just making conversation,” Felix said indifferently. “My boredom threshold is quite low.”
He had taken his anger and locked it away to prevent himself from doing something stupid. There was a very real possibilitythat, if Felix wasn’t careful with his temper, August wouldn’t make it to Fallowmoor alive. And they needed him alive.
He eyed the aesling in the dim light, taking in the creeping black veins that stretched up his neck like the tree branches overhead.
“You look like death.”
“Fuck off, Felix.”
He grinned. “That’s fair.”
Pain flared, and he had to focus to keep his face steady. His prosthetic was digging in, and his back ached from the compensatory limp he was fighting hard to hide. His good leg trembled from bearing too much for too long.
“Marlow, I think we should take a quick rest. We need the aesling in one piece, and he’s looking rough.”
The look she gave him was a quiet understanding, a shared acknowledgement. She knew how his leg got. Knew that walking long distances left him miserable. And she knew how much he hated to admit it.
As he settled into the damp, dew-covered grass, Marlow sat beside him.
“You good?” she asked quietly
“I’m grand,” he muttered.
“Need me to dull the pain?”
He rejected the offer with a dismissive wave. She’d used a lot of her energy healing his gunshot wound, and he’d never risk pushing her past her limit.
He loosened the straps on the prosthetic and let out a slow, relieved sigh.
“Where are we going?” August asked, still on his feet.
“I told you. You’re going to clean up your mess.” When August frowned, clearly still not understanding, Felix added with the edge of a smile, “We’re going home, Auggie.”
August went still. “I thought you wanted me dead.”
