I won’t make this easy for the Bloods.
Barnabas rests his feet on my knee, and I bind up his sliced feet.
Then I jump up, offering my hand to Barnabas. “Look on the bright side, maybe a Blood will see our cunning and want to claim us.”
I’m not talking about Lanlin and me.
I’m not.
Aye, I’m full of bullshit.
Aurelius is flying here like a possessive idiot for my sake, which is not something that I expected.
Does it prove that Aurelius hasn’t betrayed us? Loves both Freya and me too?
But he won’t make it in time to save me.
Barnabas takes my hand, hopping up. “I bet that Nebet thought us bad boys would have our necks torn out already.”
“How pissed off do you think we can make her?”
“How about if we survive until morning?”
“What would she do then?”
Good point.
Barnabas cocks his head. “You heard the sighs of pleasure on the night air. The Hunt is meant to be ritual, when Bloods select the most beautiful Blood Lovers to join their nest. It’s only us troublemakers who are being hunted for real. If they don’t catch us, then the cursed curs will probably set the local Shadow Humans on us. I am the infamous traitor and heretic.”
“Don’t you want to return to your people?”
Barnabas’ ears pin to his head. “I don’thavea people anymore. I’m the fucking fool who thought that he could stand against his kingdom’sdark gods. My own father disowned me.My village has exiled me. I don’t… I have no home to return to. I burned it down, when I started my rebellion. But I don’t fucking regret it. I may have failed but I failed as a free stag.”
He pushes past me, running up the stony path.
My ravens circle in front of me, as I sprint to catch up with him.
My chest is tight. “You never intended to live through tonight, did you?”
Barnabas doesn’t look at me, as I run next to him. Our elbows brush.
“If I did,” Barnabas says, softly, “my village, father, sisters, and brothers who are Blood Lovers somewhere in this court would pay for it. I would bleed out for any of them. I was dead the moment that my uprising failed. It was just a matter of where and when.”
I twinge, as the pain from the iron poisoning claws up my shoulders and then up my throat.
“I understand.” My expression steels. “But we’re warriors and we’ll go down fighting, aye?”
Barnabas’ bright blue eyes glow in the dark, as he turns to me. “All I wanted was to show these fanged fucks that a Hart can still give them a proper chase.”
“You’ve done that.” I lay my hand on his shoulder. My eyes burn. “We won’t make this easy for the bastards. The pyramids only have one path up to them. It’s the most defensible place outside the gates for us to make a stand if a Blood finds us.”
Because they will.
There must be at least four hours left until dawn.
Barnabas nods. “Chase you to the top.”
“You’re on.”
