I nodded. “I like vegetation. And a lot of it. It’s beautiful.” This barren world was not.
“I like my home,” Poppy slurred. “At least, I used to.”
I cocked a brow. I wasn’t touching on the subject. That comment was filled with drama. Instead, I herded her forward. With each of her steps, she leaned more heavily on me, as if going to her house was dragging her down. I whispered, “You okay?”
She grunted, not remarking. Then a single tear leaked down her cheek as she stared at her home, lit brightly through the windows, the lights shimmering off the water surrounding it in a welcome home effect. Apparently, she didn’t believe it was very welcoming.
I swiftly wiped it off her face, and murmured, “Don’t start that right now. You’re strong, remember?” Her current life must be a living hell. Tragedy had struck her—that was certain.
Of what variety, I wasn’t positive yet.
Poppy cleared her throat and walked a little easier. Thank the moon above.
Cassander continued to stumble behind us. His bare feet must be taking a beating on the rocks. They weren’t only boulder size. A few were tiny and getting kicked up by my own shoes.
Rune walked directly next to me, pointing at spots for me to travel, helping me avoid any dips I couldn’t see in the night. His black, shiny dress shoes were silent with each of his easy steps. As we neared the stairs, he asked gently, “Do you want me to take over?”
“No, I’ve got her,” I mumbled. And I did.
It took fifteen minutes since Poppy started blabbering on and singing in a god-awful voice, stopping at every stair to chatter about pointless shit. But we made it to the top of the stairs. It was there, as we neared her front door when it finally dawned on me. Poppy was lonely. All her actions pointed right to that simple reality.
So where the fuck was Mr. Godric King? Did he run off with some other woman?
If so, I’d be tempted to kick his ass. I didn’t know Poppy all that well, but she deserved better than that. Damn asshole with a God complex.
But I quickly changed my mind. It must be some type of “lion complex.” Because there was a most obnoxious and enormous, golden lion statue parked right next to his front door. My nose wrinkled in revulsion, and I muttered, “What the crap? Is that real gold?”
Poppy snickered—a little sadly. “It’s hideous, isn’t it?”
“Hell yes, it is.”
Behind us, Cassander slurred, “Don’t say that too loud. Alaric made it for God.”
My mouth snapped shut. I didn’t want to tick off the giant of a man.
Rune opened the front door and held it open while I maneuvered the drunkard inside. The four of us continued into the house with Rune leading the way. Cassander banged into the walls a few times on the route, cursing occasionally, but managed not to break any of the expensive pictures hanging on the walls. My chest pumped in exertion and sweat dotted my brow. Her room had better be coming up. We’d already been walking for five minutes.
We stepped into a small living room full of comfortable and plush couches, the area dimly lit for the evening. A few drinks sat on the tables and books cluttered the space. A single man sat in a recliner, the seat leaned back and his feet up. His eyes were closed and his hands linked together over his chest.
I squinted. I could have sworn I had seen him somewhere before.
Maybe twenty or thirty years old—odd how I couldn’t really tell. He had dark honey-colored hair currently in disarray as if he’d been tugging at it. He wore a pair of red flannel pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt, his feet bare, the soles pointed right at us in the entryway to the room.
Without opening his eyes, he asked softly…slowly, “Who the fuck is with you?”
My spine stiffened, all alarm bells of self-preservation blaring in my mind.
Danger! Danger! Get the hell away from him…
Cassander stumbled forward and fell backward onto a couch, half hanging off it. “That’s Megan Marshall. She’s with Rune and is currently helping the escape artist—who’s presently drunk off her ass.”
Poppy grouched, “Look who’s talking. You’re just as drunk as me.”
Instant. “I walked inside all on my own.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you too.”
