It took effort to drag my horrified gaze away from the dead nian. When I did, I found Zane’s face tightened with worry.
“Can you ride?” Zane had lifted his axe to his shoulder. The softness I’d seen in him was gone, replaced by a steely resolve I found comforting.
I nodded slowly, as if my head was too heavy for my neck. “A bit.”
“We need to go. Now.” His urgency told me everything I needed to know. Nians weren’t secretly warm and fuzzy. Remy hadn’t killed the thing in a fit of pique. They were every bit as terrifying as they looked. And where there was one, there were probably more.
Chapter
Forty-Four
HAVEN
They had a horse for me. Her shaggy, dappled gray coat and gentle eyes made me fall instantly in love. Buttercup—even her name was perfect.
She nudged me with her velvet nose, telling me she loved me too.
My fingers itched to braid her mane, but the nians meant we had no time for bonding. With a tired sigh, I climbed into the saddle. “Where are we going?”
Zane hauled himself atop a gigantic warhorse and said, “Talin.” The capital of Rymar was a mountain fortress, filled with evil and vice. Or at least that was what they taught children in Legacia. I was starting to think we’d been taught a load of drivel.
I glanced at Remy, who rode a horse as black as his soul. Fury seeped from his pores. It was almost as if he was angry that I’d saved him. The man hadn’t spoken a word since I’d shot magic over his shoulder. Not that I wanted to talk to him. He was an overbearing ass. Still, a thank-you would have been nice.
He stared straight ahead, as if the fate of the world depended on ignoring me. Well, I had news for him. According to Gladys, the fate of the world did depend on me. My brain shied away from the very idea. Destiny could have picked a hundred people—a thousand people—more qualified. I shoved those thoughts into the overflowing storage closet in the back of my mind, the one hung with a sign that read “Danger. Open at your own risk.” “How far away is it?”
When it became glaringly clear that Remy wouldn’t answer me, Zane said, “Four days.”
“You rode for four days, then waited another three?” I didn’t add “for me,” but the unspoken words hung in the frosty air.
Zane’s smile lit his whole face. “Worth it.”
Remy snorted.
What had I ever done to him? “I saved you.”
“Do you want a medal?”
I did. A gold one. I’d earned it for putting up with men like him. Why did I attract assholes like a lodestone? I clucked softly, and Buttercup trotted ahead of the raging ass.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Away from youhovered on the tip of my tongue. I swallowed what I wanted to say. The words burned going down, but fighting with Remy now would be stupid. If nians were tracking us, I needed him focused on the real threat, not whatever petty grudge against me he was nursing.
Behind us, a branch cracked, and every muscle in my body tightened.
Less than three weeks ago, I’d been leading a quiet life. Sure, I’d been occasionally bored, but I was content. And if I’d sometimes dreamed of excitement or adventure, they were just dreams. I would never have left Grandmother or the girls.
Now I could never go back, and I had more excitement and adventure than I could handle.
“Please,” I whispered to the goddess whomightbe looking out for me. “No more nians.” The scaly creatures terrified me. Black blood? I shuddered.
“What are you muttering about?” Remy’s foul mood hung around like a poisonous cloud.
Much as I wanted to give as good as I got, I bit my tongue. With nians stalking us, picking a fight with Remy seemed monumentally stupid.
“Well?” Remy pressed.
Part of me wanted to blast him off his horse and leave him for the nians. But that would make me the monster, wouldn’t it? And we might actually need him if we were attacked. “Can we deal with your issues when we’re not being hunted?”
