And she wasn’t the only one today to suffer because of it.
I could change that. I could help stop this from happening. Iwouldhelp stop this from happening. I would keep climbing that tower until I knew where in the south I was supposed to go, because I was so damnedluckyto have lived the life I had. Others weren’t as fortunate.
“When I tried to leave, he cut my hair, beat me, and locked my brother away, holding him captive to make sure I cooperated. I had no choice but to try to kill him and leave. That day, I managed to free my brother, and we nearly escaped. But I’d gotten the dosage wrong, and he took my brother back. He swore that if I told you this story he would kill him.”
The man exploded, launching to his feet and lunging at the girl, screaming a slew of profanities as he was caught and thrown back to the ground. “Youfucking bitch.I willkill you!You’re dead, and so is that littlebrat—”
Someone kicked him in the head, brutally cutting his tantrum short.
“Release her,” Harthon ordered, sending a rush of tears to the young woman’s eyes. Then he grinned, white teeth glinting with sharp intent as he settled his eyes on the man.
“Now, I believe I told you what would happen if you opened your mouth again. We’ll begin with your tongue, and then we’ll decide what goes from there.”
Chapter 24
Stefano grunted as he blocked my kick. I ducked under his swinging arm and sent my fist forward as a distraction. I brought my opposite fist in for the blow, hooking up toward his lungs.
He stepped back, just dodging the blow, a look of surprise on his face. “Did I do something to piss you off?” he asked.
“It’s not you. Sorry,” I said, swiping at the sweat on my forehead. The justice hearing had left me angry and frustrated, partially at those who sought to exploit others, but mostly at myself for not making any more progress in discovering the path.
“Don’t be sorry. It’sawesome,” he reassured, stepping away to drink some water. He extended a cup to me, which I greedily accepted.
“I appreciate you doing this with me. Really,” I told him, knowing he didn’t need to be taking blows and getting beat on. These sessions weren’t in his job description, but they were immensely helpful.
He shrugged. “Like you said, doing this will help you better protect yourself, and my job is to protect you.”
Still, he was going above and beyond. He may not have been as smooth as Callen or Harthon, but his skill was unmistakable, and I was lucky that he was willing to share those skills with me.
“How did you get so good at fighting, anyway?”
He took another gulp before refilling his cup. “Harthon’s a good teacher. I’ve been with him for a while.”
“How long is a while?”
“Seven years.”
My eyes bugged. “Sevenyears? How old were you when you found his group? Eleven or twelve?”
“Ten,” he corrected.
So he was with Harthon during that mysterious time of his life that he kept so hidden. Ever since the wolf incident, I’d learned nothing more of Harthon’s past. With him being so busy, I’d had little time alone with him, and what conversation we did have didn’t welcome those topics. But I was still just as curious as I had been before.
I plopped into a chair, slowly sipping my drink. “How did you end up with them?”
Stefano scratched his head. “Their people and my people had a…run-in. He took me in.”
I knew without asking that it was probably the same type of run-in we’d had with the looters. Violent and deadly.
He didn’t mention any parents, and I wondered if he was an orphan. It would probably be too intrusive to ask. We got along, but we weren’t necessarily friends. I liked him, and I was rather certain he liked me, but just because he was forced to spend every day in my company didn’t mean that we were confidantes.
“What was it like, being with them?” I asked instead.
He leaned his hip against the table, swirling the water in his cup. “It was hard. We moved a lot. There was no space for people who couldn’t help, so I was forced to train. But I wanted to learn how to fight, and Harthon watched over me. North and Callen too, when they came along. I owe them a lot.”
“How come you moved so much?”
“Harthon was on a mission. We were chasing down some peopleand sometimes being chased by others, so it wasn’t an option to sit in one spot.”
