She bit her lip, playing with the small pendant on the necklace she was wearing, while I swallowed the nervous lump forming in my throat. I’d only known of her existence for a week, but somehow, she’d taken such deep root in my mind, it was making me feel like she’d been there all along. As though she were a part of my soul I’d never recognized until this moment.
“Would it change anything? If I told you that as soon as I’m back in his clutches, the rest of my days will be filled with endless torment and pain that I’d done nothing to deserve, would you willingly let the deal run out?”
I…
I didn’t know. Saying yes was terrifying, and what made things even stranger was that I wasn’t even sure if it was the thought of death itself that frightened me as much as the thought of leaving her here on this mortal plane unprotected. Because if I was alive, there was still a chance I could save her.
If she were telling the truth, that was.
My silence was her answer, and she stepped around my arm to keep walking.
I took a few quick steps to get ahead of her, since she didn’t know where she was going, and she sighed when we got in sight of my car.
“I’m sorry for slashing your tires, by the way.”
I frowned. “Wait, what? Why?”
It had been a smart move. A pain for me, obviously, but people had done and tried far worse once they knew I was on their trail.
“Because she’s a beaut.”
My heart caught in my chest.
She liked… my car?
I cut off the satisfied purr before it became too obvious and coughed. “Yeah, she’s… she’s alright.”
12
Werewolves at the Diner
For the first hour or so, we didn’t speak.
Then, slowly, Sage began to ask me questions from where she sat in the back.
“So, you’re from Ignareth?”
I wondered what game she was playing, because if everything she said about her fate was true, she should hate my fucking guts.
I mean, I was starting to hate my fucking guts.
But instead, she was making small talk, like we’d just met at a party or something.
I wanted nothing more than to hear her voice, but I needed to keep my guard up in case she was trying to distract me and escape again.
“Yep, born and raised.”
Unfortunately.
“Is that where you live?”
I snorted in disgust. “Ravaric, no. I left that cesspool the night of my twenty-first birthday. I kicked around for a while, spent some time in Fenmoor, and then bought a house in Cindralis three years ago.”
I waited for the surprised look on her face to show, and I was not disappointed. “Wait, Cindralis? Why?”
Adjusting my rear-view mirror, my gaze darted between her big green eyes and the road in front of me. “I travel a lot, and always felt the most at peace in Cindralis. I know it’s not as exciting as Noctis…”
Her expression darkened. “Noctis was a means to an end. And now it’s my personal hell.” She looked out the window, letting a wave of pain take its course, before turning back to face me with a brave smile. “But I agree. Cindralis is great. I‘d always planned to go back there after I graduated.”
