“Do what?” I could guess what she’s asking, but that would be dumb. This way I can get her talking.
“Best Hawk?” The way she speaks his name, full of disgust, says it all. I wonder if she was one of his victims. I’m not ready to give away all my secrets, so I decide to give her some of the truth.
“He underestimated me.”
“That’s because he thinks he’s a gift from the gods,” she gripes. “Did you kill him?” She bites her lip again. I think it’s a tell, a way to show she’s eager to hear the answer.
“No,” I admit rather sadly, and I’m surprised to find it’s really how I feel. It’s a stark realization. I’m not the same person I was a few months ago.
“Damn, did you hurt him?” Her question ends on a hopeful lilt.
“A little,” I confirm, even though his physical pain wasn’t significant, because I have no doubt the loss will hurt him in other ways.
“That’s at least something. I’m Oshea,” she says.
“Briar,” I reply in case she wasn’t close enough to hear when I told Tank my name. “Will you show me where the bathroom is after we visit the tavern?” I get right to the point.
“Sure, but it might be better to go now to the one on this floor. The one near the tavern tends to be mixed use, which really means it’s usually the elites that use it.”
“Okay,” I agree. Now that I’m talking about peeing, I suddenly have to go more, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous to let this female lead me out of my perceived safety.
She does a half turn, keeping her eyes on me, and it puts me a little more at ease. She’s just as nervous about me as I am about her. I can feel eyes tracking our movements to the door. Right before we leave the confines of the room, she looks back and says, “I’m showing her to the bathroom.” Smart move. If I was planning on hurting her, she just alerted everyone that we’re leaving together and where we’re supposed to be going.
She pulls the door open and walks into the hall with a measure of confidence, but the way she glances around tells me she’s still on guard. I need to be more like her instead of bumbling around and hoping I don’t die, or if I do die, hoping it’s quick and easy.
“Technically, anyone can use this bathroom, or any of the others, but it’s like an unwritten rule or whatever that it’s mostly for the nest. The elites kind of take over the more communal area bathrooms, so be careful there.” The short walk down the hall is easy to navigate. We don’t see anyone else until we’re at the door and someone exits just as Oshea grabs for the handle.
A male walks out, not even bothering to look up. Oshea is quick enough to make sure she’s out of his way, but I’m not. His scowl is in place the moment I step back after our soft collision. “Sorry,” I say out of habit more than anything.
He doesn’t even speak as he gives me a wide berth and leaves the way we came. “Gin can be kind of a dick,” Oshea mutters once we’re in the bathroom. It’s larger than the novice ones I used to use at the Ivy, but not nearly as nice. Everything seems to be a little more run-down here.
I handle my business awkwardly with Oshea standing near the wash basin. “We should hurry so we can go with the group,” she says the moment I’m done. I make quick work of washing my hands while she stands in the doorway, holding it open for me. I have half a mind to tell her she didn’t need to wait if she was ina hurry, but I can’t bring myself to say it. I don’t want to seem ungrateful.
By the time we make it back to the stairs across from the room, Tank is closing the door to the nest, and Oshea gestures for me to follow the others who are already disappearing into the stairwell. I feel her on my heels every step up, but I also know Tank is on hers, so I can’t blame her. If she’s still willing to chat later, maybe I’ll ask her why everyone keeps their distance from him. Maybe she could even be my friend.
I almost snort out loud at the thought. I don’t have friends. I doubt anyone here does. You have allies and alliances.
I follow the rest of the group into the tavern and make my way through the line just like everyone else. When it’s time to sit down, I have a small moment of panic, wondering what the hell I should do, but Oshea simply says, “Coming?”
I need to be careful, or I’m going to end up liking her, and liking her would only lead to complications.
I give her a small, thankful grin and follow her to a table where two others already sit—a male who’s on the smaller side and reminds me a little of my youngest brother, Conner, and a female who is watching me with open disdain as I approach. I take the seat nearest her, hopefully hiding the way my legs shake when I drop into the chair. I hate this, I hate everything about trying to pretend I’m not bothered by the constant need to put on airs and act like I’m not the weakest person in the room who happened to get lucky a time or two.
Oshea introduces the others. “This is Jovi and Perrin.”
“Why did you bring her here?” Jovi, the female, doesn’t hide the fact that she doesn’t want me around.
“She beat Hawk,” Oshea defends, barely moving her lips as if I’m not sitting right here and won’t hear her. I could get up and give them the table, because I’m clearly not wanted, but I’m notgoing to. Instead, I dig into my food, not saying a word about the awkward situation.
“Yeah, and what does that say about her? Maybeshe’susing some kind of influence on you. Did you ever think of that?”
“I’m not,” I deadpan. If they only knew, but I’m not about to let it slip that I’m powerless and the only reason I bested Hawk was because I caught him off guard. I don’t expect it will happen again.
“So she says,” Jovi argues. Perrin shifts his arm. I can’t see under the table, but I would put money on the fact that he placed his palm on her thigh. I don’t know if it’s a show of support or if he’s trying to calm her down.
“How about you let me eat in peace and we can pretend we never met?” I offer, eager for her to shut her trap and not draw any more attention to the table.
“How about you disappear to wherever the fuck you came from?”
