All I can do is stare as he ties the beast next to my own, offering not a word of explanation.
“What do you think you are doing?” I finally ask.
Maddox shrugs and swipes a skewer from the fire, blowing on the meat before taking a bite. “Moving. Staying in one place too long makes me itchy.”
Gryffin steals one as well, not bothering to blow on it before stuffing the thing between his lips.
“You are moving too?”
He nods.
“Life at camp has been shit without you. Boring as hell too.” Maddox steals another skewer, leaving me with only one left for dinner.
“By all means, help yourself to my food,” I say dryly, blinking through the sudden stinging in my eyes. Must be the smoke from the fire. Yes. That is exactly what it is.
“It is not very good,” Maddox mumbles around another bite. “Needs seasoning.”
“I do not suppose you brought any?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.” He climbs into his carriage, returning a moment later with a shaker. He sprinkles his own skewer with a ridiculous amount before offering the shaker to Gryff.
In his haste, he left the door to his carriage ajar. When I catch sight of a familiar shape, hope stirs in my chest.
I take a halting step forward for a better look. “Is that a jug?”
Maddox tosses a glance over his shoulder before taking my seat as his own. “We cannot get water if we do not have something to put it in.”
The burning in my eyes grows stronger. Curse Maddox and his damn spices.
I do not deserve their friendship or their loyalty, but I will cling to both until my dying day.
Gryffin claps me on the shoulder, and then drops to the ground next to the fire without a word and steals the rest of my dinner.
I am still miserable and despair hangs over my head like a fog, but at least I am not alone.
47
“Secure your own happiness first.
Miserable fae are difficult to love.”
A Seelie Guide To Happiness
No conversation dampens our footfalls as Nia and I make our way back to the cottage. Instead of cutting through town, we traverse the path nearest The Divide. While it’s going to kill me to see the bridge, the thought of running into anyone else we know and being forced to hold a conversation makes me want to curl into a ball and sob.
The guards I saw when Maddox brought me across are no longer by the lights, but standing at the entrance of the bridge, swords drawn and expressions blank. I only recognize one, but even he doesn’t spare us a glance.
Nia comes to a halt. “Nolan?” Her skirts flutter as she rushes over to where her love waits with the other guards. When he sees her, he says something to the rest of them and meets Nia in the middle of the dirt path.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
An excellent question considering he’s meant to be Ronan’s personal guard.
Nolan darts a glance at me before responding. “We’ve been ordered to guard the bridge. No one is to cross without the king’s permission.”
Meaning even if Ever changes his mind about us, he won’t be able to come to me. “Crossing the bridge isn’t illegal.”
“Yet.”
