“Well, I'm not letting you go alone. And if I told anyone else what you were doing, they just wouldn't let you go, so.” She shrugged, tossing her rucksack on the back of the mare's saddle before climbing aboard. “Can you tell me your exact plan, though? I just want to be on the same page.”
The tip of my boot stuck into the stirrup, and I grabbed the edge of the saddle to pull myself onto Honey. I collected the reins in my hands, and gave her a gentle neck rub before giving her the heel to start moving. “I’m riding as long as and as far as I possibly can without stopping. I'm hoping to make it at least a day without sleep, maybe more.”
She cut me off. “This already sounds likesomuch fun. What a great idea for a girls’ trip,” she mocked.
“Youchoseto come,” I reminded. “I’m hoping to make it to Draemor in two and a half days, then when we get there, I’ll compel one of the towns folk to help me track down Beaumont.”
Our horses stepped out of the barn and into the prequel of daybreak, the brisk breeze nipping at my skin as I kicked the mare to pick up a trot.
“And how do you plan to kill him?”
We took a sharp right, starting on the dirt path that led into the forest, past the lake I never ended up visiting with Delani. “Ideally, I’ll sneak up on him and stab him in the carotid with my dagger.” I patted the sheath on my thigh. I had packed a small vial of toxin to pour into the hollow blade, and if everything went to plan, it would kill the bastard on demand. “That way, it leaves less of a trail. If I have to, I’ll use my sword. And as a last resort, I’ll burn the fucker with starlight. That plan however, is not my first choice. The second someone finds a pile of sparkling ash, they’ll be on to me.”
“Not many know that your power goes to that extent though,” Pia pointed out. “Most still believe you only have the gift of mind compulsion.”
Honey snorted as I leaned forward, my knees digging into her flesh to increase our speed. “Who knows how many of his people he told? I’d rather not take an unnecessary risk.”
“Oh, well in that case, we should be turning around,” Pia drawled, sarcasm clipping her words short.
“Thisisa necessary risk.”
“No. Not really.”
“It is,” I grumbled.
“Sebastian would disagree. So would Sawyer. Speaking of Sawyer?—”
“Oh gods. No. Can we not do this?” I pleaded, pulling my reins to direct my mare through another turn.
“We aresodoing this. It's dead silent out here. What's a better time to gossip?”
“Should we really be gossiping about someone who just cheated death?”
“Why not?”
“Ugh,” I breathed in annoyance. “What about Sawyer?”
“How was it in Mealioria with him?”
“Eh.” I shrugged, the motion falsely leading Honey, though I redirected her swiftly. “It was fine.”
Pia picked up the pace to ride by my side. “You got to give me more than that, especially after his wholeI told Maeve I love herblowout. I know there's some shit I’m missing.”
“You reallyareturning this into a girls’ trip,” I said flatly, giving her a raised brow. “I dunno. He hooked up with Stella while we were there, and then we had a heart to heart about the future like, twelve hours later. It was fine. Just typical Sawyer.”
Pia’s face turned sour, and flat out shock poured from her words. “He hooked up withStella? Are you serious?”
“Yeah? What's the problem?”
“Uh, what's the problem?” she mocked. “He literally just confessed his love for you.”
“He said it himself, he isn't going to pine after me forever. He said we could go back to the way things were, and if anything, him hooking up with Stella proves that.”
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Forget it,” Pia snapped, not elaborating any further and instead changing the subject. “How are things with you and Seb?”
