Titus turned around to see why I'd stopped following him.
His eyes lit up, and a menacing grin took shape.
“So,” he said, “tell me, Delilah—how many times have you pleasured yourself with the toy I gave you?”
“Six,” I blurted.
I immediately covered my mouth with my hands, dropping the rock in panic. Shock and embarrassment flooded my face, and my heart began to thump.
Why did I say that!? That was not what I had wanted to say!
It was as if I had no control over my own words.
He chuckled, glowingly proud, and bent down to pick up the stone. He presented it to me.
“This is a truth stone,” he explained. “When holding it, you cannot tell a lie.”
My face burned.
“You asshole!” I shouted.
“Dirty girl,” he said in that sexy, deep voice that made my body react. “Now I know the real reason you don’t sleep at night.”
I sighed and walked right past him, ignoring his stupid fucking face.
He caught up and tossed me the stone. “Keep it. It might come in handy someday.”
I shoved the truth stone deep into my pocket.
Further and further down we descended into the belly of the mine, and my legs started to ache. Today had been more walking than I was used to.
“What are we even looking for? And how much further is it?” I asked.
“Aww. Is the mortal getting tired?” he taunted, dripping condescension.
He looked around and dropped his pack to the ground. “This looks like a decent spot to take a break.”
He sat and pulled food from his pack.
Grateful, I did the same sitting with my back against the wall beside him, but with excessive space between us. After what the truth stone had forced me to reveal, I could hardly look at him. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
I unfastened my pack and pulled out the sandwich Calpurnia had packed me when I heard him speak.
“Multiplication crystals,” he said. “Pale blue. Perfectly spherical. About the size of a melon. They can only be found on the lowest level. We’re halfway there.”
I huffed in frustration, realizing we still had a long way to go… and then a long way back up… and then, an even longer way back to the lake.
I finished my sandwich and threw on my pack.
“Well, let’s get going then,” I said plainly, and we resumed ourdescent.
It got darker the lower we went. The torches were farther apart. Sometimes we were in complete darkness for several minutes before we found another.
I started to feel a bit more… uneasy.
I hated Titus right now, but he was my only distraction. My only company. And the silence between us was unbearable.
Fidgeting with the truth stone in my pocket, I got an idea. “Want to play a game?” I asked. “Truth or dare, it’s a game in the mortal realm. We take turns revealing a truth or doing a dare. And, to make it more interesting if you pick truth you have to hold the truth stone.”
