Was any of it true?
Jesstin might be the one person Taven could trust until he could decide the best course for Ellie.
His harried path took him down the hill, weaving through several rows of trellises and floral pathways. Even at his height, he couldn’t see anything in the thick of it, but he followed the crowd’s direction and emerged in a small opening that offered a more direct view. The maze’s hedges were too tall to see inside, but he spotted a tent just outside. Underneath the canopy, a group of women were weaving large strips of leather around a man’s arms and legs.
Taven jogged down to the tent but was abruptly halted by the crossed spears of two guards. “Easy. Easy. I’m a friend of the bloodless.”
Jesstin’s head swiveled his way. “Oh, the fuck he—” His mouth hung on the end of his last word as Taven drilled him with an urgent look. He huffed out an aggravated, “give us a moment.”
The women tied their strips, exchanging looks as they curtsied at Jesstin and slipped out of the tent. Jesstin was flexing his arms, examining the bindings, when Taven walked in.
“What the hell do you want, Considine? Come to cheer my imminent demise?”
“No, I came to speak with you.” Taven would cheer the man’s demise when Ellie was safe. “If you’re here, where’s Ellie?”
Jesstin shrugged.
“You left her alone?”
“I left her in the middle of a goddamn storm of glass.” Jesstin gestured at a gash on his face. He dropped his hand. “Untwist your knickers. She was fine when I saw her last.”
Another chaos event. No, Ellie wasn’t fine, but she could handle herself until he talked the stupid man out of getting himself killed.
“They say it’s been over a decade since they had a winner,” Jesstin said. “Many seasons since someone was stupid enough to try it. I don’t think they were ready for me.” He laughed at his own words.
“What’s the leather for?” Taven asked. He wasn’t sure where to begin.
“To keep my clothes from strangling me when the branches come alive and drag me to the netherworld.”
Taven swallowed. “I’m sure that won’t happen.”
“Aw, you’re worried?” Jesstin’s mouth turned down in mock sorrow. “Or just sizing up the likelihood of me getting eviscerated by a million angry corpses?”
Few men could bring him to such rage with so little provocation. “If you die, Ellie dies.”
“You sure about that?”
Jesstin Skylark was an abomination, a bastard who didn’t have the decency to retreat into obscurity like the other unwanted children of the world, instead boldly flaunting his degeneracy by growing rich off the degeneracy of others. But he also seemed ready to die to keep Ellie from a similar fate, and that was the reminder Taven needed in order to say, “You cannot do this, Jesstin.”
“Jesstin?” He beamed in amusement. “Boy, you really do want something from me.”
“No, that’s not true,” Taven said evenly. He rolled his hands into fists in his pockets. “But we want the same thing.”
Jesstin laughed. He gave the knots on his ankles a tug. “You also want to see yourself transformed into a heaping pile of shit, so your external form finally matches what’s inside? What are the odds?”
Easy. He’s not dealing with the same volume of wits you have. He cannot help acting like a base illborn. “We both want to protect Ellie’s well-being.”
Jesstin’s humor evaporated. “Get the fuck out of here and let me die in peace.”
“I’m serious.” Taven moved in front of Jesstin, who recoiled in disgust when he drew close. “She’s not safe here.”
“No?” Jesstin’s smug astonishment was almost enough for Taven to kill him right then and there, spare the maze the trouble. “Golly, Considine, and here I thought she was home. Isn’t that what you and all these other cultish fucks keep saying? That she’s home? That this is her blood? This is where she belongs?”
Say it. You can deal with his attitude when she’s safe. “I was wrong.” Another bell rang. Both men cringed at the deafening toll. There wasn’t time. “I don’t know what they want from her, but we need to get her out of here so I can assess what to do next.”
“Like you always have? Right? The only one who knows ‘what’s best’ for your Ellie?” Jesstin shook his head. “If you believe the words coming out of your mouth, why are you here, trying to convince the one person standing in your way to keep standing in your way?”
Taven almost laughed at the way Jesstin thought he was an actual barrier between him and Ellie. He was a detour was all, a bump in a road full of deep ruts. “She almost died tonight, and though you may find this challenging to grasp, I’m just as horrified as you. More.”
