“I didn’t think leaving was an option.”
He turned to me, eyes intent on mine. “I don’t know how to release you, but after we go to the Debt Collector, if you want to leave, I’ll find some way.”
I didn’t say yes or no, only stared at him until I chickened out and looked forward. I didn’t know what I wanted.
We walked back into camp, Sneak sitting beside where Burn was leaning against a boulder, all bandaged. Ruck turned and ran over, giving me the best bear hug I’d ever gotten in my life.
“Who’s the newbie?” Sneak asked.
“Tang,” the kid said.
Sneak walked over, quizzing him as I moved over to Burn.
“How you feeling?”
“Well enough to make a blow torch if needed,” Burn replied.
I smiled and patted the shoulder furthest from his bandaging.
His smile faded and he turned deadly serious. “Thanks for drawing them away.”
“I didn’t see a reason for both of us to get caught.”
“I owe you one,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll pay you back at some point though,” he added, winking.
He thought I was stuck with Ryker, and I might be. Or I might not.
I nodded, keeping that to myself.
Chapter 36
It took us another five days to get back to the Valley, since we avoided the Ruined Forest. Walking back into town and seeing Marra was the hardest thing I’d ever done.
She came running out as soon as she heard we were approaching. Her eyes searched our group and then landed on me. She froze in place as she waited for me.
I shook my head.
She fisted her hands over her chest. Then she moved them a few inches away. As if there was a stick in each palm, she made a breaking motion.
I understood. My heart was breaking too.
My eyes must’ve said it all, because she crumpled right there on the spot. Ruck and I both moved forward, but Burn beat us to her. She wrapped her arms around him as he rocked her silent form. I didn’t care where she got comfort, as long as she did.
Ryker stopped beside me. “I’ve already got people out locating the Debt Collector. I’m going to send some more out to see if they can dig up some information on the other issue.”
He waited for me to say something, but I only nodded. He nodded too and headed off toward his place.
It was hours later, everyone asleep, as I made my way to the edge of the forest and dug my hole.
“What are you asking it now?”
I turned to see Burn walking over. I leaned forward until my forearm rested on my knees.
“I’m not sure.” I let a worm slip past without picking it up. “How’s Marra?”
“Could be worse, I guess. She’s sleeping, at least.” He looked almost as sad as she had.
I nodded, moving dirt around with my fingers. It was enough for now. The loss of her sister was going to take her a while to recover from, maybe forever.
Burn knelt a few feet away from me. “Ryker said he’s going to try and undo the oath if he can.” It sounded as if Burn wanted confirmation whether it was something I wanted.
“He said that to me too.” I didn’t say anything else because I didn’t know myself anymore.
Burn cleared his throat, then did it again, until it was very obvious he was trying to say something that was getting stuck on his tongue.
He finally spat it out. “You belong here. You know you do.” He pointed at my hole. “That’s why you’re here, right? You shouldn’t have to ask the worm. You should know.”
“But I don’t.”
“Then do it.”
Burn wasn’t a bad guy, and I knew, in his way, he was torn in his loyalties. I dug a fresh hole. This time, after I was done, I hesitated. Did I draw two Xs? If I drew a Y and an N, he might guess that I hadn’t known what they were before. Not that I was going to win any reading awards, but the books had helped.
I drew the Y and the N anyway. Screw what anyone thought. I didn’t look up to see if he noticed, but I knew he probably had.
I lifted the wriggling worm, cupped my hands, and then put it down without asking. “You’re right. I should know.”
I hadn’t asked my question, but the worm crawled toward Y anyway.
“What was the question you didn’t ask?”
“I didn’t even phrase it in my head yet,” I lied.
He nodded, and some of the tension in his shoulders seemed to fade as he slumped forward a bit, probably fearing I’d asked the worm if I should leave.
“Really think about this, okay?” Burn asked.
“I will. Thanks for the books, by the way,” I said before he walked away.
“What books?” The way he wrinkled his forehead let me know he had no clue what I was talking about.
“Nothing. I thought something was from you. Not a big deal.”
He nodded, leaving me there.
I smiled thinking of the new books I’d found when I’d gotten back. I should’ve known when the top one had all sorts of clock drawings on it.
Chapter 37
I walked into breakfast the next morning, filled a plate with eggs and biscuits, and then walked through the throngs of happy people and smiling children. I guessed this place wasn’t that bad, as far as getting stuck, that was.
There was an empty table or one with Ruck, Burn, and Ryker. I walked past the empty one. I sat across from Ryker and Burn and beside Ruck. They continued their conversation about how Micky needed to add more salt to the eggs or something.
Eggs. That was what they were talking about? There was a war coming for these people and they walked around this place smiling. Worst part of it, if I didn’t do something, didn’t figure out how to forge the strongest ward ever made, I’d be the first domino in the row that led to their lives crashing. If I fell, this whole place might fall behind me. Either that or it would be a mass murder, unlike anything seen for decades.
Then what? They’d get so scared they’d try and kill Ryker, and maybe they’d succeed this time.
Ryker said he’d help me find the Debt Collector, would figure out a way to unload the debt I carried. But then what? Could I really leave all these people, Ruck and my crew?
This wasn’t the life I’d imagined for myself, or one I would’ve ever chosen. But it was my life. I was stuck with them and they were stuck with me, which made them mine, the whole damn smiling lot of them.
Ryker was listening to Burn, or pretending to, but I knew he had an eye on me, waiting to see if I was going to step up or fall. He’d said to me during an especially brutal practice one day, “I’m ruthless so that they don’t have to be.”
It had taken me a while to understand, but I got it now. We were fighting for the same thing in our own ways.
Maybe I’d never totally blend with these people and their smiling ways, but I could be happy here. It was a different type of happiness. It was the kind you got from knowing that the people you cared for were safe and sleeping in their beds because you were manning the wall. Ryker and I were alike in that way. We made the hard choices.
I leaned forward, silently making myself part of the group. It didn’t go unnoticed as their eyes settled on me.
Maybe it hadn’t been as secretive a debate as I’d thought.
I looked at the faces around me and knew I didn’t care if the worm had finally thought I should leave. I was staying. “So, let’s talk defenses. We might have a lot of bad people heading this way.”
Burn smiled and Ruck bumped me with his shoulder.
Ryker didn’t say anything, and then his eyes met mine. His magic swelled and surrounded me, and it felt good.
Keep an eye out for Kissed by the Dark, Ollie Wit, Book Three, and Wyrd Blood Book Two.
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Find Donna on the web at Donnaaugustine.com
Also by Donna Augustine
A Step into the Dark
Walking in the Dark
Th
e Keepers
Keepers and Killers
Shattered
Redemption
Karma
Jinxed
Fated
Dead Ink
The Wilds
The Hunt
The Dead
The Magic
Wyrd Blood Page 20