Tempt
Book Four in the Terraway Series
Mary E. Twomey
Contents
1. Big, Scary Man
2. Camping with Finn
3. Bank, Bel and Finn’s Curse
4. Dream Guy
5. Going for a Run on the Run
6. Slave Girl and Harem Boy
7. All the Things Wrong in the World
8. Stone in the Well, Eyes on the Ground
9. Hit me or Kiss me
10. Bruce Campbell, Where are You?
11. October Grace, Zombie Slayer
12. Falling Back and Running Forward
13. Fake Royal, Real Nurse
14. What Scared Me Most
15. Finn’s Peculiar Fetish
16. Inches from Regret
17. Mason’s Rude Awakening
18. Boys, Bullies and Braids
19. Scarred and Scared
20. Crappy Jewelry from Ezra
21. The Monster you think I am
22. Just a Little Taste
23. My Lethal Kiss
24. A Sister and her Mister
25. Sexy Appendix
26. Nightmares and Confessions
27. Stalking Von
28. Hit and Run
29. Finn’s Balisong
30. Chinese Food and Sandwich Cookies
31. To Make you Happy
32. Playing Dirty
33. Getting Vonned
34. I’m not Crazy
35. Scaring People with my Crazy
36. Pink Carnations
37. Sexy and Still Innocent
38. First Kiss, Wedding and Honeymoon
39. It Meant Nothing
40. Busting Bev Out
Treat
1. Tell me about October Grace
Other books by Mary E. Twomey
Copyright © 2016 Mary E. Twomey
Cover Art by www.goonwrite.com
Paperback Art by www.cormarcovers.com
All rights reserved.
First Edition: January 2017
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
ISBN-13: 978-1540728418
ISBN-10: 1540728412
http://www.maryetwomey.com
For my brother, Brian.
I don’t totally understand how you haven’t murdered me yet after all the times I’ve annoyed you by accident (just kidding. We all know it’s on purpose),
but kudos to you for the epic self-control.
You keep me organized, quell my insanity, and listen when I rant and babble. Or at least you pretend to listen, which is sometimes just as good.
Not many girls are lucky enough to have their brother turn out to be one of their best friends.
Also, I totally stole your brown jersey, and you’re never getting it back. Bwa-ha-ha!
1
Big, Scary Man
I was grateful when Finn let companionable silence fall between us to replace our bickering. When I looked back in the direction we’d come, I couldn’t even see the circle we’d entered in on anymore. Everything was brown, brown and more brown, so landmarks that stood out were hard to come by. The famine had struck Silo in the usual way, scorching the buhay shoots so there was precious little for the inhabitants to eat. It also hit them in the form of a drought, drying up most of their rivers and leaving the landscape dull, dusty and bare.
The suns were setting, and we’d put a fair amount of distance between us and the entrance to Silo. With my backpack stuffed with half a dozen baga roots Finn had unearthed not two minutes after he’d ported us to Terraway, I was ready to get a piece of the sagrado stone to its rightful place. If we dropped a portion of the rock into the well in the main city, the suns wouldn’t burn so hot, and nature would have a chance to right itself again.
I’d left my two Reapers, my brother, Ezra and a bucket full of baggage Topside when I’d made the decision to go rogue and start the mission to deliver the sagrado stone without the crew. I needed space, and they needed to breathe. A whole new world of breathing room seemed like the right move. Since Captain Finn didn’t care much for rules or waiting around while the nations continued to wither away, I brought him along to be my guide.
We passed a few houses here and there that looked like thatched-roof barns, but mostly we kept to the woods, so we would go unnoticed as long as we could. The trees were dry with only crusty, shriveled leaves that held on for dear life. I looked around at the nothing all around us. There weren’t even any houses anymore after we’d travelled by those first few. Just brown, dusty mountains spread out, and cavernous craters where I’m guessing water used to be. It was like walking by mini Grand Canyons everywhere.
Maybe I could deliver the stone before the guys even noticed I was gone. Hopefully they’d think I wanted to be alone at home, and would go back to the mansion for a few days. Von wouldn’t look for me; he’d slung some mud in a nasty fight I knew he wouldn’t take back. And Mason? Well, we were actually doing alright, but hopefully he’d have his hands full cleaning out Bev’s trailer with Ollie.
Bev. I couldn’t go there in my mind. Her lost expression when we’d found her in a state of shock in her trailer haunted me, and made me feel like a shell of who I was supposed to be. I’d always firmly believed in taking care of your family, but I was left spinning on this one. I needed more information, but knew I couldn’t handle another word, be it apology or raging blame.
“It’s quiet,” Finn observed, scratching his gills. He’d discarded his scarf and dress clothes into his backpack, changing into the black soldier-wear that was common in Terraway. He’d chuckled at me when I’d turned around so I didn’t have to see him half naked. He craned his neck to look down at me while we walked. “You’re quiet.”
“You’re tall,” I offered back my own observation. “Talk away, if that helps you.”
“You want to tell me why you ran from your Pullers and Ezra?”
“Nope.” A bat flew overhead, its wonky flight path catching my eye.
Finn studied me curiously. The growing darkness was starting to fall around us as the horizon began to swallow up the setting suns. “You’re usually annoyingly chatty.”
I shrugged in response, unsure how to tell him to butt out, other than the obvious obnoxious way. “I guess it’s your turn for that now. Don’t know what to tell you. It’s your lucky day. No annoying chatter from October. Santa Claus does exist.”
Finn squinted in warning at the bat that came back to circle us. The creature responded to his silent threat, flying in the opposite direction. “Sylvia. She sends out bats to be her eyes and ears.”
“Did she make us?”
Finn quirked his eyebrow at me. “She’s probably looking for her own people, to make sure they’re not lurking where they shouldn’t. This is Kabayo’s land, and there’ve been too many skirmishes for them to be welcome here right now.”
“Should we be out in the open like this? Is she going to report back to Ezra that she saw us?”
“Her spy doesn’t know to look for us, I’m guessing, so there’s nothing to report. You’re awfully skittish about Ezra finding out. Tell me, what did you do that you’re running from him?”
“Nothing at all.” My eyes tracked the bat who flew off into the distance. “How worried do we need to be about monsters trying to ambush us?” I voiced the concern I’d felt for a while.
Finn quickened our pace. It took two of my steps to equal one of his long strides. “Not very. The Ekeks and Manas will be expecting you to travel in an entourage. Smart thinking to keep it just us.”
“I daresay that sounded almost like a compliment.”
“Well, it almost was.” Though Finn had been a little harsh, in control and kind of sleazy when we were Topside, he seemed to be taking his post seriously. It was just the two of us on this mission, and we were both determined not to screw it up.
Finn cleared his throat next to me. “I don’t spend much time Topside. What do you think of our world so far?”
My thumbs looped in the straps on my backpack, pulling them like suspenders. “I don’t think I can judge it just yet. The only times I’ve been in Terraway have been with the suns all wonky and the government trying to abduct me. So, I guess that’s a thumb’s down so far.”
He chuckled at my assessment. “Silo has been suffering a drought for too many years. Occasionally the morning brings enough dew to keep things going, but they’ve had to borrow more water from us than they can ever afford to pay back.”
“Yikes. How do they buy it? Like, do you all have the same currency? I can’t tell how separate the different countries are.”
“Gold is the universal language we all speak. Goods, women. The usual.”
“Not for nothing, but don’t let anyone trade me for a cup of water.” I shivered, despite the heat that made my clothes cling to my skin. “Let’s just do this and get back home.”
“You wouldn’t be attractive to Tikbalangs.” Then to clarify, he added, “Horse on top, person on the bottom half. And I can promise you that my king has all the women he could ever possibly need.” His eyes flickered to me. “Though if you ever meet King Banak, you may want to keep your head down. He has a thing for mouthy women with legs.”
My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to keep Finn’s pace. “Your king likes women who have legs and mouths? I can’t imagine I’d be all that rare if he’s casting that wide a net.”
“You forget the women in Dagat are Mermaids. No legs. And they know better than to talk back. Something tells me you wouldn’t fall in line so easily. Everyone has a healthy fear of our king because he has me to carry out his dirty work. They all know I’m bewitched to carry out his will,” he said bitterly. King Banak wanted Finn to watch me to make sure I was performing up to par, which was why he’d been Topside in the first place.
Finn informed me that he had also been instructed to keep an eye on me to make sure I wasn’t some giant walking danger. I’d kind of accidentally murdered off an entire species – taking Goblins clear off the map in a single terrifying blow. I couldn’t really blame this Banak guy for wanting me observed. “No, we don’t get many mouthy ones anymore in Dagat. They know better than to cross me.”
“Because you’re a big, scary man?” I teased with half a grin.
“Oh, kendi. I love when you toy with me in that sexy, coy way you do. It’ll make your fear that much sweeter when you see me in my element and off Ezra’s leash. I bet you’re a beauty when you’re terrified.”
“You know, I think you try to sound sleazy out of habit. I don’t think you really care all that much about hooking anyone, least of all me. But it’s nice of you to pretend, I guess.”
Finn quirked an eyebrow at me, confused that I wasn’t shirking away from his fat mouth. “Nice? I think that’s the first time I’ve been called that. Perhaps I should be offended.”
“Oh, sweetie. My nickname was Jailbait. I treated men in a prison for a paycheck. If I cared about intimidation tactics or sex jokes, I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Fire away. I really don’t care. If you need to be big and scary, I’ll play along once the stone’s delivered. Until then, I’ve got too much on my mind to pretend I’m afraid of you.”
Finn looked down at me as if I was the strangest animal. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Well, that’s good. I’m not really paying attention anyway.”
Finn let out a loud, guttural laugh that looked so foreign on him, it confused us both. We walked along the forest’s edge toward the village in the distance with decidedly less tension between us. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure my Reapers hadn’t found us. They were probably still on regular earth and hadn’t even noticed I’d split.
Finn followed my gaze back toward the direction where we’d entered. “They’re not here yet. We’ve got a decent head start,” Finn informed me. “You’re running from them, aren’t you? That can’t be good. Ezra’s got a mean streak he doesn’t often use, but it’s there.”
“He’s preoccupied. And I don’t much care if Ezra’s mad at me, no more than he cares when I’m pissed at him. But yeah, I’m running. Needed a break. Having two Reapers is intense. Going from living alone to sharing my house with two grown men who don’t know how to wash a dish? It’s not the easiest thing for me to adjust to.”
“It’s more than that. You’re not stupid enough to defy Ezra over dirty dishes.”
I tilted my head up at him. “Do you care why? I thought you wanted the stone delivered. This is the quickest way. I’m not doing any reaping down here, so I don’t need them to do any pulling. They could use some time off from the job.” And I am the job, I reminded myself of Von’s harsh parting words.
“Fine by me. Just know that I’m not Duwende. I can’t pull from you, so if you see a dead body that might have a lick of human in it, stay away.”
“Roger that. I only need you as a guide. If I had a map, I could’ve done this on my own just fine.”
“You say that now. Wait until we get nearer to the town.”
My shoulders sank. “Awesome. What are we about to get into?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
2
Camping with Finn
We walked for twenty more minutes until the dark engulfed us, threatening our steps as our feet became harder to see. “We should set up camp. There’s no use ambling through the night.”
“Don’t you have the light-up hands, like Lang?” I asked.
“I do, but that’s a dead giveaway that we’re here, and I think it’s best we make it through Silo unseen, if possible. Besides, it’s a three-day hike to the main well. We have to sleep sometime. Might as well be with the rest of the country. Let’s go further into the woods. I don’t like being so visible on the edge like this the closer we get to civilization.”
“You’re the boss.” I turned into the forest with Finn, but immediately was unsure of my footing. The trees were easy enough to spot, but the knee-high brown crackly bushes and bramble were not. The roots proved problematic and made me trip a few times before Finn reached out and held my hand to steady me and keep us together. I hated when people touched my hands. The thought of all the germs crawling on me gave me the icks, but I tried to keep my cool through it. It was a land of horse people. I guessed hygiene wouldn’t be all that accessible on this trip. I breathed through it, hoping my OCD wasn’t too noticeable, and dropped his hand three seconds later. “You need help with the tent?” I asked when we reached a small clearing several stones’ throws into the woods that Finn seemed pleased with.
He took off his pack and unhooked the two rolls beneath the sack. One was a tent, and the other a blanket, and he shook them both out with a hearty crack. “I’ve got it. You don’t look like you do much camping.”
I chuckled lightly. “Are you kidding? Ollie, Allie and I lived in a tent for half a year once. It was a little bigger than this one, though.”
“You’re kidding. I didn’t think Topsiders lived outdoors. You all seem to have homes.”
“We were between homes for a while,” I said evasively. It seemed a more sophisticated way to say that we’d been homeless. I grabbed one of the tent poles and worked it through the loops while Finn anchored the corners to the ground. I could barely see what I was doing, but somehow we managed to get the thing constructed without bickering.
I crawled inside and laid out the blanket, wishing I didn’t have to share a tent with a grown man who helped acquire women for his king’s harem. Finn wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but he was a good guide, so I took what I could get. “Okay. It’s all set up. Take your shoes off and come on in.”
Finn handed me the gear so it would stay in the tent with us. Then he crawled inside, kneeling on my hand and nearly knocking me over as we fought for space in the tent that could really only fit one of us comfortably. “Oof! That’s my face,” Finn informed me when I felt around in the dark for the zipper to close the tent.
“Sorry. Just lay down. That’ll get you out of the way while I close up the tent.” I leaned over what I assumed were his legs to secure the bottom flap, but I couldn’t quite get it to shut all the way. I stretched further, slipping on my knees and Heimliching myself on his hip as he turned on his side. “Sorry!”
Finn took a chance with his life and slapped me square on the butt. He had the nerve to chuckle at my fist swinging in the dark, swooshing through the air to announce my indignation. “Come lay down, kendi. It’s been a while since you’ve slept with only one man.”
“Shut up. Let’s just get through this, then we never have to see each other again. Be cool, Finn. I’m serious. I’ve got no problem laying you out.”
If it wasn’t for the gear, we might’ve been able to both lay on our backs, but as it was, we had to get cozier than I was happy with. I was nervous as I reclined in Finn’s outstretched arms, holding my breath as if I was being dunked underwater. My body was rigid, as if it knew I shouldn’t be here. “Relax, little Omen. I know the wrath would come for me if I bedded you against your will. Ezra isn’t the pacifist he imagines himself to be. I’m already facing his fury having escaped with you.”
Tempt (Terraway Book 4) Page 1