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For most of the day, I was lost in my thoughts, my revelation last night trudging up old memories of the past. The family I left behind, the decisions I made, the regrets I carried. But it was the fact I toldher, of all people, my full story. Warwick and Kitty knew most of it, but I never told them what my parents let happen to me, the truth of what transpired when I was barely eight years old. What I had witnessed from the age of three, when my parents joined the cult.
It never even came up at all with Kek and Lucas. Not much talking ever happened with us, though, unless it was bantering and playful.
Sourness lined my stomach at the realization of how little I knew about their lives, or them about mine. We didn’t talk much besides about what we were going through at the time. We shared the connection of Verhaza, the sense that death could take us at any time. Even when we got out, we were fighting a war, a high-stakes game that had us living on the edge. We never spoke about anything serious because we were living it.
Yet the stakes were still high, and I opened up to her. Why? What made it so easy to spill my past to her? Sharing something like that created an intimacy, a bond. I didnotwant that. Not with her. Not with anyone. We were never supposed to be that to each other.
Sliding my gaze back to her, her cheeks and nose red, her breath puffing like smoke from her lips, something twisted in my chest, and I snapped my head back around, inhaling a breath. The recollection of waking up this morning came back to me, warm and comfortable. My body had cocooned hers while my dick pushed once again against my zipper, insisting to be let free.
We were both acting as if the morning in the bordello never happened. Even in my sleep, I was aware my cock would’ve been inside her if she wasn’t wearing panties.
A groan vibrated in my chest at the thought, my hand shifting my dick in my pants where it throbbed with need. The energy from the trees, the indecent thoughts of my mind, were like a pressure cooker.
Stop it, Ash. She’s just a kid.
Did I even believe that anymore? How the hell was I in this mess?
She was some random college girl who stumbled into the same bar I was in, and now it felt like our paths were so intertwined I couldn’t see straight. I needed to untangle them. To get the goblin metal off her wrist and get her home before it was too late. I could feel it—the foreboding in my soul, the sense nature was warning me through the thick shadows. Darkness was ahead.
Coming down from the mountain, I saw the outskirts of a city below, the town building up around the center. The hums of motorcycles and smells of pollution from a packed-in population lapped at my senses.
Bra?ov was once the sixth largest city in Romania but had risen since the fae war. Its proximity to Bucharest and centrally located between Ia?i, which bordered Moldova, and Craiova, which was close to both Serbia’s and Bulgaria’s borders, made it a perfect trading post, with people exporting and importing goods.
Trading hubs brought in the worst types of people. A once beautiful quaint town boasting holiday markets and tourists, with cobbled streets and painted shops, nestled between mountains, rich with history, was now bogged down with thieves, sleazy peddlers, con artists, and debauchery.
Many had moved here after the war to find work, to survive the catastrophe that happened when the fae barrier broke and magic flooded in, bringing the two realms together. And with people and the need to survive comes corruption and licentiousness.
Pulling my hood up, I tried to keep my face hidden, thankful for the darkness of night. No one would hesitate to turn me in if they recognized me from a wanted photo, knowing they could get a reward. There was no loyalty amongst thieves.
The number of people mulling around and crowding the narrow lanes between buildings had me tense. The smell of vomit and piss was heavy in some areas, while others held a rotting food odor. Homeless, drunkards, and a vast amount of off-duty military had me moving closer to Scarlet, my gaze darting around as we came to the square.
“Is it me, or does there seem to be a lot of soldiers here?” Scarlet leaned into me.
“Yeah.” My attention went to all the men in guard uniforms milling around, drinking and laughing in groups, like they had a night off and no longer cared about the shady things happening around them.
This had never been a military base. Not before or after the fae war. So what were they all doing here now? Everything about it had my shoulders rolling back. Something was off.
“Stay close.” I seized my hand in hers, snaking through the throngs of people. I would walk right out of this town if we didn’t need supplies, but this was the last major town to get anything before we hiked up to the caves. Plus, I knew Scarlet was chilled to the bone, hungry, and exhausted. “Let’s find a place where we can get some dinner and sleep.”And I can release some of this energy.
The cheaper places were a few streets off the main square, the women and men in the windows conveying exactly what they were selling.
My feet stopped, and a pang in my gut swiveled my head to look for a simple pension down the lane. It would be more money, but taking Scarlet into a brothel suddenly seemed inappropriate.
“What’s wrong?” She glanced around, her nose sniffing like she was looking for the reason for my abrupt halt.
“Nothing,” I replied. “I thought you might want to sleep somewhere else tonight.” My gaze went up to the women wiggling their fingers at us to enter and taste a sample.
“Somewhere else?” Her eyes danced around us. “This is the cheapest, right?”
I nodded.
“We can’t spend what little money we have on a more expensive bed.”
For some reason, hearing her say bed had my mind placing us in one, except we weren’t sleeping.
Shaking the thought out before it settled, I shifted my weight. The energy I had absorbed earlier was making my brain malfunction. I needed to expel my excess vigor, and soon, before I did something stupid.
“This is what we can afford.” She squeezed my fingers, calling attention to the fact I was still holding her hand. “Plus…” A coy smirk pursed her full lips. “They’re starting to grow on me.” She let go of my hand and disappeared inside.
