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‘But what if we brought her back compliant and ready to do as she’s told?’ Kallum fires back. ‘Wouldn’t he be grateful that we’d broken her for him?’
His plan, or, rather, excuse for why he wants to do this is a thin one to all our ears. Grey and I share a look. This was what we were afraid of, Kallum’s obsessive nature rearing its head with her.
‘And you propose to do that, how?’ Grey asks him with a roll of his eyes.
‘I’m not sure yet,’ he answers, but as he looks back down at her, I see his true intentions.
I scoff. ‘You can’t make the Harbinger care for you. She’s not capable of such a thing.’
‘We’ll see,’ Kal mutters. ‘Now, let her sleep. She needs to heal after the City Guard’s treatment of her before she can take me properly.’
I grit my teeth and go back to scanning the shoreline. Grey and I will have to come up with a plan because Kallum might not realize it, but he’s always wanted more than a good fuck from the females he’s bedded. He’s craved their affections. The problem is that the females he chooses are not the type to give their love, only their appearance of it … for a fee.
Every. Single. Time.
Watching him strive for what has always been denied him and fail each time hasn’t been easy.
And the Harbinger is worse than all the others combined. She’ll chew him up and spit him out. We can’t let that happen. But Kal is like a child in that the more he’s forbidden a thing, the more he wants it.
I glance at him and watch as he absently strokes her jaw as her head rests on his thigh. I see Grey watching from the corner of his eye as well, and we share another look.
It’s going to take several weeks to get home. How are we going to keep him from that monster in the meantime?
The moon is high by the time I see the edge of the forest, and I’m thankful the clouds cleared as we were leaving the city. I angle the boat to the shore and release the magick I was using to propel us down the river. We slide slowly through the rushes and reeds to a clear part of the bank, and I jump into the water to pull us the rest of the way until I feel the boat’s bottom graze the riverbed.
Kallum has dozed off, and I nod at Grey. ‘Get her away from him,’ I say quietly.
Grey nods and suddenly lunges across the boat. Before Kal can do anything about it, Grey has her sleeping form in his arms, and he throws her over the side and into the shallow water.
I bark out a laugh because I didn’t expect him to do that, but Kallum gets to his feet, suddenly wide awake, and pushes Grey, who falls into the bottom of the boat with a curse.
‘I gave her a sleeping draught!’ Kal exclaims as she comes to the surface, coughing and spluttering.
‘That was hours ago,’ I say with a roll of my eyes. ‘Grey was just waking her up for the journey.’
She finally realizes she can stand and gets to her feet. Her body is rigid. Her breathing is hard and erratic, much like it was when I pushed her into the boat before. I thought it was the boat itself that she didn’t like, but it’s the water. I almost can’t help my evil grin, and I realize that Kallum had a good idea.
We could break her on the way. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but it might be fun to see how far we can push her and how miserable we can make her … just a bit of torment to make up for the years she’s cost us. And, no doubt, Varrik would thank us for delivering her subdued and ready to do his bidding. I don’t want anything to do with the way Kal wants to do it, but perhaps the goal is what’s important … Another idea creeps into my head, and I wonder if it will work to, if not get rid of Kal’s little obsession, at least redirect it. This plan would also take care of our desires for revenge, as we can’t kill her. I resolve to discuss it with Grey later when Kal isn’t around and see what he thinks.
I grab my bag out of the boat and sling it over my shoulders. Then I slip a knotted rope around her neck, and I pull her hard.
I hope for a squeal, but all I get is a small gasp as she falls into the water again. Good enough for now.
I wink at Kallum, who’s still on the boat, and his jaw tightens, but he does nothing to stop me. He just grabs his pack angrily and launches himself off the boat, wading as quickly as he can through the water and to the shore without a backward glance.
‘Get up,’ I order, pulling the rope tight and using it to help her to her feet.
She doesn’t make a noise, and her movements are wooden as she follows me out of the water.
We get to the path, and I allow myself a small smile at her tortured expression.
A fear of water. Perfect.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I’m torn between wanting to cry and tearing The Cunty Trio’s throats out. But I do neither. Instead, I just silently curse myself. I should have known that anything nice that Kallum did over the past day was to make me let my guard down. I do know better than that. At least, I thought I did.
I shudder as I feel the river water running down my skin, and my stomach twists as Dane pulls me along behind him.
