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‘You deserve nothing after what you’ve done.’
She looks away, her shoulders hunching over as she curls in on herself.
‘I told you to look at me,’ I snarl, taking hold of her hair and jerking her head up because I can see how much she hates it.
Her eyes find mine. They’re sadder than I thought they’d be, and somewhere deep inside, I cringe as I’m faced with something about her that’s real.
I turn away from it. Despite her pretty face, this human is more of a monster than half the creatures who live in the Dark Realms. Her skill is death, and it is unmatched.
‘You deserve nothing,’ I say, letting her see every ounce of hatred I have for her.
‘I know,’ she whispers so quietly that I shouldn’t have been able to hear her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
He throws a sopping wet cloth at me. ‘Clean the orc blood off you. It stinks,’ he snarls.
I don’t look at him again, and he doesn’t make me. I don’t look at the others I know are standing in the doorway watching me either. I use the cloth on my arms and legs and on my neck and face, leaving it in the now muddy-looking bathwater when I’m finished.
Dane loops the rope over my head again and draws it tighter than before. He leads me out into the street. I don’t fight or say anything, and I don’t have to look up to know how much he enjoyed listening to Grey say those things.
Kallum, too, though I can’t say I’m surprised. He may have a passing interest in me for some reason, but that just means he’s a little more torn in his hate at times. By the end of whatever road we’re on, he’ll likely despise me even more than the others do and it’s for the best.
I’m led to an inn, and Dane pushes me to the dirty floor beside their table.
A dog growls close by, afraid I’ll get its scraps perhaps, but when it comes closer to me with its teeth bared, I turn my eyes on it, staring it down until its tail curls between its legs and it slinks away.
The Cunty Trio talk amongst themselves, excited we made it through the Breach, happy we weren’t diced up like the orcs who came through after us. I feel their eyes stray to me once in a while, as do others’ in the room, but I don’t look up from the floor after the dog leaves. I ignore everyone and everything, and when Grey, Dane, and Kal dig into their meals and my traitorous stomach rumbles, I ignore that, too.
Instead, I try to figure out why they need me. There are killers in abundance in the Dark Realms. Several of the mish-mash of patrons in this very establishment look like they could well be decent assassins. Who could be so untouchable that they’d still need me even after seven years of delay? Maybe it’s more than one. My hunger dissipates.
Of course, they’d want to use the Harbinger, and they’re not the only ones. There’d be a line out the door if any of the smattering of fae, orcs, goblins, and dwarves in here knew the truth of what I am. Varrik always told me I was special. He told us all that, but I was different from the others. Housed separately. Always guarded. Always watched. I shy away from the other, much darker things that marked my time at the keep. The tasks I was given. The secrets surrounding our savior that none of the others ever knew ... or wanted to know.
I think back to him and the Camp, to the others. Everyone there, from his second in command to the youngest child, was completely loyal to him. He was very good at making them believe he cared about them when no one else did. I’d been the same as them at first.
I let out a breath. I can’t be what they want. Not ever again. I need to get away from them. I was stupid when I ran from the bathhouse, but his words made my heart race, and fleeing was the only thing I could think to do.
I clench my eyes shut. What if they make me anyway … like he did? What if they already know exactly how to make me do what they want? It was so simple once he found out my weaknesses.
I don’t want to break my vow again, but … I could make it go the way of that jailor. I could cause their deaths indirectly.
I discount the thought immediately. The truth is that even though Grey, Kallum, and Dane act like the villains, I’d hate me too if I didn’t know the truth. Hell, I know the truth, and I still hate myself.
I don’t want them dead, but I can’t let them use me, either. If I can’t escape them, then … perhaps my death is the only other option.
I mull that over for a while, so lost in my dark thoughts that I don’t realize they’ve finished their meals. The rope is given a vicious yank that makes me cry out.
A couple of dwarves at a nearby table glance at me with frowns on their pudgy faces, speaking in hushed whispers about me as they begin to stare. I ignore them and their odd looks. This is the Dark Realms. Haven’t they ever seen a human slave before? We’re as common as cows. Although I haven’t seen any since we got here, I realize.
‘Up, slave,’ Grey hisses, now the one holding the rope and clearly relishing his new power over me after this morning’s events.
The others leave first, and I grit my teeth as I get to my feet, and he pulls the rope again just for good measure.
‘Enjoying yourself?’ I growl quietly, looking him in the eye.
‘Immensely,’ he murmurs as he urges me forward roughly to follow him.
‘Master Grey,’ I mock quietly from behind him, wanting to pay him back a little for his rough treatment. ‘Far cry from how powerless you were as a child in the Light Realm. Is that why you love lording it over humans so much?’
