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I suppose it’ll be nice to not feel constantly exposed and like everyone has their eyes on me. It also means that they won’t be trying to sell me again. They wouldn’t bother giving me clothes if they were going to do that. I’m almost certain. Relief floods through me for a moment before I start to second-guess myself.
What if it’s a double bluff? It could be that they’re trying to lull me into a false sense of … I run a hand through my hair and stifle a groan, stopping my paranoia in its tracks. Those kinds of thoughts are exhausting and there’s nothing I can do about any of it anyway. I’m a captive, and thanks to Dane’s little conjure, I’m stuck with them until I can find a way to get around it somehow.
I sit on the bed, happy to find that the welts on my arse are now just aching dully. I frown at my stockinged feet, wondering if they’ll procure me some shoes or make me wear the ill-fitting ones Dane threw to me by the river the other day.
There’s a knock at the door, and Dane tells me to answer it. I do, drawing the bolt across and peering into the hall. The door is pushed open, and I step back as Kallum and Grey barge in.
‘Where’s Dane?’ Grey asks, his expression dangerous.
‘I-in the bath,’ I stutter.
He pushes past me as if I’ve done something wrong, but when I look at Kallum, I find him grinning at me, his eyes taking me in and making me feel more naked than I did in the short sack. My cheeks heat. He steps closer and looks down at my shoeless feet.
He frowns. ‘No shoes?’ he mutters.
‘I didn’t have any in Alcana,’ I say. ‘I never went anywhere as a human, so I didn’t need any.’
‘But you had human clothes,’ he says, his finger touching the embroidered edge of my tunic lightly.
‘I-I kept some things in case something happened. I could escape without shoes on my feet, but I couldn’t very well run through the streets of Alcana with no clothes on,’ I answer, my cheeks heating further.
‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ he calls to the others loudly, making me jump.
He leaves the room before I know it, and I hear Dane and Grey speaking in hushed voices. Grey comes back into the main part of the room a minute later, still watching me predatorily.
‘What have I done?’ I ask quietly.
‘Nothing. Yet. But you will, Harbinger.’
My mouth sets into a mulish line as I stare at him in distaste, but the effect is ruined as a sudden draft of cold makes me shiver. I wrap my arms around myself, wondering why I’m no warmer even though I’m dressed in lots more layers.
Dane comes out from behind the divide a moment later and I turn away immediately.
I hear his low laugh. ‘The Harbinger is shy,’ he says, and Grey chuckles with him.
‘Never seen an undressed fae male before?’ Grey asks with a chortle as he did that day in the bathhouse.
‘Of course I have,’ I say, ‘but his form is so ugly that it turns my stomach.’
Grey laughs louder, but Dane’s silent. I sit on the bed, turned away from them, suddenly much colder. My teeth chatter and I wonder if it’s Gate sickness. I don’t really remember much about it last time. I was delusional for most of it, the healer said before he took my money, threw my bags at me, and told me to put my bracelet back on and get the fuck out, or he’d let everyone know I was human.
Kallum comes back a few minutes later with a paper package tied with string. He hands it to me but then impatiently tears it open before I have half a chance to open it myself. He uncovers a pair of brown leather boots and looks at me triumphantly.
‘They’re for you,’ he says.
I blink at him, practically wilting under the stares of the other two at my back. Because they are staring.
‘How much did those cost?’ Grey demands.
Kallum shrugs. ‘Not as much as you’d think. They were made for a child.’
I glance up at Kallum.
A child?
‘Where did you get them?’ I ask him, making no move to touch them.
I see something pass over his face. He’s confused as to why I’d ask, and I know he’ll probably ask me about it later.
