“It’s actually good!”
Theo’s eyes became suspicious slits.
“I’m not falling for that.Again.”
Tavrik held his performance for exactly three more seconds before his composure crumbled.He spat the mangled meat onto the ground, his face contorting in disgust.Then he chucked the rest into the fire, the flames hissing as they devoured it.
“What happened?”I teased.“I thought you were enjoying that.”
He glared at me, unimpressed.“Please.It’s so bad I want to cry.”
We wasted no time in setting out, hauling ourselves for yet another day of walking and complaining.We had made good distance yesterday, but it wasn’t enough if we wanted to reach my mother and fast.
As luck would have it, we stumbled across a dense thicket brimming with wild berries, their skins glistening with morning dew.
We plucked them greedily.It wasn’t much, but it was enough to dull the hunger twisting at our insides.
It was all eerily familiar, too much like our journey into the Jinn realm, only this time the burden pressing on my shoulders was even heavier.
Tavrik, ever the solider, was the first to break the silence.
“We need a plan.”
I already knew the answer.
“We take my mother into the Jinn realm.”
They both stopped walking.
“What?”Theo snapped, spinning around.
“It’s the only way,” I said firmly.“If I leave her here, she’s as good as dead.”
Tavrik huffed out a slow breath.“And what’s stoppingthemfrom killingusthe second we step foot back in their world?We weren’t exactly allowed to leave.”
“I’ll tell him the truth.”
Theo’s arm shot out, blocking my path.
“Elira, are you insane?”He shook his head in disbelief.“You think Dalkhan will just let this go?That he won’t tear us apart the moment he realises we played him for a fool?We went into his world and lied to his face!”
My stomach twisted into a knot.
His eyes went distant.“They will torture us.Again.”
We never truly spoke of what we had endured, and I wasn’t sure we ever would.
Tavrik’s jaw had gone tight, his hands curled into fists.The memory still lived in him.In both of them.
“He won’t hurt me.”Even I could hear the delusion in my words, but I stuck by them.
Tavrik laughed bitterly.
“Elira, you are blinded by your feelings.”His tone was sharper than before, almost pitying.“He is a king.The most powerful Jinn king that ever was, and three mortals deceived him.We entered his lands and stole something that could end his life.”
I flinched.He was right.
“I don’t know then!”I shouted.“I don’t have all the answers!”
