The orc yelped in shock and reared back, grabbing his bleeding nose. “Fuck!”
I ran toward Delilah, gesturing for her and Maximus to run away. She hesitated a second too long, and Maximus picked her up by the neck of her shirt, dangling her like a cat, and dragged her along.
We raced through the tree clogged streets, constantly changing direction and winding through buildings. After a while, I realized I couldn’t hear any sounds of pursuit—and I hadn’t, the whole fucking time. The orcs were huge and had no reason to be stealthy. If anything, they should have called out to the other patrols, gathering more minions to pin us in so we couldn’t escape.
I slowed and called out to Maximus, “Wait, they’re not following.”
Maximus continued a few more steps, then finally slowed. At some point, he’d tossed Delilah over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Now he carefully lowered her to the ground. Her hair was even more frazzled and wild than usual, stuck in her mouth and her eyes.
“You could have at least—” she spit hair out of her mouth “—carried me like a proper princess!”
“You said you were a cat,” Maximus replied with a shrug.
She scowled at him. “That doesn’t mean you can pick me up by my scruff!”
“Yelling could still draw their attention,” I hissed.
They quieted down. We stood listening for a few seconds and once we confirmed no one had found us, Maximus glared at me with righteous zeal. “Iknewhe would betray us. The whole time, I tried to warn you, but none of you would listen.”
Delilah shook her head frantically. “No, no, he hasn’t betrayed us. It’s … it’s … a trick? On them, I mean! He’s uh …” She looked at me for help, didn’t see what she wanted, and babbled, “It’s a double-cross! He’spretendingto betray us so he can really betray the Lord of Grimnight!”
“Bullshit,” Maximus snarled. “We know nothing about him. He won’t even tell us his last name! Anytime someone asks him about himself, he stares at us like we’re roaches crawling through his pantry!”
“That’san exaggeration—” I started.
Maximus was too absorbed in his rant to pay attention to me. “Why did you bring him on this quest? We never needed a mage! We can defeat evil on our own!”
Delilah backed away from Maximus. If she’d had fur, it would all be standing on end, trying to make herself the bigger threat. “I, uh, he’s a friend.”
“He’s a liar and a traitor!” The words echoed off the buildings around us.
Delilah cowered from him, like once he ran out of words he would resort to violence.
Maximus flinched and stepped away from her. He took a deep breath and said, “I’m not going to hit you. This isn’t your fault, Delilah.”
“You’re making it sound like it is,” she snapped.
He bowed his head and murmured. “I’m sorry. He tricked you, obviously, but the only person that reflects badly on is him.”
Tears dotted her eyelashes, and she insisted, “He didn’t trick me. Heismy friend, and I trust him. He’ll help us with the Kingdom Defense Spell, you’ll see.”
Maximus shook his head sadly. “I can’t wait and see.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded. “What do you plan to do to him?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Nothing he wouldn’t do to us first, given a half a chance.”
I shook my head. “You don’t know him.”
Maximus stared at me steadily before declaring, “Neither do you.” Then he gestured to Delilah and said, “Let’s see if we can find the others. Hopefully those beasts didn’t capture them.”
“Orcs,” she corrected. “They aren’t beasts just because they work for an evil mage.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line but didn’t argue with her. Glancing at me, he asked, “Are you coming? Or do you plan to turn yourself in? Hope yourboyfrienddoesn’t kill you for trusting him?”
If I let myself be captured, maybe I could hear Wilde’s explanation from his own mouth. Or maybe my father would finish what he started. It’d be better to meet Wilde on my own terms, rather than someone else’s. “I’ll stay with you.”
Maximus’ shoulders relaxed once he received the answer he wanted. He led the way, his arm stretched out before Delilah in a protective gesture.
