Eve smirked without looking up. “Seems like a bold claim, since she was the one who decided to lock you up.”
“Ah,” he said, tone smooth as silk. “But since she’s the one holding the rope, I consider it foreplay.”
Ashley choked on her ration. “No rope-talk while I’m eating!”
Lionel, who had been cleaning his weapon near the tree line, glanced over.
“You’re handling your flames better, Ethalyn,” he said suddenly, voice quiet but steady. “Didn’t even scorch the forest today.”
It wasn’t much. But coming from him, it incited a storm of emotions within me.
Lionel being positive about my magic? It caught me off guard.
“Thanks,” I said, surprised.
He nodded, eyes on the gun again. “Guess all that training paid off.”
Malakai’s smirk flickered, subtle but there, the faintest shadow of something unreadable passing over him.
Jaden, sitting near Ashley, broke the silence before it could thicken. “We’re close to the border. The earth’s different here, heavier. The Demon Lands can’t be more than a few miles out.”
Nate poked at the fire with a stick. “Heavier is one word for it. Feels like the ground’s listening.”
Malakai chuckled low. “It probably is.”
“ Is that supposed to be comforting?” Ashley asked.
“No, it’s the truth, earth demons and all.”
Eve leaned back, staring into the flames. “Maybe they’ll send something prettier next time. Today’s batch was mostly disappointing.”
Ashley shot her a look but didn’t rise to the bait. Not tonight.
Lionel shifted in his place and said quietly, “Pretty or not, they’ll bleed the same.”
The fire crackled louder, sparks spiraling upwards into the growing dark.
After a while, the conversation faded into smaller sounds. Ashley hummed under her breath, apparently bringing Jaden some peace, and Nate had sprawled himself out on hisbedroll, not caring about who was on guard duty, it certainly wasn’t him.
Malakai leaned forward, voice low so that only I could hear. “Tell me, what’s the real reason I’m tied up?”
I stared at the flames, letting the silence gnaw at the both of us. “I told you, the others will be more at ease this way until they know you’re trustworthy again.”
“Are you certain it’s the others who are unsure?” His tone sharpened slightly. “Or is it you?”
The words hit like a rock dropped into still water, creating ripples I didn’t want to face yet.
“You think I’m happy that you sacrificed yourself? You can’t even walk into the camp with me, because they’ll kill you on sight.”
“They can try,” he corrected amused, but turned quiet when I glared at him.
“I know that you did it for me… I just wish that you discussed it with me first.”
“Then your reaction would not have been real enough.” His voice fell flat.
“You killed Michlael!” I said harshly. “I don’t know what kind of person the leader of the Ashen Corps was, he sure looked like a spoiled rich man.”
Malakai snorted amused.
