The walk back to “their” wagon was done in silence and under the scrutiny and muttering curses of those who traveled with Kalo. Raziel ignored them. His mind was full with the swirling thoughts and new knowledge from the conversation.
Climbing up the narrow stairs, he slumped down into the corner of the tiny wagon onto the pile of pillows, glad to be somewhere dark and away from the stares of the humans who traveled with the fae.
He needed rest.
Then, he could begin to unwind the madness.
Nadi sat down at his side, placing her head in her hands.
There was one last thing to settle before he could sleep. “Are we safe here?”
She lowered her hands to her lap. “Safe as anywhere. Kalo won’t kill us. We’re his ‘prisoners.’”
“We could escape.”
“And go where, Raziel? He has a valid point. We need him and his help.”
“That doesn’t make us his prisoners.”
“It means he gets to take us to Grandmother Ebiti, who Iguaranteeis the one who told him to find us—and therefore likely to be working with Mael and Lana?—”
“Slow down.” Reaching out, he placed a hand on her leg. Even if it meant he had to move both hands to do so, what with them being chained together. “Word of your disappearance from the ship may have leaked. Kalo’s people, or some fae clan, had spies in Mael and Lana’s family during the wedding. They may have heard through those channels.”
No, she was right. Ebiti was likely to blame.
But Nadi was spinning herself up into an anxious ball. And there was no use in that.
The look she shot him told him how little she believed his words. Sighing, he settled his head down, and gestured for her to join him. She did, if a little hesitantly. “If it was this Ebiti, then we will deal with it when we know for certain. Together.”
“This wasn’t how I wanted to return home.” Nadi rested her head on his chest. “But I’m not sure how I expected it to go otherwise.”
“Kalo was right about one thing, Nadi. It has been a long time since you have been here.”
She let out a long breath. “Yeah.”
“We both need rest.” He kissed the top of her head. “And for now, we are safe. Sleep, Nadi. We will figure out who we need to kill when we can both think straight.”
She chuckled quietly. “Raziel?”
“Hm?”
“I meant what I said. When I said I love you.”
Tilting her head to look up at him, he smiled down at her. How tragic they were. “And I love you, my little murderer.”
Slowly, tenderly, he kissed her.
It was amuchbetter nickname anyway.
SIX
At first, sleep was inevitable for Nadi. She couldn’t avoid it if she tried. The rocking of the wagon as the caravan processed in the line, coupled with the exhaustion that threatened to consume her ability to form any semblance of rational thought, made it inevitable.
Everything was simply a muddled, tangled catastrophe in her mind. So, she put it all aside, rested her head on Raziel’s cold chest, and let the exhaustion take her away. There was nothing she could solve in their current state.
When she woke up, there was a bowl of stew and some bread sitting by the door of the wagon. Both tasted stale. But it was food. Raziel was still asleep—or unconscious—she didn’t know which, and it didn’t really quite matter. He was alive. For now. Until the Lohti clan decided to change their minds on that.
Sitting with her back to the wall, she watched him as she ate, lost in thought.
