Page 53 of Snake Eyes & Bad Luck

“Come on,” Callum urged, turning from Dan and the pillar as the sun tickled the top of the walls of Parandor. What Callum didn’t see was that Avelina leaned over and accidentally drop the keys into Dan’s hands that were chained behind his back. His fingers flexed around them, the metal looking so tiny in his massive palms. She left the man with a single instruction.

“There’s a servants pass behind the temple, spits you out along the coast.”

Dan said nothing. If he could unchain himself before the sun ignited the whole temple, he could probably leave through the doors Callum opened so long as more Paladins weren’t on their way. Or he could chance it with one of the back doors. Either way, Dan’s life was in his hands.

Grahm got what he deserved. Mary was gone. Cottonmouth was gone, having faked his death. Dan was king of the castle…if he made it out alive.

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

Callum

His girl was real quiet as they slipped through the city in the early morning. Light barely touched the temple before he smelt the woodfire burn. Onlookers and bystanders emerged from their homes or businesses to inquire about the scent. Smoke plumes grew denser and more alarming over the temple by the second. By the time they slipped out one of the gates of Parandor, the paladins were evacuating the city. People were practically pushed out the doors and allowed the outlaws to spill out into the Grasslands. Avelina and Callum followed the train tracks for a long time before they lost anyone who tagged along. Then it was another hour or so of them in complete silence before she broke first.

Atta girl, use that spine I worked so hard to grow in yer back.

“You were sending me back to Tala, weren’t you?” She stepped away from the tracks, out into the tall grass. He turned, watching her plop down on a ledge of one of the many boulders. She folded her arms under her chest and watched him expectantly.

“Yeah, I was,” he confessed. She scowled harder, face twisted up. There was something brewing up in her skull. He hoped it wasn’t a spell to kill him. Was it wise to play games with the warlock he’d rebuffed, pissed off, then dragged with him out into the middle of nowhere? No. It wasn’t. But he purred the words anyway with a smug smile curling up on his lips. “Ye know, I haven’t heard a single thank you, since we got outta that damn Stronghold.”

Her eyes got real wide at that remark. Like she couldn’t believe his audacity. “You want a thank you?” She barked out a laugh.

“Yup, a little gratitude would be nice.” He stood in front of her, arms crossing over his chest.

“Gratitude?” she parroted in disbelief. Her pitch rose to a squawk, “For? What?”

“For savin’ yer ungrateful skin! I whisked ya outta there before they could fricassee you—”

She jumped to her feet. Utilizing the boulder to be nose to nose with him, he could practically feel the smoke plumes trickling out of her. “Saving me? Saving me! You are the whole reason I was in danger. One, you know it’s not fricassee, we’ve talked about this, the Paladins were trying to spit roast me at best—”

He chimed in, “I wouldn’t put it that way, Darlin.”

She snatched him by the front of the shirt, yelling louder, “And for two! I’m not saying thank you for a single fucking thing until you apologize!”

“Apologize?” Callum scoffed fakely, baiting her. He dislodged her fingers from his shirt with a sneer, “For what?”

Avelina was a volcano with her lid rumbling. Her hands trembled from rage, which was a far better step than the weeping she’d done when he first whisked her off that pyre. Callum preferred her when she was vibrant, even when violent. He loved to see her furious with him, her cheeks all splotchy and red, her pupils blown wide. Avelina was a wonder to behold when she was spitting mad. Would be a shame one day when it got him killed.

“Well, let’s see, for starters?” His warlock started listing them off on her fingers, and his face fell immediately. “You kidnapped me. Held me hostage. You tortured me—”

He cut her off, “Ay, ay, ay. I never laid a hand on ya, darlin. Well…not that you didn’t ask for.” Callum winked.

“Mental anguish and games are torture too, you asshole!” Her teeth clicked with how hard she snapped and he went quiet. With a hard huff of air out her nose, she continued, “You tormented me. You took my things. You lied to me. You tricked me. You betrayed my trust. You left me! And all that, while my goddess was toying with me, making me fear for my life. She stole my fucking bones, Callum.”

He held his breath for a moment, unsure what to say. The words bubbled up in his chest before blurting out, “She stole yer bones?”

Avelina scoffed, tossing her hair lightly. “Alright, she exchanged them. But she would show up and like, for example, she took my forefinger bone. Snapped it off and replaced it with one of her-her-her-her-uh crown bones, you know? And she’d give me new powers that way.” All the while, she was waving a finger ringed with thick, coarse thread stitching. When did that happen?

She talked so fast with her shaking hands that it was almost like a skipped record as she searched for the right words. Her hands were clawed around the space over her head and Callum could only imagine what she meant. The goddess took her bones? The evil, madness lady took Avelina’s…bones? His face was a lot louder than he was because Avelina roared with frustration again.

“Do not look at me like that’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to me since you fucking kidnapped me!”

Callum squinted at her. “Isn’t it though?”

“Oh! My! Goddess!” She threw her hands up. Flinging herself off the rock, she moved toward the thicker grass. He snatched her by the waist and hauled her back to the boulder. Avelina’s back hit the stone with a grunt before she finally met his eyes. Callum loomed over her. His forearm pressed against the heavy megalith over her head, caging her in. The other hand cupped her side as gingerly as he could. She was a pissed off rattlesnake. He needed to tread carefully.

“Darlin’—”

His heart stopped when he saw her eyes redden and angry tears well up. She stomped a foot and jabbed a finger in his face. “No! No, don’t you dare to try to smooth talk your way out of this. I want an apology! I want a real, genuine, from the heart, acknowledging everything you did to me, fucking apology. And I want you to mean it, Callum. Or I walk.”