AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stood as quickly as I could. The last place I wanted to be was on my knees in front of them, like I was begging. I remembered the last time and wished I had a knife with me now, even the ceremonial one. I might enjoy stabbing Helene in the eye and twisting the blade while she screamed.
Of course, that would be the last thing I did.
Surreptitiously, I wiped my hands on the front of my jeans and accepted the bowl of oats, dried fruit and honey Luther handed me. It even had a spoon. For a minute I indulged in thoughts of what I might do with that in place of a knife.
Instead, I just picked it up and started to eat.
"Thanks," I muttered around my mouthful. "Are you going to watch me eat?"
Luther smiled with one side of his mouth and started to dismantle my tent with the help of one of the swordsmen.
I felt a difference in the bond and realised Helene must have taken it back.
"What do you call yourselves?" I asked. "As a group, I mean."
"We haveno need for such a thing," Helene said curtly.
"All right, what do others call you then? The Marauding Band in Black? Hade's Squadron?" My vote was Band of the Travelling Assholes.
"We operate in secret. Few are aware we exist," she replied. She waved impatiently for me to finish eating.
"I see," I said slowly. "I'll think of something then." In my head, I began to call them Helene's Band of Motherfuckers, if only to give myself petty amusement and take my mind off the situation.
"Save your energy, we have a long ride yet," Helene said. "And save your words, or I'll be forced to silence you." She gave me a cold look, which left no doubt she would do as she threatened.
I responded with a nod, but threw in a one shouldered shrug. I wouldn't be cowed so easily. If Helene needed me as much as she said she did, then she would only go so far.
Or so I hoped.
I ignored Luther's hands and climbed up onto my horse without help.
The animal was probably influenced by the bond, he stepped in behind Helene's horse and followed almost nose to tail.
I decided not to spend the day glaring at the woman's back, or trying to escape straightaway.
Instead, I watched the landscape around me and committed as much of it to memory as I could. Truthfully, that wasn't difficult. To the west was sand and dirt. To the east was dirt and sand. In front was more of the same. The only thing which broke up the monotonous view was the road which trudged wearily through the nothingness.
After an hour or two, I gave up and let my mind wander to other things, like why my blood glowed. I considered drawing out a few drops to see if I imagined it, but I wouldn't do that where the other hemitheos could see.
That raised another question though; did their blood glow? If it did, what did that mean? Would Knox know? I would have to find a way to talk to him without being overheard or raising suspicion. If they found out who he was, his bones would lie lost in the sand until the end of time.
I knew without question they'd kill him. Helene probably wouldn't bat an eye.
I shook my head and sighed to myself.
"Ten bucks for your thoughts." Luther had ridden beside me for the last while, but I hadn't noticed him until he spoke.
"I'm not sure they're worth it," I replied.
"Why don't you let me decide that?" he suggested.
I gave him a steady look, but he was unruffled. "I was just wondering how many hemitheos there are," I lied. I hadn't wondered that until the words came out of my mouth. Now they had, it was an interesting question. One I'd very much like the answer to.
Luther regarded me with a tilt of his head. "I know of only a handful. Some from the south." He waved a finger toward Helene, then pointed at me. "Some from the city, or outside the Vault. My mother was one."
"Was?" I asked without thinking.
"She went to Hades when I was a kid," Luther said with no inflection in his tone. "Too long ago to recall more than flashes of her face. I will always remember her scent." He half closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose slowly, as if he could breathe it in now. "Lilacs and lavender, with a hint of roses and a scent all her own." He let the breath out slowly.
