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Chapter Six
The next morning, I woke alone, though that didn’t shock me. Kase didn’t strike me as a “hang around and have breakfast together” sort of man, especially after his revelations the night before.
After donning my cloak, I crossed the hallway to Grant’s room to find Kase there as well. We ate, and by the time we left the inn, I finally felt ready for another leg of the trip.
The ability to sleep in a bed, to stop and rest, to see something other than spanning wilderness had done wonders for my stamina.
It certainly wasn’t Kase I had to thank for that, given the slight ache in my body. He’d used up stamina if anything.Worth it.
This time we took a road, which made the trip much easier. I was over the whole climbing thing, where we made our own trail. Instead, we followed a beaten path with trees and farms lining the way.
“Where were you last night?” I asked Hunter.
He was still shirtless—not that I minded. “Checking the roads ahead. I wanted to make sure there weren’t any traps or ambushes.”
I frowned, glancing to my side. “Was it a smart idea to go out there by yourself?”
“You worried about me?” The smile he flashed me said the idea amused him.
Instead of saying anything about it—he’d be far too pleased by that—I tugged at the cloak I wore. “Can I take this thing off, yet? No one else is around.”
“What if you take off everything under it instead?” He lifted an eyebrowas if that were the best compromise he’d ever heard.
“Well, my normal clothing doesn’t smell like rotten sludge, so I’m pretty sure I know which I’d prefer.”
Hunter huffed a soft laugh. “You can take the hood down but keep the rest on. It’ll help hide your scent.”
“No one in the bar even looked twice at me. I think you’re being overly dramatic about this.”
“Yeah, you say that now because you haven’t faced anything around here that wants to devour all that delicious mortality you have. Trust me, you’d be less confident if you had.”
I wanted to tell him that wasn’t true, but then I recalled how Kase had thrown me around, how Jerrod had charged, how the dancers in the bar had moved.
So, okay, maybe I was out of my league.
I took down the hood as he’d said but didn’t complain about leaving the cloak fastened at my throat.
Hell seemed stranger the more time I spent there, and just as soon as I thought I had a feel for it, it changed.
I’d gotten used to the wilderness, to the dim sky and the freaky, spiky trees. Climbing over the sharp rocks hadn’t been fun, but I’d accepted it.
Then we’d ended up in an honest-to-God town, complete with strippers and a no-tell-motel. That had been weird, but again, I’d adjusted.
My night with Kase helped that…
And now? Now we walked down a road, a red mist hanging on the ground like fog, with fields that stretched out growing something I couldn’t identify. Houses were set in each huge space, but they didn’t look like the cute, southern-type houses. These held a sinister edge, which I could understand because I doubted good-ole-boy farmers ended up in hell.Well, maybe the racists ones.
“What are these farms?” I asked.
Hunter nodded at one of the houses that sat in the middle of a large field of spindly plants, ones that looked dead despite growing in perfect rows. The mist was so thick, I couldn’t see the ground. “Nothing much grows here, at least nothing usable. I’m sure you’ve noticed all the trees are bare.”
“Yeah, it occurred to me when I had to pee behind a shrub and there wasn’t much cover.”
He snorted softly. “These farms grow ambrosia, which is what is ground up to make alcohol, along with other mind-altering substances that work on demons, spirits and immortals.”
I frowned before going over to where the fencing separated the plants from the road. When I peered closer, the mist shifted without breaking apart. “Why does it grow?”
“There are some things you don’t want to know,” Hunter said.
