AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As I went to sit, I did a double-take, and my breath caught. My book, the one Theon had gifted me before the Pelas Games, was sitting on my bed.Prince of the Dark Realm.My favorite book. I gently ran my finger over the cover. “Where did this come from?”
Florin shifted to see what I was talking about and said, “Nica pulled it out of his bag and set it there earlier.”
My chest warmed at the thought of the tiger. He’d grabbed my most prized possession when we were running for our lives. The only reason he’d do that was… for me.
I ran my fingers over the worn cover. I’d read this book so many times over the past few months, and it showed. I couldn’t believe Nica did this for me. He’d carried it in his bag for an entire week as we escaped the clutches of Natas and the Zyon Kingdom, and he hadn’t breathed a word about it.
I set the book back on my bed and turned to Florin. “Will you be okay for a few minutes? I want to thank Nica.”
He nodded. “I’ll be okay.”
I eyed him in concern. Maybe I shouldn’t leave him here. “I can wait until he returns.”
Florin laughed. “I promise I’m okay. Theon said he’d be back shortly, and I’m able to move a little now.”
“I can wait.”
His gaze softened. “I promise you it’s fine. I have just as many weapons hidden around my bed as you do around yours.”
My eyebrows lifted.
“We’re safe here. You know we are. I’m safer now than I’ve been any other day in over five years. Please, Braz. Go find Nica. I’ll be okay.”
Exhaling loudly, I nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
He grinned. “And I’ll be here.”
I started to exit, then turned back and grabbed my book. “Do you like to read?”
He nodded, eyeing the book.
“Theon gave this to me before the last Pelas Games. It’s a really great book. Would you like to read it?”
“I’d love to.”
I smiled and handed it over. “It’s a fae fantasy story. Theon has many opinions on it, so be prepared to be questioned once you finish.”
He chuckled. “I can’t wait.” He stared at it for a few seconds before lifting those lavender eyes to me. “Thank you for trusting me with it.”
“I trust you with my life, Florin. More importantly, with Theon’s. This is nothing.”
He smiled up at me, then made a shooing motion. “Go find Nica. I have a book to read.”
I chuckled as I exited the tent but cut off my laugh and dropped my smile almost immediately. Florin was right that we were safe here—or safer than we’d been before, although I didn’t trust anyone yet. Apparently, escaping from our House didn’t stop the stares and whispers coming from the other Resistance members. Of course they would stare at the half-orc in their midst. Of course they’d be mistrustful. It was silly of me to think otherwise for even a moment.
When I was with only Theon, Florin, Nica, and Weylyn—myfamily, as Nica had taken to calling us—I was happy and free and able to be myself. But even here, outside of House Natas, I was still the feared, mindless creature to everyone else. It wasn’t as if I could help that I was a half-orc and that I looked like a monster. I did everything in my power to show people that I wasn’t a mindless beast, but they couldn’t see past my skin and tusks to see I was an actual person with a brain and feelings of my own.
Same shit, different day. Different place.
So I ignored the stares as much as possible and made my way back to the food tent where I’d last seen the tiger. I found him sitting at a table with Theon, Cedric, and Sephiran, but I didn’t see Weylyn anywhere. Since Nica was smiling and laughing andnoton a rampage, I figured that meant the gargoyle was safe, wherever he’d gone.
“Nica,” I said when I was closer to them.
The tiger turned his smile to me, but his brow furrowed after a second. He stood and quickly walked over to me using that tiger gracefulness of his. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Is Florin okay?”
Since I couldn’t seem to put into words how much it meant to me that he’d thought to bring my book with us, I stepped up to him and pulled him into a hug. I’d never done that to anyone but Theon before, and a round of nerves hit me at my unexpected and unplanned action. But Nica instantly wrapped his arms around my neck and held on tight as his purr built, then rumbled between us.
One hand went to the back of my neck where he rubbed my muscles, and he whispered, “I’m not complaining about this random hug at all, but why exactly did you storm in here just to hug me?”
