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It was the night that seemed to live on repeat in my head, which made me feel defenseless and vulnerable.
“Oh.” My arms crossed, walling myself up from emotion.
Croygen sucked in through his nose, his mouth opening like he was going to say something. Instead he shook his head, stomping off to the rudimentary horse enclosure.
I felt a vital need to go after him, shake him, challenge him to say something about how he felt. At the same time, I had the same desire to run from him, to protect myself, make sure he didn’t hurt me first.
Nothing good can come from this. I scolded myself.You slept with a man who admitted to murdering your father. That makes you more despicable than him.
Nails embedding into my palm and vowing to keep my distance to get through this ordeal, I tracked him inside the corral, finding him rubbing the head of his horse, Caramel. Emotion fluttered behind my lids when I saw Tootsie right next to them.
“Tootsie!” I wasn’t an animal person really, but I missed that damn horse more than I thought. The horse neighed, flickering her head, strolling up to me as if she was excited to see me too.
“Hey, girl.” I scratched her nose, blinking back the tears. “I missed you too.”
A teenage boy dragged the saddles to us, dropping them at Croygen’s feet with lethargy.
“Those two also.” He nodded at Chocolate and Churro while he started to resaddle our horses.
“Oh, Caramel!” Sprig sang, crawling out of Croygen’s pocket, where he stayed almost the whole return journey, sleeping a lot after his trauma. “Oh, now I’m sooooo hungry. Caramel and Chocolate on a Churro and lick it like a Tootsie Pop.”
“Sprig. Be quiet.” Croygen held up his finger to his lips, glancing around.
“They’ll think they’re high from all the fumes from the horse shit. Wow.” He fanned his nose. “Thought the inside of your pocket smelled bad.”
“Maybe if you didn’t throw up in it.”
“That was one time… okay, maybe twice. No more than five times, though… I think.”
“And you pooped in it too.”
“Yeah.” Sprig grinned with pride. “I did do that.” He leaped onto Caramel’s head. “Well, maybe if you fed me proper food. I know you hate me, swattlebucket, but you want me to die a slow, cruel death?”
“Yes.”
I heard Sprig and Croygen rattle on as I saddled Tootsie, but a squeak of metal drew my head to the side. On the other side of the overcrowded corral, I noticed a young boy opening a section, letting out a few riders.
Four horses trotted out of the stall, following an older man and his son riding behind on a smaller Mongolian horse. Three men dressed in dark colors and a woman with long dark hair rode behind one of the men. The sun glinted off her strands, making them look more purple as they galloped away. My stomach lurched with recognition.
“Croygen!” I shouted, pointing at the group. “That’s them!”
His jaw locked down, a twitch jumping his cheek, determination set on his brow. He moved fast, his leg swinging up on the horse, settling in his saddle like he was made to ride.
“Get Cooper and AB!” He picked Sprig off Caramel, tossing him to me before he tapped his heels into the horse’s side, galloping toward the exit. The boy who was closing the gate saw Croygen racing for him. With a yell, he yanked it back open just as Croygen barreled through, galloping after the group.
“He just tossed my ass like a football,” Sprig twittered angrily. “I’m definitely going to poop in his shoes now!”
“Sprig.” I climbed on Tootsie, placing him up on my shoulder. “Shut up.” Spotting the top of the Dark Dweller’s blond head, his size still casting a shadow on most people, I shouted at him, tugging on Tootsie’s reins. “Cooper! We have to go now!”
Clicking my tongue, my heels nudging Tootsie, I took off after Croygen, not wanting to think about the fact I was wearing nothing but a t-shirt with no underwear, my bare ass rocking against the saddle.
But there was no way I would let Croygen do this alone.
We had the nectar within our grasp again.
They had no path back to Budapest that wouldn’t take months. We would track them down and take it from them long before they reached the Hungarian border.
This time we would not leave empty-handed.
