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Staring over at her, the notion of her not being here shot me out of my seat. A growl tickled the back of my throat as I moved around the room, not able to sit still, a chasm in my chest.
You’d feel that way about anyone. You wouldn’t want anyone to die.
I mean, she was a nice kid. She deserved a full, happy life, to find love and raise a family if it was what she wanted. Maybe the idiotic ex of hers would realize what he let go, or some smarter guy would come along, see what an amazing person she was, and never let her go.
My lip curled up at the thought of somefaszkalaptasting her, hearing her moans, making her cry outhisname.“Stop.” I gritted my teeth, blood torching up the back of my neck. “You don’t think of her like that.”
I could hear the mocking laugh in my head as my cock pressed against my zipper. For almost a year, I barely got aroused. I was dead inside, and unless I was high and could forget for a moment, I hardly got an erection. So many times, I had a male prostitute fuck me until my dick was hard enough to push down a throat or slip into a pussy. It was all anger and anguish, needing toexperiencepain, tocausepain, to feel anything.
Something had changed along the way. I didn’t know when it started, but I was afraid the reason was lying just feet from me.
“Bazdmeg.”Fuck that. I dug my fingers into the bridge of my nose right as the sound of a lock turned over. Instinctually, I grabbed for my gun just in case.
Raven scrambled up, waking instantly as the reverend came in.
“Just me.” His arms were full of clothes and bags. The smell of food wafting out of one of them rumbled my stomach. “My apologies I was so long.” He hauled some heavier coats onto the table. “It is not easy getting this stuff nowadays. And you two have caused quite a stir out there.” He set the food down. “They are still searching around, but it has lightened up a bit. The rumor is you two were able to escape the city. They have set up blocks on all the major roads.”
I muttered under my breath, opening the bag of food. The aroma of cabbage meat rolls hit my nose, causing my mouth to water. Ripping the bag, I placed the rolls out on the table, sliding them over to Raven. “Sit.” I motioned for her to take the chair and eat, knowing she needed food. For once, she didn’t fight me, taking a seat. I waited until she bit into thesarmale, groaning in bliss, my eyes transfixed with watching her eat. “So, we’re trapped here?” I forced my head back to the reverend.
“Not necessarily.” He clasped his hands.
Tipping my head in question, my attention jumped back to Raven when she moaned again, her eyes rolling back. I shifted on my feet, my body responding to her sounds.
“So good.” She handed me a cabbage roll while she stuffed down another one before she even finished the first. Her manners had been tossed out the window, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“What does that mean?” I chomped down on thesarmale, bursts of meat and spices filling my mouth, causing a noise to huff up. It probably wasn’t even meat, nor good, but after days of living off oily tripe soup, it was amazing.
“I cannot help you past the walls of the city.” The reverend touched the coats he laid on the table, his graying brows fusing together. “But I might know someone who can. A place you can hide out. Iacob is an old acquaintance who walked away from the church when we were seminarians and has taken his ownunique, personal journey.” His tone was slightly condescending, but I didn’t call it out, not really caring. “He lives up in the mountains with a handful of individuals the same as him.”
“Where in the mountains?” I asked. “I thought all roads were blocked.”
“You wouldn’t take normal roads to him.”
“Where is he?”
“Iacob lives in the old ruins ofBisericu?a Pagânilor.”
“The Pagans’ Temple?” My body went still, knowing this place was very close to the Valea Cetatii caves.
“Yes.” The reverend frowned. “He and his little commune have taken it over, practicing their rituals and magic.”
“They’re fae?”
“Some are human, some fae, and a Druid.”
“What?” Raven’s chair ground over the stone, asarmaledropping from her hand, shock rounding her eyes on the reverend. “A Druid?”
Surprise swung me back to the reverend as well, biting back the ache at the loss of Tad. Druids were very rare. The old seelie queen had massacred them by the thousands, sending the ones who could escape into hiding. Very few remained and were a rarity to come across.
Tad was one of the only Druids I could say was a friend. Losing him still resonated deeply with my family, especially Brex. He had found a way to come back after his death, through a seer, and help Brexley with her powers, but since the battle with Istvan, there had been nothing from him.
“Yes, Iacob runs with an interesting group. They are what I call free spirits.” Reverend’s tone rang with judgment. “But the land is spell-protected, and you will be able to hide out there.”
Plus, it was a perfect jumping-off point to get to the caves.
“We can get supplies there?”
“Yes, the Râ?nov Fortress is close, but they trade there.”
