Page 137 of Mud

Taland’s smile dropped halfway. “Monstrous,”he repeated like he was tasting the word on his tongue. “Yes, I like that word. It fits.”

My heart broke and broke as if I’dreallyhoped that he’d tell me he didn’t mean it. As if I was really stupid enough to hope that he would…I don’t know,apologizeor something.

“Get out, Taland,” I said, and again, my voice shook. I went for my pants, but I’d barely grabbed them when he wrapped his arms around me from behind and hugged me to his chest. My instincts kicked in, and this time I was pissed enough to let them, so I moved my head back with all my strength, hoping to slam it to his nose and break it.

Unfortunately for me, he saw it coming and moved his head to the side, then brought his hand to my neck, long fingers wrapping around my jaw. He held my head back against his shoulder, and his tongue trailed a line from my shoulder and up my neck, all the way to my earlobe.

I fucking died.

“Such delicious poison,” he murmured in my ear, easilypinning my arms to my sides. “You’re going to get me in that vault, sweetness. One way or the other, you will.”

And he let me go.

I fell on the bed on my hands, bent over all the way—just like he liked.

He growled like a fucking animal when I stood up and backed away to the wall again, lowered down slowly to grab my pants off the floor, and put them on while I watched him.

While he still growled. While he was hard—so painfully hard I saw it clearly through his pants, just like I had last night.

Or had it even beenlast night?

Because the lamp on the table was still on and the window was half open and the sky was just as dark as it had been when I slept.Whenwas that?

“Dangerous little traitor,” said Taland in a whisper as he shook his head, retreating toward the window.

I forced a laugh.

“You can’t hurt me with those words, Taland.” I had much,muchworse names to call myself than simplytraitor.“What the fuck do you want from me? Why won’t you just leave me alone? I amnotgoing to help you.” I put on my leather holster and my sheaths, and once my gun and daggers and knives were on my person, I breathed a little easier.

“I can hurt you plenty,” the asshole said, now trying to seem at ease as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him.

Except he was still very much hard—and I looked.

He arched a brow. “Want me to pull down my pants so you can see better?”

Oh, goddess…

“No! Don’t you dare.” I lowered my head to tie up the laces of my boots and jumped to my feet to put my jacket on. “I’m leaving, Taland.”Kill me now or let me go.

But I’d already said that to him a hundred times, hadn’t I?

“You need to bring someone back from the dead,” Taland said. “And unless you already found where they buried bodies for us—which, if you did, you wouldn’t have come here at all—you have nowhere to go right now.”

I shook my head. “They buried bodies?”

“Oh, yes. Elves and orcs and trolls. They’re in the city somewhere for the players to find, but you will need days to find them, I assure you. I barely managed to find one—and that’s in the very beginning of this game.” He grinned. “Now all the easy places have been found, the bodies used.”

I took in a deep breath, trying not to think about the IDDburyingpeople all over this place so we couldusethem for a goddamn game.

They were fucking sick.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I have a plan. I know how to find a dead body.”

That certainly surprised Taland. “Oh?”

I raised my chin. “You don’t have to believe me.” But I really did have a plan, one I genuinely thought would work.

“Oh, but I do.” He grinned and pushed himself off the wall. “After seeing you with that vulcera? I absolutely believe you. Here’s an interesting question, though: what will you do with a dead body when you find it?”

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