Page 104 of Bound By Darkness

I scoffed. “I understand.”

“Daddy issues?” Naexi mused.

I huffed a laugh. “Let’s say my father was the reason I ended up in prison at the ripe age of thirteen.”

Naexi whistled low. “Maybe the paths of fate will intertwine with him as well. Provide you closure.”

“I don’t need closure. I need him dead.”

Her grin was feline as she slid her arms under the pillow. “Maybe I misjudged you, dishkeep, because you have the same look in your eyes as mine.”

Adjusting the pillow, I watched rain droplets race against the glass. “Maybe next time, don’t toss rotten potatoes into my soup.”

“A little rot is fine,” Naexi purred. “Helps give it a bite.”

Maybe I had some rot to myself after all. Maybe all these years I had let it fester and bubble, collecting into the rage I held onto. The rage that decapitated the sentinel who’d killed Ellia.

Naexi yawned, loud and unabashed in the dim lighting. “Tomorrow, we hunt the rebels for real.”

“No more vices?” I teased.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” she purred. “What about you? What vices spur you on?”

I rolled my eyes. “Nothing you can offer except your silence. It’s late, and I am tired.”

Naexi grumbled, her words mumbling together as she sunk further into the thick pillow. “Be glad I am drunk. Otherwise, I’d silence you with my fist.”

“I’d love to see you try,” I said as I buried my head into the pillow to hide the corners of my lips. This womanmaybewasn’t so horrible.

Naexi flipped me off, a chuckle escaping from my chest before the wind and rain kicked up speed, drowning the world in a blanket of gray.

Thalia would be heading toward the Hideaway soon. A burden lifted from my chest. She remained safe for the time being.

A surge of nausea hit me as the smell of citrus penetrated my nose. Naexi bent over the bed, the horrid sounds filling the room, but this time, I joined her.

Chapter 30

Death Calls

THALIA

Immense pain throbbedthrough my skull as I shifted against the hard ground, a groan flowing from my lips. My hands cradled my forehead as I rubbed the soreness lingering there.

A sudden jolt caused me to lose my balance, my arm banging into something solid as I positioned myself to view my surroundings. We’d been traveling for weeks with no answer in sight as to where Ivan was taking us. In his words, we were making a short stop to see an acquaintance and stock up on supplies before we searched for the Book of Spells. The one item that would save Cethales… and save me.

My hands spread across the wooden flooring as I kept myself stable against the moving cart. Soreness laced through my head, deep and throbbing.

“Ow,” I muttered, my eyes shutting as the pain intensified.

“You’re awake,” Fin said, his voice floating above the crunching leaves and twigs.

My body slid against wood as the carriage turned with Beau and Onyx’s help.

“I wish I wasn’t,” I muttered. “Everything hurts and I’m tired of not knowing where we are going.”

“Join the club,” Fin replied as he stretched. “I’m beginning to think Ivan got us lost in the thick of the forest.”

“I did not get us lost. It’s through here.” A pointed finger rose to where a line of trees rested.

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