Page 70 of A Haven of Brimstone and Darkness

“This hunt is nothing more than a farce.” Though they know as much, I can’t help but speak the words that rise up from my throat. “We might be hunters in this realm, but we should never forget…” I lift my gaze to theirs, “how quickly the hunters become the hunted.”

Chapter 34

Kiera

Midmorning quickly morphs into afternoon and despite the recent chill of winter lingering in the air, sweat coats the back of my neck and slides into the collar of my tunic. Kalix, Ruen, and I leave the slain Mortal God to be buried by Theos. Whatever spell I’d managed to create to unravel the one that hid her true form obviously hasn’t worked on all of the other students the Gods have changed for this Hunt of theirs. Otherwise, we would hear cries of disbelief and screams of horror through the woods.

Instead, all I hear is the silence of the wind and the rustle of leaves at the tops of the trees. A pity—a large part of me wants to reveal to everyone that the ‘animals’ they’ve been killing are their classmates, their friends. Another part of me, the kinder piece of my soul I thought had died long ago, reminds me that revealing it in too shocking a manner as I had for the Darkhavens might cause great chaos. After all, who could live with the fact that they didn’t just kill their friends, but relished in hunting them through the Hinterlands and torturing them until their slaughter?

My footsteps slow to a halt as I emerge into a separation of trees where a creek bed slips through rocky crevices to forma shallow pool. Ruen and Kalix remain standing as I take the canteen that Ruen stole earlier and refill it. One good thing about being a Mortal God is access to better materials and this canteen is a product of the Lautus, the God of cleanliness. It’ll purify any debris in the water due to his spell.

“We should be closer to where we started now,” Ruen murmurs thoughtfully.

“We still haven’t found her, though,” I reply as I recap the canteen and tuck it into my waistband.

“Do you even know if she’s still alive?” Kalix slides a look my way and I grit my teeth at the thought of Maeryn dying out here.

“She’s still alive,” I snap. “You know it as well as I do.”

Kalix relaxes back against a large oak, crossing his arms over his wide chest. “Yes, I suppose I do,” he agrees. “Which brings me to what you did before. How did you share your thoughts with me?”

Raking my teeth along my lower lip, I straighten back to my feet and turn fully to face the two of them. Ruen’s curious gaze lingers on me as well, no doubt wanting the same answers that Kalix is demanding.

“I don’t know,” I admit, letting my gaze move to the flowing creek water.

“Bullshit.”

I whip my head back and scowl at Kalix. “I don’t,” I insist. “Makeda said that I?—”

“Makeda?” Ruen stops me. “Is that who you were with this morning? Is that who told you about…” His words trail off, but I don’t have to ask what he meant. He wants to know if the Goddess of Knowledge was who told me about the truth behind this malevolent Hunt.

With a sigh, I twist my head to the side, scanning the grounds nearby as I respond. “Yes,” I answer. “I went out last night andran into Zalika and Nubo. I think I know now who is helping Carcel on the mainland.”

“Nubo?” Kalix guesses.

Turning back to him, my brows arch up. “Yes,” I say. “How’d you know?”

Kalix shrugs. “He smells like death.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Ruen demands, turning on the other man.

Kalix casts his brother a narrow-eyed look and speaks in a clipped tone. “Because,” he replies, “all of Ortus smells of death. It’s hard to discern the differences when everything reeks of decay and rot.”

Ruen steps forward, his hands clenching at his sides and I step between them, holding my hands out. Despite the fact that Kalix hasn’t moved a single inch, I know he’s just as ready for a fight as Ruen. “The focus right now needs to be on Maeryn,” I say. “We need to find her and meet up with Theos. We’ll send Regis the information about Nubo when we return to Ortus.”

Rich bruise-colored eyes meet mine. “How do you plan to find her?” he asks, gesturing to the vastness of the woods that surround us. “The Hinterlands is an unmapped terrain. She could be miles away at this point—I hope she is, in fact, because if she stayed, then she could be dead.”

“She’s not dead,” Kalix says before I can.

“Her thread is still there,” I agree with a nod.

Ruen’s face scrunches in confusion, his brows lowering over his eyes. “Her thread?”

“It’s…” I shake my head. “It’s complicated to explain, but Makeda gave me an idea of how to use my senses in this Hunt and this land—the Hinterlands—Iknowit. I was raised here. It might look like the Hinterlands, but it’s just a replica.”

“A replica?” That has Kalix straightening away from the oak tree and frowning at me as he drops his hands to his sides.

I nod. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we keep running into the same places. The ravines. The tree markings. The clearings. Even this creek bed.” I gesture down to my side. “Yes, these things are from the Hinterlands, but not down to the distinct details.” I point to the oak behind Kalix. “There are three scratches to the upper corner of the lowest branch,” I tell him. “Right where the branch meets the trunk. Check it.”

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