Page 97 of The Cursed Kingdom

“Why?” I ask.

I was good about ignoring him and his thousand questions earlier, but my refusal to answer doesn’t stop him from asking. It’s like he has a rolodex of annoying questions stored in his head.

“Just making conversation,” Kie says. “I’m twenty-seven.”

I already know that.

I hum. “I’m twenty-six.”

I don’t see the harm in sharing how old I am. Besides, it’s not like they can’t guess. I very much look my age. My gaze darts toward Mason, but I hurriedly look away when I realize he’s already staring at me. He’s always doing that, and it freaks me out.

He’s attractive enough that I’m sure the faeries in the capital don’t mind him leering—they might even find it flattering—but I can confidently say I’m not a fan. It’s beyond creepy, and if he doesn’t stop, I’m going to gouge out his big, green buggy eyes.

He can’t stare if he doesn’t have eyes.

“Mason’s thirty-two,” Kie says.

Mason scoffs. “I’m thirty.”

The corner of Kie’s lip twitches, like he’s proud of himself for having gotten Mason to speak. They’re constantly bickering, reminding me of the neighborhood cats who often fight right outside my window in the middle of the night.

Mason is the fat, brown one with half its ear bitten off, and Kie is the equally fat tabby who is constantly antagonizing. It was evident by their large bellies that they had homes they went to at the end of every night. They were domestic and lazy, despite what they wanted to pretend.

I bet Mason and Kie are domestic and lazy at their core. They’ve been relatively resourceful out here, but they probably never have to lift a finger in their real lives. I bet they’ve got servants who bring them their every meal, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn they have a person who wipes their asses after every bowel movement.

Kie repeats his earlier question. “Do you have any siblings?”

I shrug, still refusing to answer. Aaron’s an asshole on his best of days, always has been, but I’ll be damned if I drag him into this mess.

I hope he’s taking care of Lill. Given how weak she was when I left and the inevitable damage opening that portal caused her, she’ll need help. Aaron doesn’t have time to wait on her hand and foot, as I did, but anything helps.

“Doyou?” I ask, turning the question around on Kie.

He shakes his head. “No.”

Figures.

“Your turn, Mace,” Kie says, trying to pull Mason into the conversation.

I spare a quick glance at the shifter. He’s no longer looking at me, thank the fucking gods, and instead, he glares at Kie over my head. I wait, hoping he says something snarky, but he doesn’t.

That’s disappointing.

I pick up the pace, but I quickly slow when I realize that’ll bring us to the portal quicker. I’ve come to accept that there’ll be no escaping, that every attempt I make is pointless and usually leads to an injury.

Mason hasn’t gone out of his way to threaten me today, but he doesn’t need to. I’ll never forget how it felt to have his hand wrapped around my throat, his fingers squeezing so tightly as I clawed at them and fought for oxygen. I thought I was going to die, and I still feel the soreness when I suck in too deep a breath.

Of all the things he’s done, from his verbal threats to the physical attacks, the choking was the worst.

“I hope you know we aren’t doing this for fun,” Kie eventually says.

I hum but don’t otherwise respond.

“You have your secrets, but I think you’re a nice woman,” he continues. “I’m not excited to give you to Zaha, and I’m not doing it to be malicious. I have an entire kingdom to look after, and I have to put my people first.”

Eyeroll.

Kie fully intended to kill me when he first found me. He also called me abug, which I’m still offended by, and Mason attacked me. If it weren’t for me being human, he’d have let Mason kill me then and there.

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