Page 56 of Reckless
“Hello, Finn.” I laugh, wrapping my arms around him and the bow now resting across his back. “I knew you were here before I even saw you.” I turn to look at them all. “I knew I was safe.”
“Oh, really?” Finn raises an eyebrow at me, his brown hair glinting auburn in the dying firelight.
“The arrows.” I gesture to the dozen littering the camp and its former occupants. “Those are the Resistance’s arrows. The ones you make with the red arrowheads.” Finn smirks at my knowledge of his handiwork. “And I knew that you were the one firing them, because you always carve anFat the bottom of the shaft.”
He shrugs. “Maybe I make the best arrows for myself. And maybe I want to make sure no one else takes them.”
“Typical,” Leena huffs from where she still aims at the Enforcer.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, turning toward Lenny.
He runs a hand over the back of his neck. “Why don’t we take this conversation on the road. We’ve spent enough time in this desert.” He glances at the prince who is looking anything but pleased. “Finn, do you have the rope in your pack?”
After fishing the rope free, Finn throws a smug smile over his shoulder at an already irritated Leena. “See, I told you we’d need to tie someone up on this trip.”
“Yeah, I just hoped it would be you,” she mumbles.
Despite Kai making no move to fight him, Lenny hesitates before binding Kai’s hands behind his back. It’s obvious he never dreamed he’d be taking his prince as a captive, seeing that he swore an oath to protect him. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this to you,” Lenny sighs, “but if you run, we shoot.”
Kai is silent as he stands and scans the scattered bodies. His expression is suddenly blank, apparently emotionless, as he looks at the men. I’ve watched him slip on dozens of his masks, so I recognize the moment he fixes another one into place.
I tug my shoes back on before helping stuff a few bedrolls into their packs while the three make quick work of untying horses for themselves. “What’s the matter, Princess?” Lenny asks after noticing me shifting on my feet. “These horses not up to your standards?”
“No horse is up to my standards,” I mutter before adding much louder, “Could I just ride with you?”
I can see the exact moment he realizes the Silver Savior is afraid of horses, and I’m not going to let him say a damn thing about it. “I’ll hurt you, Lenny. You know I will.”
He raises his hands in surrender, shrugging as he says, “I wasn’t going to say a thing.”
“Like hell you weren’t,” I mutter, watching as he frees the rest of the horses we can’t take with us. After I find my knife in the sand and return it to my boot, Lenny struggles to smother his laughter while doing little to help me get onto the beast.
The prince walks in front of us as we leave the carnage behind to begin heading back toward Dor. “What is happening back in Ilya?” I ask into Lenny’s back as I wrap my arms tightly around him. “And what happened in the Bowl after the final Trial? Oh, and the rest of the Resistance—”
“Easy, Princess,” Lenny cuts in. “We have plenty of desert before Dor to answer all of your questions.” His eyes flick between Leena and Finn riding to the right of us. “Uh, either of you want to tell her?”
“Not particularly, no,” Finn says evenly.
Lenny reaches over and claps him on the back, smiling sweetly.“We all know you’re the best at telling stories. Go ahead, man.”
“I am, aren’t I?” Finn smiles before shaking his head. “Which is why you need the practice…”
“Can someone please tell me what the hell I need to be told?” I blurt, blinking at the both of them.
“Move,” Leena orders before pushing her horse around Finn’s to ride beside me. “Ugh, you have no idea what I’ve had to deal with.” She combs small fingers through the length of her hair, composing herself. “Paedyn, the Resistance… the Resistance is done. It’s over.”
I run my fingers over the ring on my thumb, shaking my head at her. “What… what are you talking about? What do you mean it’sdone?”
Leena glances at the boys before continuing with a sigh. “The fight in the Bowl was brutal. We weren’t prepared for the number of Imperials that rushed in. Every number we had calculated, every detail we had learned from our spies on the inside, was wrong. Nothing went right that day.”
“Yeah, Calum was cut off before he could even deny that us Ordinaries are diseased and weakening the kingdom,” Finn adds.
I nod, remembering how outraged the crowd was at learning how many Ordinaries had been living among them. “Is he alive? Calum? What about Mira?”
“We’ve heard that the king has them.” Lenny shakes his head, rubbing a hand behind his neck. “They’re probably being interrogated as we speak.”
I shudder at the thought of what Kitt is doing to them, to the Resistance leader and his daughter. “And everyone else in the Bowl?” I ask softly, fearing the answer. “Were they all…?”
Leena shakes her head at the sand. “Any Resistance members that weren’t lost in the battle at the Bowl are on the run. Just like us.”
