Page 84 of Beg the Night

TWENTY-FIVE

sinner

Igripped Mags’s hand like my entire fucking life depended on it as we fell through the air.

With a heavy thump, then another, we landed on solid ground like we were dropped from the sky.

With a groan, I snapped my eyes open to find Mags, Athena, Katherine, and the motherfucker who just…who justteleported us.

Between one breath and the next, I was on my feet and barreling toward him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I wrapped a hand around his throat and squeezed, shoving him backward. “Where are we?”

He held his hands up. “I’m on your side,” he choked out. “Those guards would never let you leave alive. Any of you. I got us out of there.”

“Benedict is a tier two. He can jump through space. That’s his gift.” Katherine stumbled a few feet away, then bent at the waist and vomited. As she stood, wiping the back of her wrist over her mouth, she grimaced. “I can’t say I approve.”

I loosened my grip a fraction but didn’t release him.

“Why?” Athena asked from behind me as she, too, found her footing. “Why would you help us? Katherine hates me. She was all for letting the Ministry use us as weapons.”

Benedict gave Katherine a sideways glance. “Just because she is my claimed doesn’t mean we share the same beliefs. She wasn’t trapped in those dungeons. Not like I was.”

I dropped my hand and stepped away, my heart thumping wildly.

“That was a stupid decision,” Katherine said, her face scrunched up in disgust as she backed away from the vomit on the ground. “They’ll come for us. You know they will.”

Benedict shrugged. “They’ll have to find us first.”

“I have to say,” Mags said, stepping up to my side. “I’d considered a whole bunch of outcomes, but this was not one of them.”

The five of us stood in a circle, eyeing one another. The air was thick with tension, as if we were all considering which of our new counterparts we could trust. Then Mags started laughing. Actually laughing.

It was quiet at first. Somewhat restrained. But it quickly turned into a full-on fit. She clutched her stomach and bent over as laughter erupted from her.

God, my sister was crazy.

Athena giggled, bringing a hand to her mouth like she could stop the sound. Within seconds, though, she gave up and laughed out loud. Benedict caved next. It was almost…refreshing? When was the last time I had heard a sound so light, so full of promise? It sure as hell wasn’t during the months I’d spent in those dungeons.

Katherine didn’t give in. Why would she? She was against all of this. She’d likely try to betray us again. Though what did it mean that she was tied to Benedict?

They were so different. He’d stepped in and teleported us out of there without hesitation.

Why? Why would he risk his own life to save us?

“We need to find shelter for the night,” I said, turning away from the group of ridiculous children. “It isn’t safe. Like Katherine said, they’ll come looking for us.”

The laughter slowly died, leaving me feeling only a little guilty for being the cause.

“I know where we are,” Benedict said. “We’re in the northern lands.”

Oh, fuck. “You teleported ushalfway across Ashora?”

He lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “The power of the blood moon strengthens my gift. All I wanted to do was get us somewhere safe.”

“Does the Ministry have other jumpers? Other people who can follow you?”

“Not that I know of,” he said. “Maybe deployed, but none stationed with Director.”

I scanned our surroundings, taking in the less dense forest. The leaves here were lighter, the trunks taller. They didn’t suffocate us in thick greenery like the forest before. The shelter was sparse, the grasses nearly reaching my knees.

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