Page 86 of Beg the Night

“No, you can’t. And the more injured your feet are tonight, the harder it will be to travel tomorrow. Don’t be stubborn.”

With a giggle, Mags started back down the path. Katherine rolled her eyes and followed, Benedict stepping into stride with her.

“You’re unbelievable,” Athena whispered, even as she sank into my hold.

I basked in the feel of her small body as I held her to my chest.

“You can’t carry me the whole way. You’re not wearing shoes, either, you know.”

“My feet are tougher than yours,” I reminded her. “And you haven’t seenunbelievableyet.”

TWENTY-SIX

athena

Sinner and Benedict were aghast by how tiny the town we stumbled upon was. Katherine and I, though, had grown up in a small home in the middle of nowhere. To us, this place was huge. Yeah, I had gone with my siblings to the nearby market once or twice back home, but it wasn’t exactly a town. Just a few nearby farms getting together to trade.

This? This was…this was incredible. Dozens—no—hundredsof people littered the streets, even now, when it was well after midnight. They laughed. Chatted. Drank. Shops were lit up, merchants selling fruit and meat. Strings of lights crisscrossed above the cobblestone streets, shrouding everything in a magical glow. Everything but me. The illumination only emphasized how scantily I was dressed as I was being carried through town by this man with no shirt.

So, yeah, that was great.

“This way,” Benedict said. “There’s an inn right up here.”

I clung to Sinner’s neck, trying my best to be as unassuming as possible. He’d had carried me for well over an hour without a single complaint. Yes, he was huge and muscular, but he wasn’t a damn superhuman.

“Will you stop doing that?” he hissed in my ear.

“Doing what?”

“Stop trying to hold yourself up. You insult me by assuming I can’t hold the weight of you.”

“I’m only trying to help!”

“Well, don’t.” He held me tighter. “I don’t need your help, I can manage just fine.”

Fine.I relaxed in his arms as we approached the inn. Benedict held the door open as Sinner ducked into the cozy building. Margaret and Katherine were already inside, speaking to a young woman behind a wooden counter.

“We need rooms for tonight, please. At least—at least three.”

The woman eyed us. To say we were out of sorts was an understatement. Sinner and I were barefoot, practically naked, and bleeding. Katherine and Margaret were dressed in white clothing smeared with blood. The only person who looked even remotely close to civilized was Benedict, whose white suit was covered in dirt but lacked the bloodstains the rest of us couldn’t hide.

He stepped forward and pulled money out of his pocket.

At least someone here could pay. Maybe he’d be useful for more than teleporting.

“We only have two rooms.” She sniffed. “It’s a busy night. Take it or leave it.”

Benedict rolled his eyes. “Fine. We’ll take them.”

After taking the cash, she handed over two keys. “The kitchen will be open all night if you’re hungry.” She eyed me and Sinner. “And try not to get blood everywhere, please?”

Sinner ripped a key out of Benedict’s hand, readjusted his hold on me, and stormed toward the hall flanked by several closed doors. “Mags, let’s go!”

“Where are you going?” Katherine yelled behind us. “I want to stay with my sister!”

“No!” we yelled in unison—Mags and me and even Sinner. Okay, that warmed a part of my heart that it shouldn’t have. My new friends were protective of me. Call it the power of the blood moon or whatever, but it was actually kind of nice.

“We’ll find you when we’re ready to talk,” Sinner hollered over his shoulder as he handed the key to Margaret.

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