Page 39 of Kept to Kill
Mal
Mal ate slowly, not to savor, but because he couldn’t countenance going back into that room whereshewas, not even to see the aftermath of his revenge. The revenge that was meant to start and stop last night with the powdered velvet bean he’d bought off one of the many peddlers waiting for the mountain passes to open. He hadn’t meant to do any of the rest of it, but when he’d seen her get up, he’d seen his chance to put the powder in her sheets, even throwing some on Bastian’s sleeping form for good measure, though the bastard seemed fine this morning; no itching and no chafed skin at all.
He briefly thought about finding that no-good charlatan of a merchant and carving him a new gullet, but after a brief look around, he realized they all looked the fucking same to him and he had no idea who he’d bought it from. Even he couldn’t kill an entire room of people in broad daylight and get away with it. Well, he could so long as he made sure he got every single one of them, but he doubted Quin would approve.
Oddly, his usual thirst for death seemed muted. In fact, he hadn’t murdered anyone since … the ship … That had to be several days ago now. He stared at his plate, deep in thought. He hadn’t gone more than one or two nights without killing in a very long time.
‘Go and see if she’s up,’ Quin drawled in his general direction and he gritted his teeth as he stood, shoving the last piece of bread from his plate into his mouth and making his way to the door. It took all of his discipline to be calm and not simply throw men out of his way, but by the time he got to the door, his patience was wearing thin. People were fucking idiots.
He was just about to slip out of the room when he heard a snippet of conversation that made him stop dead.A girl … corner … looks distraught …He craned his neck and saw her. She was huddled by the wall, trying to make herself small like she did whenever she was afraid. One of those fucking children was in front of her, trying to help. Little fool. Didn’t she know that helping anyone was liable to get you killed in this world?
He strode towards them, and just as the girl was about to meet her doom, he pulled her away, more gently than he would have if Lily hadn’t been in front of him looking horrified.
He got between them and the girl drew back when she saw his blacks and his face. She paled, and whatever she’d opened her mouth to say died before it left her lips.
‘She is unwell,’ he forced himself to grind out, wondering why, in less than a day, he’d found himself speaking aloud to people when he hadn’t felt the need to in so long.
The girl nodded and turned away, but the determination he saw in her face made him sigh. She was going to her mam, and that woman was a force of nature. She already thought Lily was with them against her will, which wasn’t exactly an untruth, but she clearly thought they were hurting her as well. He canted his head. Not an untruth either, actually. If they didn’t need her, if she wasn’t a walking plague, he might consider trying to convince Quin to leave her in these women’s capable hands.
He turned to Lily, who was still looking upset, her hands trembling, though she tried to hide them. She was staring at him oddly, and he realized it was because there was no fear in her face when she looked at him now. Strange. First, only his Brothers weren’t afraid of him. Second, he would have thought that after last night, she’d be even more afeared.
She got a hold of herself and stood up, holding the wall for support.
He made a path through the people to the door and led her out into the quiet hallway.
He snarled at her as soon as the door to the tap room was closed and was annoyed when she didn’t even cringe in the face of his anger. After what he’d done with that knife, any sane woman would flee. But not this one.
The memory of her back against the wall in the dark, his hand over her mouth to stop her from alerting the others and from escaping as he pulled up that horrible nightdress and fucked her with his knife, his ears filled with her muffled moans … His cock hardened in an instant and he swallowed a groan. Why did he want a woman he couldn’t have? He was going mad with it. It was why he hadn’t simply gone back to bed after doing his dark deed with the itching powder. He’d had to touch her, even if it was with gloves on. And he hadn’t been disappointed. Gods, she’d been so wet from his rough handling. He’d never known a woman enjoy … Her reply to his anger pulled him from his reverie.
‘When I woke and you all weren’t there, and all your things were gone … I thought you might have … left me here.’
‘Coming to tell the women that you’re captive?’ he asked, his anger rising.
‘No.’ She looked up at him, shaking her head. ‘I was afraid that you had decided to abandon me.’
He frowned, not quite understanding. ‘Wantto stay with us?’
To his surprise, she gave him a small smile, much like the one he’d had from her when he’d killed those men on the ship. ‘It’s not a question of want,’ she said pragmatically. ‘The fact is that I think I want to live, and if you all aren’t with me, the chances of that are very slim.’
He snorted. That was the truth.
The door opened and, thankfully, it was Bastian and Quin who exited.
When Quin saw them he nodded. ‘You’re ready. Good.’ He handed Lily half a bacon sandwich and Mal was stunned when he realized Quin had saved it from his own meal for her. Since when was Quin so concerned over anyone’s wellbeing?
‘Let’s go,’ Quin ordered, leading them out into the muddy yard where only last evening Mal had pushed Lily down in the filth with a laugh. He didn’t like that he’d done that now he thought on it. He cast a quick glance and frowned as he saw her scratching her neck, noticing how red and inflamed her skin looked – what little he could see of it.
Steeling himself, he turned away. He wasn’t Quin. He cared little for the wench’s comfort, he told himself as they mounted the horses he’d procured for them from various merchants. They had further to go today and they’d never make it to the next inn on foot. And it was definitely nothing to do with the fact that the girl was looking more and more tired every day that they were on this cursed journey.
‘Only three?’ Bastian asked.
Mal shrugged. Three horses were all he could get. No one would part with even one more.
‘Guess you’re riding with me,’ he gloated to Lily, and Mal noticed a moment of trepidation in her eyes before the bastard – whocouldtouch her – plucked her off the muddy ground and settled her in front of him.
Mal’s jaw clenched.
The day passed slowly, for Mal at any rate. Between Bastian murmuring softly to Lily while she sat between his legs and the fortress of his past looming ever closer, by the time they stopped to rest the horses, Mal’s mood was dark and he was no longer feeling any guilt whenever he saw Lily scratching at her raw flesh, though she was trying not to.
