Page 48 of Kept to Kill
At about midmorning, he came upon the large river they’d have to cross to leave the flats and make it to Kitore’s city gates, but to his dismay, the ferry wasn’t on either bank.
Another traveler approached him.
‘If you’re wanting the ferry, it broke its moorings last night. They won’t have it back running again till tomorrow, they said.’
Mal nodded his thanks and made his way back to the inn to tell the others they’d be stuck here until tomorrow. There was no point in journeying on. The ferry was the only way across unless they wanted to go three days out of their way to the nearest bridge.
He arrived back in their room, finding Quin and Bastian sitting at the table, looking irate.
‘Fucking finally!’ Bastian exploded. ‘Where the fuck have you been?’
‘Scouting,’ he said calmly, unperturbed. Deciding to try what he’d decided last night, he continued. ‘Ferry broke free last night. Won’t be running until tomorrow.’
Neither of them said anything, so he sat at the table and poured himself some wine, knowing it would annoy them further. He sipped it as he waited for them to tell him what their problem was.
‘What did you do to her?’ Bastian ground out, jaw clenched, and Mal had an almost overwhelming inclination to caress it to relieve the tension.
He fought against it, however, and instead he shrugged.
‘You weren’t to touch her,’ Quin snarled, the anger in his tone taking Mal aback slightly.
Quin didn’t lose his temper often, but when he did, it was certainly a sight to behold. Mal leaned back in the chair, listening to it creak as he pondered what he was going to say. Finally he decided on the least of the incendiary comments going through his mind, which was to say nothing. He shrugged again.
‘She has bruises on her neck. She wouldn’t tell me if there are others anywhere else.’ Bastian stood abruptly, his chair crashing over behind him as he reached over the table and grabbed Mal’s tunic.
Mal grinned at his Brother as he was wrenched forward.
‘What did you do to her?’
Mal pulled one of Bastian’s fingers back in a practiced move, making him let go of the tunic or risk a break.
‘Whatever I did, shelikedit,’ he teased, chuckling as Bastian’s face darkened with rage.
‘She’s—’
‘—not yours,’ Quin finished for Bastian.
Mal bared his teeth at them both, making a noise of anger. Why did they care what he did with the woman? ‘You bound her. Sheismine.Oursto take.’
‘What if she doesn’t want to be taken?’ Quin asked softly.
Mal snorted. Where had the Commander of the Dark Army gone and who was this soft waif who’d taken his place? ‘She does,’ he said with conviction.
‘How do you know?’
‘Just do.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘I’ll prove it.’
‘You know the price if you don’t follow my orders, Brother.’ Quin sighed, looking tired all of a sudden. ‘She’s still abed. Leave her to waken on her own. Clearly she needs more rest than we do.’
Mal gave another shrug, a small smile playing on his lips as he thought of what he was going to do with her next.
Bastian and Quin stayed in the room with him, Bastian sharpening his sword while Quin sat at the table, writing missives to send south when they got to Kitore. He was still the Commander even if he wasn’t acting like it, Mal mused. He conceded that he was probably being unfair. There was something about this girl. She was different from the others who’d been brought to the camp. He didn’t know why it had taken him so long to see it. The others must have noticed it too. They were both being strange. Bastian hadn’t touched a drop of wine since the ship. Quin was acting like he had a smaller stick shoved up his arse than usual. Mal’s needs had changed, at least for the moment.
He still wanted to hurt her. It was in his nature, but he also wanted to turn that pain into pleasure as he had last night. Without a word to the others, he slipped from the room quietly. Both Brothers were turned away from him and engrossed in their tasks. He smiled, shaking his head at how easy it was to elude them as he moved down the hall to Lily’s room.
He went inside, not even bothering to be overly quiet, and found her dressed and lying on her front, reading.
She looked up as he closed the door and scrambled up. He noted the black bruises on her neck from his fingers and scowled, not taking any enjoyment in seeing the proof of his misuse of her.
