Page 33 of Beneath the Flames
“Like you didn’t hurt the others?”
Carrow waved a hand in dismissal.“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Sure, you don’t.
Images of dead, twisted, broken bodies left in the dark flashed through my mind, and my eyes slid shut of their own accord, trying to banish the pictures.
“Come on, take me to her.”
My eyes snapped open.“No.”
Carrow stepped closer, and while his proximity usually made me trepidatious, this time I was more concerned about keeping Maren safe.It was doubtful that she’d ever break the curse, but there was just…something about her.I couldn’t seem to shake the need to protect her.
It was actually quite annoying.
“She’s not what you think,” I said.“And you will stay away from her.”
Carrow cocked his head, every bit the predator.“Afraid she might prefer me, Rhydian?”His lips lifted into a sneer.“Like the others?”
This time, Nico had to hold me back, grabbing my arm to keep me from punching Carrow in the face.Who needed magic when you had perfectly good fists?
Carrow clicked his tongue again.“Now, now.There’s no need for that.You know as well as I do that I could just go find her myself.Wouldn’t it be better if you brought me to her?Then you can at leasttryto be the hero.”He had the audacity to pat me on the cheek.His voice lowered.“You can try, Rhydian, but we both know what you really are.”
Nico’s fingers tightened on my wrist, the only thing keeping me from lunging at my cousin.
But he was right about one thing.Carrow could easily find her himself when I wasn’t there.If he was going to force me to show her to him, then it should at least be onmyterms, not his.
I really didn’t have a choice.
When I told her there were scarier things hiding in the shadows than me, I meant it.
Carrow was one of them.
“Fine,” I said between clenched teeth.Nico let go of mywrist and, without being asked, silently led the way to Maren’s chambers.
Every muscle in my body was coiled tight into knots as we walked down the hall, Nico in front and Carrow behind me.I hated having my back to my enemy, but there was no way I was going to let him an inch closer to Nico.My shoulders bunched to my ears, tensing with each step we took.Each clap of our boots on the hard floor, every too-loud exhale, grated on my nerves.
My thoughts came to a halt as Nico stopped in front of a wooden door.The girl’s chambers were on the opposite side of the castle and yet I hadn’t even realized how quickly we’d arrived.I hadn’t been paying attention, lost in thought over all the ways this could go wrong.
Nico hesitated, looking back at me.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said.
Maren thoughtIwas something to be frightened of.Now we’d find out what happened when she met a real monster in disguise.
Nico raised a fist and knocked on the door.There was a pause in the air on the other side of the door, heavy with either anticipation or dread.I couldn’t quite tell.My enhanced hearing picked up the faint rustle of the blankets on the bed moving, followed by the quiet patter of her bare feet on the cold floor as she came to the door.
“Who is it?”she asked.
I tapped Nico on the shoulder, silently telling him to speak up.If she knew I was here, she might not open the door at all.
“It’s Nico,” he said.
Another long pause before the lock slid free and the door opened to reveal Maren.She had changed out of the large sweater and pants she had worn in the Hall of Feasts lastnight, and now wore a simple black dress that offered much more warmth than the clothes she’d arrived to Eroth in.Nico must have scrounged it up for her.It was strange to see her in Avalea’s fashion.Strange and…nice.
No, not nice, Rhydian.Be reasonable.
At least it was something more substantial and less distracting than what she had been wearing before.Not that it had been a temptation to me or anything.She simply would have frozen to death in Eroth if she didn’t wear more than those shorts and pathetic excuse for a shirt.
