Page 46 of Winter's Edge
"And?” Grady said. “Aika has her own family. We have ours."
The separation shredded me apart with the brutal reminder. We were not the same. We never would be the same, and to Grady at least, that mattered a lot. I was already different, but I didn't want to be so different that I couldn't continue to know them after tomorrow. Especially Archer.
“After this,” Grady continued, “she'll go home with her family, and we'll keep looking for ours when we can."
"We'll find ours in Old Man’s Den tomorrow," Archer said. “Thomas is gone. When will you get that through your thick head?”
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over your sexual frustration,” Grady shot back. “We find Ronin tomorrow. We find Timothy eventually."
"Eventually." Archer scoffed, and I could almost hear the sound of his eyes rolling around his head in annoyance.
"But if you stayed for a while, stayed in Margin's Row, you could stay with us." I looked to Archer more than Grady, though I knew they would never separate.
"So you survive the winter." Grady’s voice went hard like an accusation.
"Well…yes. I never did get the money for food—"
"So steal it,” he said. “While we're burning buildings down in Old Man’s Den, kidnapping and starting a war, it seems like the perfect time for some thievery. Take money. Take food for winter."
Well, he had a point there. Might as well go all in with the crimes while we were there. Jade and Lee could help me
"You're quite an influence, you know that?" I said, unable to help myself.
"I do, yeah." Grady slammed his hand down on the map in front of my feet, so loud even Sasha jumped. "So is the rest of it right or not?"
“For fuck’s sake, can you not be so loud for once in your life?" I shouted.
"I have to be so Archy will listen to my infinite wisdom," he said.
Archer shook his head. "Sorry, what?"
"Stop talking so I can concentrate," I snapped. "Swear to god, you two bickering make me want to fling myself back into the Crimson Forest."
"Quiet, Grady,” Archer said.
"Me? Fuck you," he bit out.
Gritting my teeth, I angled Sasha down so I could see the map. Whatever was making them act like idiots—stress over tomorrow, the cramped quarters, the coming winter—made me want to stick their mouths shut with frozen molasses. I focused on the buildings and their locations rather than the words I couldn’t read this time.
"The window into Faust’s tavern?" I pointed.
"That's it," Grady said.
"The abandoned jailhouse?”
"Yep."
The times I’d been to Old Man’s Den, I’d paid attention to what the locals were saying. The jail had been abandoned, the law enforcement run off—or killed.
"Looks good. It's all there." Even the brothel where I’d find Jade, and hopefully Lee.
"Then I suggest we leave here as soon as possible," Archer said. “There’s a rickety old cabin up north a few miles we can stay in tonight in case the bald guy comes back.”
While they packed up the sleigh, I said my goodbyes to Hellbreath. I felt like I owed her an explanation of why I was just handing her over to a total stranger, and she listened while I cried. With one last parting kiss, I left her, my heart splintering with every step I took away from her.
When the man came to pick her up, he also brought a sleigh of sorts that dragged behind four other horses. He said he only lived about two miles away and he seemed nice enough, but I couldn’t squeeze out any questions for him through the lump in my throat.
We left shortly after, and our new cabin couldn’t compare with the old. It was barely four walls leaning against a roof, but it did have a fireplace. We cooked over it, and I requested the smallest does of opiate tea possible so my brain would stay sharp for tomorrow.
