Page 76 of Storms & Sacrifice
“There isnothing—”
“No! This is bullshit. We’re not going home yet, not without proof.” Without thinking, I turn and start running south, back toward Murbank’s home.
“David, wait!” Khazak shouts from behind me, but I don’t stop, just turn to make sure he’s still following me.
I keep running, completely out of breath by the time I reach the metal gates. The house is dark. All of them are, most of the residents of this neighborhood likely at the event tonight.Good.I open the gate, not waiting for Khazak to say anything, just leading him to thebackyard.
“Look, he has the—”What?! Where is it? Where is the carriage?I rush over to the corner it was sitting in, finding it completely empty. There aren’t even any wheel tracks to speak of. “The black carriage was right here. Really!” Khazak doesn’t look convinced. “Okay, well what about this?”
I walk over to the back wall, to the section that is just an illusion, and stick my hand out.Oww!I pull my hand back after slamming it into the solid wood of the wall. What the fuck!? I bang against it. “No.No. There was a hole here, one big enough for the carriage to get through. He must have moved it or closed it back up or something! I don’t know how he did this, but I swear, everything I told you was true. Youhavetobelieve—”
“I believe you, David.” Khazak sighs, head hanging down. “It just does not matter. The councilman knew you were here today. He knows we are onto him, especially after what just happened at the fundraiser.”
“We need to get inside. There’s papers that could—”
“I just want to go home, David.” Khazak holds a hand up to stop me. My mouth opens to argue, but nothing comes out because I know I’m grasping at straws. Murbank beat us, again. That’s all I can think about as I exit his property for the final time that day. That and how much worse my punishment for today is probably going to be.
I’m fucked.
Chapter 16
The walk home is quiet, Khazak’s form moving stiffly in front of me. He’s walking fast though, enough for me to have to jog to keep up with him. He isreallynot happy right now. I think about running off, or maybe just walking slower to buy some time for him to cool off, but I don’t think that’ll do me any favors.
He opens the front door without a word, stomping inside without even holding it for me. I lock it behind me, and when I turn back, he’s already walking toward the bedroom. He hasn’t looked at me since Murbank’sbackyard.
“I’m sorry!” My shouted apology stops him before he goes down the hall. “I know I fucked up. I just thought I—”
“You were not thinking at all!” He finally turns to face me. “If you were, you would not have done something sounbelievablystupid!Why would you possibly... Ispecificallywarned you that Ragnar would do something irrational like this, and you not only assisted him, youprovided the means to do it!Unprompted!This is so...” He stops, squeezing his fists together and gritting his teeth before taking a breath. “I do not want to talk about this right now.”
He turns and continues walking down the hallway, and I follow. He moves into the bedroom, and from the doorway, I watch as heundresses.
“Don’t you... Aren’t you going to punish me?” I’m not exactlyaskingfor it but, well… being punished means being forgiven. But I guess that would be too easy. I just...really don’t like that he’s so angry with me.
“Not tonight.” He shakes his head. “I am tired and still far too angry. We can talk about it in themorning.”
“Oh, okay.” I bite my lip, unsure if I should enter the room or not. I remember the last time he was really angry with me. “Should I... Do you want me to sleep in the other room?”
“Not unless that is what you would prefer.” He offers me a small smile. I don’tthinkhe’s lying.
“No, not if you don’t.” I finally step into the room and start to undress myself.
Getting ready for bed isn’t any less awkward though, no real talking between us. We both just silently go through the motions before climbing onto the mattress. I’m surprised when I feel his arm wrap around me and pull me back into him, but maybe he just sleeps better with someone else. That’s a thing, right?
I wake up from a dreamless sleep early the next morning, alone in bed. This is the first time I’ve woken up alone in over a month. It feels weird. I can’t blame Khazak for not feeling much like cuddling once hewas awake.
I’m not sure if we have to work today. If we were still on patrol in the woods, we’d be working through the weekend, but since we switched the rest of our shift, I don’t know what that means. It’s visiting day at the labor camp, so I hope I can at least do that. Assuming he’lllet me go.
I know I should get up and go see what’s going on. It just feels like I’m walking into a lion’s den. After pulling on some pants (having a serious conversation in a thong is not how I wanna start the day), I carefully open the door and peer my head out. It’s quiet, but when I walk farther down the hall, I see a familiar green body sitting on the couch reading, a mug of coffee on the small table next to him.
“You are awake.” He looks up from his book at my entrance. “How did you sleep?”
“Alright, I guess.” I shuffle awkwardly on my feet. “What about you?”
“Fine, though when I woke up early, I was unable to return to sleep.” Which is why he’s up already. He pats the spot on the couch next to him. “Sit. We needto talk.”
“I’m really sorry,” I blurt out as I take my seat.
“I do not doubt it, but being sorry does little to fix the mess you and Ragnar have made.” He sighs, putting down his book. “David, what you did yesterday was reckless. I would like to say I am surprised, but after the attempted jailbreak of your friends, I should have seen this coming. You madeanotherimpulsive decision without planning or forethought. You broke into Murbank’s home without any idea of what you should be looking for, and regardless of the fact that you found something, it does not matter now because you were caught! All of that potential evidenceis gone.”
