Page 20 of Expose Me

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Somewhere safe. Hopefully.”

“Why?”

“Because,” I huffed.

“Sky, we do not have time. We have to start searching for the—”

“No!” I cut him off with a finger in his face and a stern look without breaking my stride. “You skipped off into the woods to have a splash around in the stream because your body needed it. Well, my body needs food and rest and a moment to fuckingthink. So we’re going this way where I can get those things. You’re making me regret going back for you.”

There was a stretch of silence, nothing but the sound of my boots and his bare feet on the dirt path.

“Why did you come back for me?” he asked. “You were out; your absence had not been noted.”

“I don’t fucking know.” I rubbed my forehead. A headache was settling in. “Why didn’t you tell them I was escaping? It could’ve given you a chance to get free.”

“I could sense the Lineg coming closer. I hoped that I could get away in the commotion they would create. But that would be pointless with you still imprisoned. I need you to find what I’m looking for.”

He let me escape because he needed me for his plan—not because it was the right thing to do. Asshole.

“How much further is this place?” Zey asked. There was a hint of irritation in his voice, but he was smart enough to keep the question sounding casual.

“Maybe another half-hour walk.” If I remembered correctly.

“Were you not able to open the portal closer to your destination?”

“Yeah, I could’ve. But then the people after us would’ve immediately recognized the building, and we’d be back to scrambling to escape them.”

Zey grunted and I could’ve sworn it sounded like he was conceding that was a smart move.

“Can you summon a vehicle to get us there faster?”

“Oh, wow!” I slapped my forehead and gave him a wide-eyed look. “That’s afantasticidea! Why didn’t I think of that?”

His eyes narrowed. “Sarcasm?”

“What do you think?”

“I think it is sarcasm.”

I was really regretting saving his ass.

“I would like to know more about your ability,” he said, his voice soft and not demanding for once.

“Yeah, I bet you would,” I mumbled. I hated being used. “I can’t summon things that large. It’s limited to things I can hold or pick up. I could summon a scooter, but it will be useless on this terrain. Plus, I don’t have a scooter in my storage facility.” I made a mental note to add one. It was a mode of transport faster than walking. Could come in handy.

“Could you not just summon one from somewhere else?”

“That would be stealing. I don’t steal.” The gods knew there had been more people than I cared to remember who had tried to use me for just that. I’m sure it was one of the main reasons I’d been able to join the House of Spirit and Sapphire. No one had said it outright, but there had been hints dropped that if useful or valuable items were to suddenly appear, it would be appreciated. It didn’t take long for them to learn I had morals I was not willing to compromise. Thankfully, my ability was still useful in other ways. That and they wanted to keep me close—and therefore out of the clutches of someone else who could use me to steal from them. “And I have to have touched the object, or one identical to it, to summon it.”

He stopped in his tracks. “So, you cannot summon things you haven’t been in contact with before? You cannot help me after all.” He looked furious, like he was prepared to turn around and walk in the opposite direction, leaving me behind without a second thought. But we were in the middle of nowhere, and that path just led further into the woods and eventually looped back around to where we were going. So good luck to him.

I kept walking, grinding my teeth. “No, I can’t summon whatever the fuck it is you’re looking for.”

He caught up and matched my pace once more. “No, but you can find it. That’s what you said before right? Just like the witches that can do what you do? You can locate items for people.”

“Yep.”

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