Page 74 of Forsaken Secrets

I bit my cheek. She was right. Of course she was. Still …

"Lynk said he was going to take care of it." I pulled off one boot and then the other. Silt and water streamed out, then I slipped them back on.

"Yeah. I'll believe that when I see it," she said, laughing bitterly. "Do you really think he cares about the fleirals or even the vrytra? He's a gods damned monster hunter. He kills them for a living!"

"I don't know. He's been pretty reliable so far."

She examined something in her pack. The silver pin from that skeleton? "Fine. You can do that. But I'm going to do something about this."

"What about the loan? If you can't get enough money …"

Opening her pack, Kaiya put the pin back in and turned to look at me, hazel eyes hard. "Can't you see? This could solve BOTH problems. If the Ellingsworths get in trouble, we'll get someone else to manage our loan. The normal payments are manageable. It's just all the "extras" she piles on each year." She strode over to a rock and sat down, unlacing her shoes and dumping out the water that had collected in them.

I sank down next to her, careful not to let our shoulders touch. "I'm sorry, Kaiya. I know that this wasn't what you expected, or even hoped for — but I still don't think this is the answer you want. We should wait until we hear from Lynk."

She lifted her chin to glare at me, those hazel eyes flashing. "I'm going to make it work. You can either help me or not." Her gaze dropped, and she sucked in a breath. "Either way, there were no saleable relics down there. Our work together is done."

Her words sent a sharp pain through my chest, and I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. I'd begun to think of us as friends, but she was so quick to toss me away! Had I been wrong?

"Kaiya. There are other ways — "

She stood abruptly. "I don't understand! You saw how they were being treated. You left Solyn trapped there, about to die! How can you just let them get away with it?" Fury emanated from every pore of her, and I couldn't help admiring how strongly she fought for what she believed in.

How would it feel to be on the receiving end of that loyalty?

This wasn't the way to handle it, though. She was going to get hurt. I could feel it. I couldn't handle someone else getting hurt because of me.

"Of course I felt it, Kaiya. Of course!" I kept my voice calm and reached out to her. "I could feel every single ache in Solyn's mind! But you and I have no power here. Plus, both of us are hiding magical powers. This is a recipe for disaster. Can't you feel it?"

Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned in, finger jabbing at my chest. "So says the reckless lordling who fell off a gods damned cliff because he was curious. I thought you wanted an adventure, Eli? To prove yourself to your team? Well, this is the way! Just imagine that you take down their entire operation. Your boss is bound to be impressed. And I'm sure they'll confiscate all those relics! This would be the perfect answer, and you're refusing because you're scared. What are you so scared of?"

My chest ached as I stared at her. Gods, she was beautiful when she was angry. We couldn't pretend this was going to be easy or safe, though.

Taking a deep breath, I held my hands up. "How about this? We don't know much about this group, what they're doing, or why. What if we start by looking into the eggs? I mean, we know they're selling them to a distributor somewhere. How else would all the shops be getting them? Maybe we can find that out and use it to plan our next steps?"

Her eyes lit up. "That's actually a great idea. If they're selling those eggs, I'm sure their fingers are in other illegal pots as well. Just think of all those relics that we saw the mages using, and that was only a tiny portion of the facility. I'm guessing that there were more areas down there that they've already hunted. This might be enough to actually get help from the Empire!"

It seemed like a long shot, but at least we were headed down the right path.

I held up a hand. "If we do this, I want you to promise that if things get too dangerous, you will stop and wait for Lynk. He has more sway than either of us."

She nodded, but wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Promise me, Kaiya." I leaned in until we were eye to eye and I could smell the salty scent of the ocean on her hair. "Please?"

She swallowed hard, then looked up. Her pupils were wide and her lips parted. "I promise."

I nodded and stepped back, trying to ignore the way her eyes dropped to my lips, but it went against all my instincts.

I was leaving soon, not to mention that most of what she knew about me was a lie.

So, instead, I let my lips curl into a smirk and stepped away. "Damn. I should have convinced you to promise something bigger! The one time I have the chance to get you to do whatever I want, and I waste it on this?!"

Her lips twitched, then curled into a smile, and she shook her head as she turned back to her bag. "Well, we'd better get started then."

I held my wet shirt out. "In this?"

She laughed. "Of course not. Can you imagine me going into town in wet leather breeches? Gods. I'd never hear the end of it. No. We should both change and then meet at the General Store. Your aunt and uncle are the best place to start …"

I grimaced. Of course they were.

I did not look forward to that conversation!

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