Page 53 of Curse of Thorns
Rev
Itake a shot of tonicand then another.
“Whoa there.”
I ignore the voice, not remotely caring who is speaking or what they have to say. The only thing I can think is— the only thing I’llletmyself think—how to send my mind to oblivion. I want to be so drunk I don’t remember this night.
Not one dammed moment of it.
A delicate hand pops over the top of my next drink, purple nails glittering up at me.
“You okay, Rev?” Kari asks.
“No,” I growl.
“Okay, then,” she says, grabbing the drink from my hand and tossing it down her own throat.
“That was mine,” I say between gritted teeth.
“The scourge is lying in wait just outside the village I was born in,” Kari says casually. As if it wasn’t major, terrifying news. “It hasn’t moved in two weeks. I’m grateful for that.” She grabs two glasses of sparkling champagne and hands me one. “But I’m terrified of the moment it resumes its journey. We’ve evacuated the villages closest, but we can never predict where it will turn next.” She takes a small sip of her sparkling drink. “I don’t want it to kill my people, Rev.”
A shiver runs down my spine. “I don’t either,” I whisper.
“So, if there’s something wrong—if you need something—I will do whatever it takes to help you defeat this enemy. Okay? I won’t tell anyone you don’t want me to. I will give you any aid you require with no questions asked. Do you understand?”
I swallow, blinking rapidly. The reminder of my imminent quest, the fate of my entire world on my shoulders has me sobered up quick as hell.
“I’ll ask again,” she says after a small sip of her glass. “Are you okay?” She meets my eye directly for the first time.
“No,” I say. I’m falling apart. And I don’t know how to stop it.
“What do you need?” Her eyes are sharp, expression fierce. She’s ready to tear the world down to save her people.
I don’t know. I don’t voice the thought because I can’t admit that. I need to feel something other than the pain raging through me now.
A rough hand grabs my shoulder and whips me to face him.
“What the hell, Ty.”
He shoves a bag into my hands. “You have to go.”
I blink. “What?” I grip the leather strap of the backpack in my hands. It’s mine. My supplies for the Schorchedlands I’d brought along for no other reason than it made me feel better.
