Page 152 of Grim and Oro
He leans his head back against the filthy stone as he studies me. “The answer has been the same this entire time. Though I might be skilled in dealing death, I do not revel in it.”
He’s telling the truth. I sigh.
I’m going to regret this. I know I am.
Still, I take a step forward and grip the cell door. “You said you’ve never been free in your life,” I say, as I unlock it. “From now on, you are. As long as you don’t kill anyone, as long as you don’t leave this island ... you are free. To do as you wish. Or to stay here, sitting in your own piss, for eternity.” I lift a shoulder. “I don’t care. Do as you please.”
Then, I leave the cells, wondering if I’ve made a grave mistake.
FRIENDS
“Look at them. Throwing themselves at him. Like his family isn’t responsible forkilling thousands of us.” Enya rolls her eyes and throws her drink back. She glares at me. “I’ll never forgive you for letting him out.”
She’s lying.
“Me neither,” Zed says, scowling. “If only because he’s making life here impossible for the rest of us.” More specifically, Zed means taking a woman home has become impossible. Because most of them seem intent on bedding the Nightshade.
He’s sitting at the corner of Juniper’s bar, holding a drink the barkeep made especially for him. Women surround the table, trying to engage him in conversation. They turn their attention to me as I approach. I don’t miss how they look at me. Hungrily. The same way they look at Grimshaw. Some speak to me, but they scurry away as I take a seat next to the Nightshade.
“Not interested in any of them?” he asks, amused, as he takes a long sip of his drink.
“Not if they’re interested in you.” My chair groans as I lean back. “Makes me question their judgment.”
He barks out a laugh. “Then I would say most of the available women on this island should be off-limits to you.”
I frown in disgust as I take a sip of my own drink. “Right. You only sleep with each of them once. How generous of you to spread yourself around like that.”
He shrugs. “I have considered myself selfless and charitable.”
“And modest.”
“How could I forget?”
It’s been years since I freed him from the cell. He moved into the castle—much to its occupants’ dismay—and then very quickly ... didn’t do much of anything. He didn’t leave his bedchamber for weeks. Finally, I took pity on him and brought him to our favorite bar.
He’s barely left since, and my friends despise me for it.
“So,” Grim says lazily. “Duel tomorrow?”
I offered him use of the training rooms, and he’s there more than I am. Eventually, we started dueling, for practice. Now, it’s become a routine.
I glance at the empty glasses in front of him. “As long as you won’t be vomiting in the sand.”
Grim claps me on the back. “Oh Oro, I’m not the one who can’t handle the contents of my stomach.”
I once made the mistake of taking Grim up on a meat-eating contest and ended up vomiting in the gutters. It was at least a year ago, and he hasn’t let me forget it.
“Fine. Tomorrow it is.” I set my glass on the bar and move to leave, but he stops me. His expression has turned serious.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
I settle back into my chair. There are eyes on us as always, but the bar is full of noise and chaos: glasses clinking, patrons yelling and laughing. I wait.
“Your brother is having an affair.”
Whatever I was expecting to come out of his mouth—it isn’t this.
“What are you talking about?” Egan’s been betrothed to Aurora for years. He would never jeopardize that.
