Page 20 of Hopeless Realm
The sobs of the young woman at the front grow louder, filling my chest with heavy dread. Her cries are all that can be heard within the silence.
“Who is that man? What does that mean?” I whisper.
A stiffness is held in Ryder’s spine before he leans into me, his apprehensive breath fanning across my cheek.
“Concord owns the Iron Bar. It’s safe here. He grants their safety, therefore, he makes the rules. ‘May the gods grant peace on your soul’ is what they say to someone who will be visiting the gods soon. Anyone caught outside during the Blood Moon is a dead man. They just gave him a death sentence.”
Total terror sinks into me and I step cautiously into Ryder’s shadow. I’m a thief by trade, after all.
Just like that, the cruel world of crime and punishment becomes even more dangerous here in the Hopeless realm.
Chapter Six
Best Fucking Friends
That night I think about the feeling of simplicity that’s pushing into our lives. It’s so normal it makes me anxious. For two days now, Ryder and I have passed the time away. All I think about is Darrio and Dax out there alone. Ryder keeps me busy; keeps my mind off of it. But at night, during the pressing silence, the worry crawls back into my thoughts.
The taps of rain hitting metal tick like seconds on a clock. A screeching cry hums through the building, the sound of the nix echoing through the night. The sound of it turns my worry to fear.
They’re okay.
I have to believe they’re okay.
I shift a little closer to Ryder’s warmth. Total darkness secludes us and my thoughts are running wild with so many questions.
“Can we start looking for them tomorrow?”
Please say yes. Please.
I don’t want to sneak out on Ryder, but I will. I will if I have to.
It’s been two days. They should have contacted him by now to say they’d made it to their family’s house, shouldn’t they?
“Yeah, I don’t know where to start but we’ll do a sweep of the area between here and the mortal realm. It’s dangerous. If we go, you have to keep by my side.”
I nod against my soft pillow. I don’t know what other dangers are out there, but I’ll agree to anything if he’ll help me find them.
His reassurance does nothing for my worry, though.
More and more thoughts tangle through my muddled mind.
“Did you know I was the Eminence when you first saw me in the tower?” It’s the safest one. Of all the unanswered questions I have, this one seems the safest.
The mattress dips and I feel his warmth brushing against my skin.
“My step mother told us a woman would come to save us. She swore that she’d save us all.” His quiet words fan against my cheek as his index finger lightly trails against the back of my hand. A thrilling and overwhelming feeling shivers across my skin from his small contact. “I knew the Eminence was a fae. When she said a woman would come, I assumed she would be fae. But, no. I didn’t believe you were the Eminence. Daxdyn harped on about it for days on our journey, but Darrio and I just rolled our eyes at his suggestions that you could be the one.”
The one.
I’m the one alright. The one big fuck up.
“Why didn’t you tell me your plans when we got to Juvar? Why didn’t you just tell me the Hopeless well was so close to the kingdom?” My chest still stings thinking about how excluded they kept me.
“Would you have went?” His tone is serious and shakes through me. “Dax knew you were the Eminence, but you didn’t want to go to the kingdom at all.”
He’s right. I would have tried to ditch them to save myself.
“I knew if you could just see the well, the magic of it would wake you up in inside. It’d convince you of who you really are.” His adamant words push tension into me. “You’re capable of so much. I’m sorry we kept it from you,” a soft, sincere sound is in his voice, “but I’m not sorry we led you here.”
