Page 37 of Hopeless Realm
Darrio and Daxdyn whisper quietly at my side.
“Well, I’d be an idiot to turn away an angel.” Her warm gaze falls to me. “Even if she does have a bizarre relationship with her brother.”
That shuts them up. Darrio and Dax quiet in an instant and they both look at me with confusion in their eyes. My attention pulls to Ryder and he pauses for only a second before turning to me.
A look shines in his eyes as he stares down on me. With intentional slowness he leans closer until my chest brushes his.
His lips skim over mine just long enough for his tongue to flick against mine in the most inappropriately public kiss of my life.
And yet, I kiss him eagerly back. My body curves into him even after he pulls away.
Something I never knew until now, is that Ryder owns his sexuality. He’s confident in and out of bed.
The warmth of his palm settles against my back and his gaze holds mine.
“I’m not her brother,” he states with a smile that makes me want to kiss him all over again.
“Yeah, I definitely got that.” Soft laughter hums through Mesa.
“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here before your sibling love creeps anyone else out,” Daxdyn says, as he pulls my hand. “And don’t pull that weird sibling shit with my sisters. They’re not nearly as nice.”
I bite my cheek to keep the smile back as I follow Daxdyn outside.
“Where are we going now?”
Sunlight strikes across my skin, warming me instantly.
“We’re going to the one place that’ll know exactly what Tristan’s future holds. I want to know his intentions,” Darrio says as he takes quick strides ahead of us.
The dirt beneath my feet catches against my boots and I stumble slightly.
“And where might that be?”
Darrio glances back at me from over his shoulder before his deep voice says something that stops me in my tracks.
“We’re going to the Traveler’s Guild.”
***
I don’t know what I expected. Cauldrons of death brewing while fae with scar tissue instead of eyes read deteriorating scrolls of braille. I don’t know. I expected more. More … eeriness.
Instead, I get mediocre eeriness.
Criss-crossing bars of iron strike through the ground, creating a protective barrier around the community.
Shacks dot the land, the walls weak and feeble looking. A dirt path leads us to a large circular building and I get the oddest feeling it’s a temple of sorts.
A woman with beautiful, haunting features and clothes made of rags that barely cover her chest and hips sits lazily on the floor of an old wooden porch. Red lips purse as she takes a long drag off of a pipe. Purple smoke wafts from the end of it in long fuming tendrils. When her eyes open to us I gasp, taking a single step away until my back hits Darrio’s solid chest. It’s like looking death in the eye. Sockets of pure blackness look up at me, inky and shining in the bright sunlight.
“Zakara Raelix Storm. I was indeed wondering when the gods would bless us with your presence.” An accent arches over her words, pulling at them and making me hang on every syllable.
Another long drag from the pipe while she stares down at the dirt as if she doesn’t care if the gods blessed her today or not.
I swallow hard and the four of us stand waiting. For what, I don’t know.
“Which of you will be first?”
“First?” I glance to Ryder and then to Darrio. When I look to Dax, he’s staring into the distance as if he isn’t paying an ounce of attention.
