Page 52 of Maiming
In a way, I’ve already started doing that. I never felt comfortable until I met Agatha. Or Sinister. Or Chaos, Rime, and Kain. I feel that way again, with Ellise.
“Like you, you mean?” I tilt my head at her.
She nods, another pleasant smile creasing her features.
Ellise is a drifter, just like I was.
What if we could be more though?
“Where will you go after this, Ellise?”
Her gaze never leaves mine.
“I’m headed to the Northern Kingdom. It’s my home. I want to return to my home. I was driven out so many years ago. I want to take back what’s mine.” The desperate way she says home hurts my heart.
I nod. Seconds tic by. I’ve never been to the Attikan Kingdom. I wonder if I could find peace there in the secluded country.
“Join me, Arlow. You’ve been through so much. You don’t deserve this. You and I deserve so much more.”
My lips part, and the reply is already half way up my throat.
Then the door bursts open.
And the beautiful, mysterious woman before me vanishes from sight.
Seventeen
Shared Bonds
“You’re goingto let me see her or you won’t have a standing building to call prison anymore.”
“It’s a holding center, Chaos,” Skovence reminds him.
“Fuck your holding center.” He jars his big arm away from Skovence and storms right up to the bars of my cell. His brows lift when he sees the crumbled-up ball that used to be the padlock. He pauses when he takes an inventory of my features, my arms and legs. His gaze searches every inch of me. And finds nothing to complain about. I’m cold but I’m fine. “Are you feeding her?” He turns with outrage poised and ready against his lips. Chaos is just dying for a reason to go full dragon on this place.
“Chaos, I’m fine.”
“What about our friend? Are you taking care of Sinister too?”
“Your friend, aye?” Sinister tilts his head at his …friend.
“Don’t ruin the moment, Sinister.” Chaos never even glances back at the demon at my side.
“The demon laughed in our faces this morning and told us his kind do not require sustenance,” Skovence tells him.
Chaos looks from Skovence to Sinister and several times before turning fully to face the demon. The anger in his face is now clouded with concern and confusion. “You don’t eat food?”
“I’ve been with you for weeks and I haven’t eaten a single meal. How have you not noticed this?”
“Why? Why wouldn’t you just do it anyway? Food is delicious.”
“Chaos, I think you came raging in here for a reason.” Rime stands with his arms folded securely over his chest and his gaze is locked on me but he never moves from his rigidly held place near the door. He looks like he’s holding this place up with his calmness. And in a way, he is. When that calm slips, this whole place might come tumbling down.
The way he watches me makes me feel naked. Exposed. He sees every part of me without even trying.
“This has gone on for long enough. Either ask her your questions or you’ve missed your chance because she’s not staying here overnight.” Unlike the others, Kain keeps his glare held on Skovence. He doesn’t look to me, he keeps his aggression in place.
“I can’t question her without Lord Carlin and you know it.”
