Page 76 of Kit
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kit blurred past him, burying his arm in the water. He hauled a spluttering Mini out by his tail and dragged him away from the lip of the well.
“Stay alert,” Valor warned. He stood poised on the dais, sword drawn, facing the well head-on. He cut a glance at Mini, and his mouth hooked down. Mini’s symbols were melting away, ruined by the water. His hands were empty, the dagger gone.
Hands cupped Nick’s shoulders. He flinched, but Kit’s voice quickly soothed, “It’s me.” He knelt in front of Nick, eyes sweeping over him before focusing on the slash in his arm. He bracketed the wound in his careful grip, grimacing at the deep gouge.
A single glimpse at that worry had horror rising inside, filling Nick until it spilled over the brim and he began to shake.
Kit’s gaze snapped up to his face.
“It’s okay,” Kit said gently. “You’re okay.”
Nick’s breaths came in panicked gasps, his battered sternum aching. He’d betrayed Kit. He’d offered him up to Desre without even being asked. To someone who’d abused him. Tormented him. Raped him. Someone who left Kit petrified ofanyone even reaching for his hand. And Nick offered to show her where he was; he’d offered to walk her right to his room.
Ios crouched at Nick’s other side, and he peered at his arm. “It’s deep,” he said. “I can do stitches, but not here.”
“I’m so sorry,” Nick’s voice cracked.
Kit cupped Nick’s cheek as sympathy softened his eyes. He leaned in, pressing his forehead gently to Nick’s. “Please do not be confused: that was not you.”
Nick’s eyes slid shut. He breathed in ochre and beeswax. “I offered you to her.” His voice was barely even a whisper. “I offered to show her where you were.”
“Do you blame me for the harm I caused you?” Kit asked, his voice soft as gloved fingers carded gently through Nick’s hair. “For kidnapping you? For striking you?”
“No, she…” Nick caught a breath. “She made you.”
“Yes.”
Nick managed a second, deeper breath. “You forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive.”
Nick leaned into Kit, latching on to his words. His absolution. His mind would crack apart without it.
“We’re leaving,” Valor said. “Get him up.”
Kit’s tail lashed dangerously. He pulled away from Nick, and the look he fixed on Valor said he wasn’t going to listen to him. It said he’d never trust him again. Valor had severed the very last tie between them by offering up Nick to Desre, and in that moment, Nick knew it would last. Wherever they went from here, anyone being willingly turned over to Desre wasn’t something Kit could forgive.
“Mini’s symbols are ruined by the water,” Nick said, his voice a hollow croak. “If she comes out”—and he had a terrible feeling, based on Valor’s reaction, that she was far from dead—“then we’re defenceless.”
“We will go separately,” Kit said pointedly. “Mini.”
Mini trotted over and dropped to his knees at Nick’s side. He snarled a warning at Ios and lashed out with his tail.
Wounded, Ios flinched back. He looked at Kit, as if Kit might scold Mini for his aggression, but the unfriendliness was mirrored in Kit’s eyes.
“I am only trying to help,” Ios said. “I had no part in what happened. I would never have let Seche get hurt like that. None of us knew it was a trap.”
Kit turned his back on Ios without saying a word.
Nick was helped to his feet, Kit producing a key to the chains that bound him. As he turned the key, a tremble shook the ground beneath their feet. Mini tightened his grip on Nick, and the others crouched, tails lashing. Dust shook loose from the ceiling boards and drifted through the air, lit by pale moonlight. A great gurgling noise filled the hall, large air bubbles rising and breaking the still surface of the well water.
It whirled in a circle, a funnel forming in the centre. The water level began to fall, draining like an unplugged sink.
All of them backed away, descending the dais steps. Nick leaned heavily on Mini as Kit edged protectively in front of them, drawing his sword. Nick wanted to do the opposite; he wanted to put Kit behind him and Mini so there was a physical barrier between them and Desre, but his body was heavy, his thoughts scattered.
Two pale hands gripped the lip of the well. Water sluiced down them as something dragged itself upward—slowly, with considerable effort. The light caught on gills and blond hair. And then Nick recognised the dark-blue eyes.
