Page 19 of Brighter Than Gold

“You willneverbe responsible for my actions.”

“But—”

“Never, Reyah. Their blood is on my hands, not yours. Do you understand me?”

Something cracked in her demeanour, a kind of defeat.

“I will never let you carry a burden like that. That ismyjob, all right?”

She stared at me a long moment before she nodded solemnly.

“Come on, soldier!” a man hollered, startling us both. “You’ve earned a fucking drink tonight!” he cackled gleefully. I was so far removed from their jubilant mood. I let Reyah go and waved him off, but he muttered something to himself and came over, pulling me to my feet.

“Go, it’s fine,” Reyah mouthed.

I stared back at her a moment longer as I allowed the Rat to drag me towards their celebration. Soon bottles were being thrust into my hands as the men recounted their disgusting victory. I had never been celebrated for taking anyone’s life before, and it felt absolutely abhorrent.

I kept a close eye on Reyah, who sat perched by the edge of the tent. She wasn’t letting me out of her sights either. I took several hearty slugs of the liquor being offered, mostly just to settle the overwhelming tension I felt.

I stiffened when I saw Lazio peel quietly away from his men and slink over to her tent. I watched him cautiously as he leaned in and spoke to her. I was a mere flinch away from dashing back, but his body language was soft. I watched them talk for several minutes, he took something from his pocket and handed it to her. But his hand held hers a second too long, and then I watched as his eyes fell toward her breasts. I was over there a half second later.

“Callan!” he said rising to his feet. “Your wife is freezing and needs to be thawed out, if you don’t do it, I’m sure someone else will volunteer.” He made sure to say it loud enough for his men to hear, and the notion had them barking like fucking dogs.

Lazio mocked a bow and left us.

“Are you all right? What did he say?”

“I’m fine, honestly.” She looked shaken, but not scared.

“Get in the fucking tent! What are you waiting for!” the men shouted behind us.

“It’s fine,” Reyah said pushing over to the edge of the tiny tent. “They’ll just make it worse if you resist.”

I stiffened and debated another moment before giving in and crawling into the tent with her. I had to hunch down close to her to fit inside, before I could pull the thin canvas flap down behind us. Again, the men hollered and howled. Reyah pursed her lips and snorted a laugh. I shot her an apologetic look.

“Men are just so stupid,” she murmured.

Despite my exhaustion, that had drawn a smile out of me. I was glad she could joke at a time like this, she was proving to be much more resilient than I’d given her credit for. “We really are,” I agreed wholeheartedly.

“Here,” she said offering me a flagon of water and a small torn cloth. I soaked it and wiped the blood from my hands and face before taking a deep drink of the cool water. We sat in silence, at a loss for words, the occasional holler or bark from the men still sounding outside.

“Are you all right?” Reyah finally choked out.

“Yes.”

I watched as she reached out and pushed up my sleeve, pressing her two fingers into my wrist the way I’d shown her.

“Are you all right?” she repeated.

“That isn’t fair.”

She pulled her hand back. She didn’t need proof to see I was lying.

“You should sleep,” I whispered, trying to take the attention off myself.

Reyah didn’t argue. She lowered herself onto the ground and pulled the wool blanket around her, but a violent chill shook her body.

“You must be freezing.”

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