Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Kalos steps out of the brush and into the road. “I, too, am always cursing Belarans.”
Metta gives a little scream of terror, clutching at her chest. She skitters backward, grabbing the arm of the elderly blacksmith from the village, and nearly trips over her cloak. “Oh, gods! You scared ten years off my life!” She straightens and begins pacing. “I need a moment.”
“What are you doing out here, Metta?” I ask.
She turns toward us again, pushing the hood of her cloak back off her face. “Varina was being strange, making up all kinds of answers as to why you wouldn’t come back. I thought it was odd given that you have your pet goat with the monk and all, but she insisted that you two were going to head on to Aventine. When I didn’t believe that she tried to steal your book!”
Her indignant expression matches mine. “She what?”
“We stole it back,” the blacksmith says. “That book is for our people.”
“Damn right it is.” Metta lifts her chin. “Knew something wasn’t right, so I thought we’d come looking for you. Got to Eagleton and all the Belarans were acting like they’d never seen you. I thought they were full of shite.”
I hug her, sniffling. “Thank you. Thank you for coming for us.”
“Now now,” she says, and when I pull away, her face is suspiciously wet. “We’re just a couple of old folks. We can’t do much, but I wanted to find out for myself if you were all right. Do you need anything? What can we get you?”
Kalos gestures at me. “She needs food and a warm cloak.”
Metta takes hers off and flings it around my shoulders. “Done.”
“We brought a pack of supplies,” the blacksmith says. “It’s not much. Varina had an extra set of clothing she left behind, and I thought you might need it. A few pieces of fruit and some bread, and two coins.”
“And a knife,” Metta adds.
I could kiss her. “That’s perfect. That’s amazing. You’re incredible.”
“You can eat while we go back to the village,” Metta says, grabbing my arm. “Come on. It’s late.”
I really want to. I want to more than anything, but I meet Kalos’s gaze and it’s full of melancholy. He blames himself for all of this, but it’s what I signed up for. I smile at him and gently tug myself free from Metta’s grasp. “We can’t go back with you.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because if we go back, it’s not safe for anyone. The other aspects won’t stop looking for us. They’ll follow our trail and once they find out you helped us, I don’t know what they’ll do. It’s best for everyone if we leave.”
“But…your book isn’t done!” She purses her lips, distressed. “You said it was important for you to finish.”
I nod, managing to keep the pleasant look on my face. “I know. I wish I could. If I go back, though, we’ll be hunted and others will be put in danger. Will you tell Omos that I’m sorry? And that I hope he can take care of Dingle for us?”
My throat closes with tears, but I keep on smiling, because this is how it has to be.
Metta’s lower lip quivers. She manages a jerky nod and waves at the blacksmith. He slings the pack off his back and unbuckles the short sword from his waist. She hands them to me, and as she does, her cold hands grip mine. “Be careful.”
“Of course. I’ve got Kalos with me. I promise we’ll be safe.”
She studies my face, her eyes shiny. “You’re a good girl. I hope the next world treats you better and heals your sadness.”
My…sadness? I keep smiling, even though it feels like parts of me are breaking inside. I’m not sad, I think automatically. What do I have to be sad about? I gave my brother a second chance at life. I’ve spent the last few months with a man I’m wildly in love with. I’ve gotten everything I wanted in the bargain I made…I have no right to feel sad at all. “You’ve been a good friend, Metta. I hope I can repay it someday.”
“Just keep yourself alive.” She gives my hand another squeeze and lets go. “I’ll visit the monk, I promise.”
I nod, clutching the sword close. I want to invite them to stay. To spend some time with us before dawn, but it’s cold and dark and most likely dangerous for her. “You should go home. Lay low for the next while. If anyone asks, you haven’t seen us.”
She flutters her lashes. “Seen who?”
Exactly.
Chapter
Forty
“I’ve been thinking,” Kalos says, waking me from my slumber. “About our parlay.”
I rouse from sleep, rubbing my face, and tuck the borrowed cloak tighter around our tangled limbs. “What about it?”
“We need to think it through. I imagine my other self will be curious as to what I’m up to, just as I am with him. And he can’t hurt me. We’ll meet, jab at each other a little verbally, and he’ll be looking for you to kill, just as I’ll be looking for his Anchor. Which means we need to protect you. Keep you tucked away someplace safe.”