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)
“But…where?” I make a face. “We can’t be separated by much distance.”
He nods, thinking. “We need a distraction of some kind. Something where he won’t be able to find you, but you can determine where his Anchor is and get rid of them.”
“There’s also Belara to think about.”
“Mm.” Kalos’s lips thin. “We need a good plan.”
And that’s just the problem. I have a sword and the god at my side, and pretty much nothing else. It’s hard to plan around that. I glance at our surroundings. “We can’t ask them to parlay here. He’d find me in a heartbeat. All he’d have to do is scour the area near you.”
“Another town, perhaps.”
I nod, turning the problem over in my mind. “Somewhere where no one’s going to recognize us. Or at least, recognize me. You’re harder to disguise.” I reach out and tweak a lock of silvery-white hair. “Or at least someplace where they wouldn’t immediately sell us out to the enemy.”
“Back to Metta’s village, then?”
I hate that idea. “I don’t want to risk them. It’s not fair to them after how kind they’ve been to us. The cloak and the food saved us last night. They didn’t have to do that and the thought of betraying them is out of the question. Not Omos, either.”
Kalos is quiet, thoughtful. His hand rubs my back as we try to plan, but I’m still foggy from sleep and my traitorous stomach is starting to growl again despite eating all of Metta’s food last night. “There are more towns near Eagleton,” he comments after a time. “We can send a message to Belara’s temple and ask them to meet us at one of those. The biggest one, perhaps. They won’t know you on sight there.”
“Does it matter if they do or not? The moment I show up at your side, they’ll know who I am. It’ll be obvious.”
His hand on my back stills. “Then you’ll have to go in separate from me.”
Separate? I frown to myself, thinking. “It’s a good idea but it won’t work. We can’t separate.”
“We can,” he says slowly. “It’s just…hard.”
“You mean it feels like I’m being ripped apart.”
“It pains me, too, but at a deeper level. It’s like a tearing in the mind.” He grimaces. “But I’ll endure it if it keeps you safe.” His gaze meets mine. “I don’t want you to be in pain, but if we go in separate, you can hide in the crowd. I’ll keep to a public spot so you can see me and the pain will lessen.”
I lick my dry lips. The last time I felt the separation pain of our tether being stretched was beyond horrible. In addition to being painful, it made my skin crawl with how very “wrong” it felt. I’m not eager to experience it again. If just being separated by fifty feet feels unpleasant, how bad is it going to be when it’s hundreds of feet? City blocks? “It is a better plan than anything I’ve got…”
“I can try to make you sick, too.” At my aghast expression, he continues. “You’ve heard that one sort of pain can mask another? A fever can distract, too. It’s not ideal, but it might help you with…being separated from me.”
It sounds crazy and awful but we’re out of options. “We can try it.”
He pulls me tight against him, his nose pressing against my cheek. “Just blend in with crowds and keep an eye out for his Anchor. Don’t worry about anything else.”
Right. Sneak in, ignore the pain, ignore the fever, all the while looking for Kalos’s other Anchor, murder them, and all our problems are solved. “Piece of cake.”
I glance down at my clothing and grimace, because my shredded dress with its many patches will make me stand out. I pick through the bag Metta brought for us, looking for ideas. There’s nothing in there except Varina’s priestess gear, and her warm extra robe…
Aha. I tug it out of the bag. “They won’t be looking for a Belaran priestess, I bet.”
“Good. You hide in the fringes of the crowd, and I’ll speak with my other Aspect in public.”
“How do you know this will work? That he’ll want to even meet with you?”
Kalos grins. “Because it’s me. The other me is going to wonder at what Apathy has planned. Why this Aspect won’t just roll over and die.”
“Because I won’t let you.”
He grunts. “It’s true. If I didn’t have you shoving me across the countryside, I’d have returned to my plane already. Weeks and weeks ago.”
“Not too much longer, and we can put this all behind us.” He cups my cheek gently, gazing into my eyes. “I’m going to be the last one standing, Elsie.”
I nod, because that’s what I want, too. After all we’ve gone through, there’s no other option.
“I need you with me,” he continues softly. “I’m going to bring you home with me when I return, to my plane. You’ll spend eternity at my side, where you should be. You can nudge me every time I make a bad decision and be my conscience, so I don’t lose myself again.”