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)
I shake my head. “Not us. We’ve been careful.”
Margo gives me a pitying look. “Do you really think so? Or have you just not been paying enough attention?”
Her words take me by surprise. I tighten my grip on the blanket, thinking. Wherever the other Kalos went—the Aspect that was chasing us—there were sick people. I’d made it clear to Kalos that I didn’t want to do the same…didn’t I? Would he care enough to ensure that he wasn’t spreading disease? Or would he just not give a crap because they’re mortals?
She’s saying this just to mess with me. “You’re wrong.”
“You sure about that?”
I’m…not. That’s the terrifying part.
My tongue glues to the roof of my mouth. We haven’t backtracked to see how people are faring in our wake. We’ve just been traveling on and on, down roads and through the countryside and a town… oh god. What if we are spreading disease? Would Kalos even realize what he’s doing? I think of all the people at Gental’s celebration and how they’d kicked us out because they didn’t want us spreading disease. I think of poor Kina and her family. “I… we don’t want to hurt anyone. That was never the plan. But we can’t just stand around and wait to die, either.”
“That’s the pickle, isn’t it?”
I have nothing to say to that. I need to think. I need a moment alone, without Margo trying to influence me. “I’m done with talking right now. Can you please leave?”
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You didn’t know?” She looks truly regretful. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, all right? This is a different world, the rules are different, too. You don’t know what you don’t know.”
But I should have known. I should have guessed, and I let myself be blinded by all the good I was doing, shepherding Kalos around like a do-gooder martyr.
Turns out I’m nothing but a plague rat.
Chapter
Twenty-One
I’m left alone again, Margo having retreated with her finished painting. I curl up in my small, shitty bed on the floor and think about everywhere Kalos and I have wandered so far. Margo and Seth were obviously having us watched in some way. I don’t remember seeing anyone following us (especially not in the swamp) so they must have some other way of observing us. I think about that, and I think about how often we took the roads, all the people we passed. I think about the times we ate at an inn or stopped so I could talk to some farmer about directions.
Did we infect all those people?
Did I? Because I’m the one who’s done all the talking while Kalos has stayed a fair distance away, his shockingly silver hair hidden by his hood.
Margo must be lying to me. Kalos would know how I would feel about spreading disease. He wouldn’t want to do that…would he? Or did I just assume he knew how I felt and never bothered to set down hard and fast ground rules? If we’re spreading disease, is he even aware of it?
I have so many questions and no answers, and as every minute ticks past in my dark, dank cell, I grow angrier at Margo. She—and Seth—are the reason I’m trapped here. I can’t do anything to help the situation if I’m stuck in a jail cell.
Someone eventually comes to the door with a tray laden with food, a bundle of blankets, and a warm, long-sleeved woolen dress I can slip over my clothing. I put it on and wrap myself in the new, thicker blanket.
“When is Margo coming back?” I demand of the men bringing the supplies.
They just shrug at me, and it isn’t until after they’ve left that I remember I was supposed to attack them. Shit. Margo has me so rattled I’ve forgotten my own escape plan. Angry at myself, I wash my hands and stew even as I devour the bread, chicken, and vegetables with my fingers.
When the door opens again, I jerk to my feet. I wasn’t expecting anyone to return so quickly. I glance around for the pitcher, but it’s still full of water I’ve been saving in case no one was coming back tonight.
Instead of just one or two guards this time, there are eight. I count heads as they file into my cell, my heart dropping. They’re wearing armor and a tabard of deep blue, which I’m guessing is Seth’s color. One steps forward and holds out manacles. “Put these on and come with us.”
“Really?” I blurt out, my annoyance getting the better of me despite my fear. “Chains?”
“It’s just a…” He pauses, frowning, and looks at one of the other guards.
“Seth calls it a ‘safety treasure’,” the man says.
The guard turns back to me. “Safety treasure.”
“I think you mean safety measure,” I say, but hold my wrists out. “And I can’t go anywhere because Kalos is somewhere nearby and I’m bound to him. Where do you think I would go?”