Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Nox waits until they’re all gone before bowing deeply to Tia. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Thank you for your sacrifice.” Tia bows just as deeply this time. “Will you share a meal with us before you leave?”
Nox shakes their head slowly. “I wish we could, Tia. Unfortunately, we need to move as quickly as possible. We don’t want to bring the Cŵn Annwn down upon you and your community.”
“Let them come.” Tia smiles, revealing the sharp teeth of a predator. “They have tried before. They will try again. Still, we maintain.”
“If we’re successful, they will never try again.”
Tia waves that away. “Someone will. Someone always does. We still see and honor your plans. You’ll find a small ship on the west side of the island.” They click their claws together several times in a fast pattern, and two smaller Yothians melt out of the bushes on either side of us. “These are Dao and Cye. They will guide you.”
Nox turns to the small group still left. “Let’s go.” I expected myself and Siobhan, of course, but Bowen and Evelyn remain, as well as Maeve and a put-upon-looking Lizzie. The future of Threshold rests on the shoulders of seven people.
There’s nothing more to say.
We file after the youngsters—and they are youngsters; that boundless energy of youth is consistent across all peoples—and into an even deeper greenery than we experienced on our way to the village.
Behind me, Lizzie sneezes. Without missing a beat, she snarls, “Not a single word.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Maeve says sweetly.
I can’t help looking over my shoulder to see a mask of innocence on Maeve’s face that doesn’t quite conceal the mischief in her green eyes. She catches me watching and winks. I fight down a shudder and turn back to keep my eyes on the path ahead of me. Lizzie may be useful, but I can hardly comprehend the bravery Maeve must possess to go to bed with the vicious vampire.
It’s none of my business. But thinking about bed has me looking up ahead to where Siobhan trudges silently in front of me, her cloak covering her head despite the sticky heat, her shoulders tight in a clear message that she’s not interested in talking. Things have been too rushed for Nox to notice something is wrong yet, and there will be little time or privacy after this.
With that in mind, I veer around Siobhan and pick up my pace until I come even with Nox. “We have to talk,” I say softly. “Now.”
Chapter 31
Nox
“Bastian, this has to wait,” I say softly. There’s nothing resembling privacy here. Not with the Yothians’ superior hearing ahead of us and Siobhan’s behind us. “We can’t stop.”
“There’s no need to stop.” He matches my tone perfectly. Apparently there’s no need for secrecy, either, because he starts right in. “Siobhan is hiding something from us.”
I glance over my shoulder, but Siobhan has her hood pulled low, concealing her face entirely. It’s tempting to use a little wind to push it back to see what her expression is saying, but Bastian takes my arm, distracting me.
“Haven’t you noticed?” He pitches his voice lower yet. “She’s been saying goodbye.”
I don’t want to admit that I’ve been too tangled up in the reckless joy of having them in my bed to register the deeper layers. It’s been so long since I’ve let myself fall; I’m simply enjoying the freedom of giving myself over to gravity. When I’m with them in bed, I can almost believe that maybe we do have a future. I assumed her ferocity was normal. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” He curses softly. “She won’t talk to me. I just know something is wrong.”
I push a branch out of the way and hold it for him to duck under. “Are you sure it’s not your own anxiety informing this belief?”
He opens his mouth, pauses, and shoots a guilty look at Siobhan. “No. I’m not sure of that.”
“We’re out of time, Bastian. If she won’t talk to you, she’s not going to talk to me, either. We’ve all agreed the horn is the best choice for a path forward. Turning back now is out of the question.” The air is a physical weight against my skin, causing sweat to slide down my spine and pool at the small of my back. I’d rather be soaked in salt water than deal with this discomfort, but there’s nothing to do about it except endure. “We have to at least try to see it through.”
“I know,” he says miserably.
There’s nothing more to be said. We might not be in battle yet, but the same rules apply. Once you commit to an action, you better not second-guess yourself or change course. The desire to minimize losses inevitably results in more dead people than there would have been if you remained committed to the original plan. Or maybe that’s the insidious glory of hindsight, to think that there was always a better way where less people died. I don’t know. Foresight isn’t one of my gifts, and for all that it leaves me at the mercy of my own choices, I still prefer things this way. It’s better not to know for sure that things would have been better if we took a different route.