Other footsteps join Beta Sinta’s. The tread is heavier, less precise. “So what do we do?” Flynn asks.
No one says anything for a while. Then Beta Sinta’s voice rumbles above me, low and sure. “Stay together, like we always have. The four of us have never come across an enemy we couldn’t best.”
A hollow feeling spreads through me. I could be lying on my circus cot, listening to Aetos, Desma, Vasili, and Selena having this same conversation. But they’ve loved and protected me for years. Beta Sinta only wants me alive so he can use me.
I want to live. At least one of our interests converges.
I let out a sigh and start talking. “They’ll start by sending armed men. At least twenty, and some with magic. If that doesn’t work, they’ll resort to creatures. Centaurs, Kobaloi…that kind of thing. Maybe even a Dragon.” I open my eyes. My head throbs, and the glow from the oil lamp feels like a dagger through my skull. “By the way, I hope Lamia drains your blood and eats your hearts.”
Carver grins. “Lamia only eats children.”
I huff. “That’s what you think.”
“Welcome back.” Flynn pats my foot through the blanket.
I sit up with a groan and grab my head.
“The headache is a whole Harpy’s nest of fun,” Kato says, his expression strained, his face paler than usual. “Thanks for that.”
I scowl at him. “Sarcasm is not favored by the Gods.”
“Do you see any Gods here?” he asks, spreading his hands wide.
“That’s the whole point. You don’t see them until they’re firing lightning bolts at you.”
His lips twitch with a weak smile before his eyes squeeze shut, and he drops his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Great. I brought down Adonis with a hit of euphoria. I feel like a delinquent.
Beta Sinta crouches by the bedside, eye level with me. “How do you know what’s coming?”
I look away, flushing. I can’t help remembering his heated gaze on me in the pool, or the way his arms tightened around me before sleep robbed me of conscious thought.
My eyes lowered, I pluck at the blanket. “Experience. And just a hunch. I could be wrong.”
“Are you ever wrong?” he asks.
“Yes. Unfortunately.”
His weight dips the mattress. “Work with us, Cat. We’ll help you.”
My eyes jerk back up. “I wouldn’t even be in danger if it weren’t for you!” At least not immediate danger. “I’m not part of your team. When will you get that through your head?”
“You’ll have everything you need,” Beta Sinta argues. “Coin, shelter, protection.”
Does he really think that’s all a person wants? I could sell myself to any number of Magoi nobles for that. “Do you need protection?”
“Sometimes.”
“I don’t. I don’t need anyone.” Is that my eye twitching?
Beta Sinta watches me, his expression sober. “That sounds like a lonely life.”
A familiar hole gapes wide inside my chest, and I swallow, closing my eyes against the four of them. When I open my eyes again, they’re still looking at me, and I can’t seem to muster all that much hate. Well, Beta Sinta gets some, but it’s not that dramatic, even in my own head. It feels like another defeat. He caught me. He kept me. And now I don’t even truly despise him anymore. It’s humiliating. I’ve already been humiliated enough for one day.
I disappear.
“Cat?” Beta Sinta calls. I don’t know why. I’m still attached to his bloody rope, which is attached to the bloody bed, which is now bloody invisible right along with me.
“I’m getting dressed.” I push the blanket back and reach for my clothes. I manage well enough except for my tunic. I pull it over my head, slip my free arm through one sleeve, and then tug the rest of it down enough to cover most of me before reappearing. “You have to untie the rope.”
Beta Sinta’s eyes lock on me when I reappear, their burning intensity turning my temperature volcanic. His gaze keeps coming back to my hair. It’s almost never loose, but now it’s a wild mess, falling to my waist in waves.
Almost hesitantly, he reaches out, lightly touching a dark curl. “You’re too young to be so cynical.”
I shiver, growing horribly self-conscious. Being mostly covered just reminds me of being completely naked, and I blush uncontrollably. Even my toes turn red.
As my color rises, Beta Sinta’s mouth curves a little too smugly for my taste. He wraps hot fingers around my free wrist, slowly reaching across me to untie the rope with his other hand. As soon as I can, I punch my arm through my tunic, ignoring the traitorous tightening in my stomach and the Gods-awful fluttering in my chest.