Curse Breaker (2)

8

The figure removes the cape from their head. Relief floods my stomach.

Killian raises a brow, his head tilting to the side as a taunting grin marks his lips. "Lost?"

Even Killian's mocking grin doesn't deter the sense of relief that washes over me at his presence. I lower the dagger, grip on the hilt still tight as he moves closer through the trees towards me.

"How did you find me?" I ask.

"Freya, I lived amongst humans for months undetected, disguised myself as a deserter, the very people who would butcher me if they found out my real identity." He stops a few feet away, eyes raking down the length of my body, torturously. "Did you really think you'd be able to track me without my knowledge?"

I narrow my eyes. "You knew I was following you?"

"It only took me about twenty minutes to realise," he says with a raised brow. "Remind me to teach you how to be more discrete sometime."

"Twenty minutes?" I repeat, incredulous. I've been walking for more than 12 hours now. "Why didn't you stop me? Force me to go back?"

"I always thought you should've come. Myers is more likely to talk if you're there, after all. But Sanaa didn't think it was worth the risk." He takes a second to observe me, eyes raking across my face. "Besides, I personally think you're safest where I can keep an eye on you."

My heart skips a beat. "You think it wasn't safe for me back there?"

"Oh you'd be fine," he says. "But you've become much too good at stealing weapons without people noticing. I figured it wasn't long before you stabbed someone for looking at you the wrong way. And I'd rather be there when that happened. You know, to diffuse the tension."

"Right." I narrow my eyes at him. Though I'm beyond grateful it was Killian I stumbled across, I can't help but be infuriated by his arrogance. "And what would Sanaa think of you letting her 'investment' leave?"

He frowns at the word 'investment'. "By the time she would've noticed, it would've been too late to do anything about it anyway."

"You're not afraid I'm going to run away?"

"To where?" he asks. "Do you even know where you are?"

"I--" I cut off, looking around myself. The truth is, I have no clue where we are. If Killian hadn't found me when he did, I'd probably be mid-mental breakdown due to the fact that I was completely, utterly lost. "No."

Killian takes a step closer. Rain runs in rivulets down the hood of his cape, the occasional drop sliding down his nose. "Come on," he says. "Let's get you out of this rain."

He doesn't wait for me to follow, turning around and heading in the opposite direction I'd been walking. I hold my arms above my head when the rain starts to seep through the cape, only lowering them once we reach the mouth of a tall cave, carved into the sife of a large cliff face. Inside, the horses Lei and Killian left on stand just beyond the entrance, chewing on the grass edging the entrance of the cave where the earth transitions to rock.

Despite the darkness inside, an orange glow stretches around the corner. I follow Killian, halting only once we reach Lei hunched over a small fire, her cape laid out on the stone beside it. She pauses to look up at us.

"Freya," she greets, "nice of you to finally join us. How was the walk?"

My cheeks burn. I feel like a fool, creeping after them for the past twelve hours, admiring my tracking abilities when they knew I was there all along.

"Fine," I say coolly.

She reaches inside one of the saddlebags and hands me an apple. "Here, you must be starving."