The Offering (Lesbian, Gay, Girlxgirl)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The wind was picking up intensity. What had been a calm blowing had turned into gust- harsher, chillier, sending small puffs of debris on Talin's face. Her long lashes shielded her eyes from the sand. It was her heart she was wary of. Uncertainty was making a fool out of it.

Her mind was telling her to wait it out. Years of training on survival had taught her to watch from a distance and observe. It had spared her life many times, often when she wasn't in the confines of the city. Though a woman of action, if the movement wasn't delivered with correct timing, the consequences could be lethal. Thus, she'd learned to sit tight.

Talin hadn't broken the self-imposed protocols for years, until lately. Because of Brielle, she'd been more impatient— always asking, spending her time analyzing hidden motives. She'd tried to mask her anger by being doubly silent, but the girl had a way of making her restless. It kept her awake at night, which most often than not leads to irritation.

The sodales vows was a good example. She never planned for any of those. Yet when she saw Brielle standing beside her master, a grim look on her face, Talin just couldn't help it. It felt as though she had to do something. It made her bitter and questioning. She wasn't the one who suddenly came into the picture to ruin everything. She wasn't the bad guy. She was just trying to get what was promised to her. But for all that it was, why did she feel the opposite?

Talin peered behind the rock once more, making sure to keep herself hidden while she spied on the two. The sight of Brielle smothered her lungs. It always did. Looking at the girl was gazing at the magic of the earth; hair as bleached as the bed of snow, woven by the squall of wind; skin as pale as the shining moon, ever glorious behind the clouds; lashes that fluttered like white butterfly wings, a mass of beauty and simplicity; and eyes— oh how they were the strangest— Brielle's eyes sparkled purple as the twilight sky, with the promise of tomorrow.

Brielle was a perfect example of what mother nature was— divine in looks and blessing the world with her ethereal allure. This was also the reason why Talin couldn't trust her. Mother nature was unpredictable, forever shifting moods. If crossed, she would smite you with icicles and bring you to heel with her vines. The girl might be calm as the sea when she was in the room, but Talin knew better. As long as Brielle was working with Vincent, a thunderstorm was waiting to happen.

Growing tired of the tug-of-war, Armstrong pulled Brielle closer, and gripped the girl's chin between his fingers. "Why is Vincent so smitten with you, huh?" he said, his eyes skimming her face. "Are you his whore?"

Brielle's face wrinkled in disgust. "No!" she yelled.

"Don't play your games with me," Armstrong mocked. "I'm sure he's cutting you a sweet deal. Why else would he ask me to send you? Are you that good, huh? Maybe you should show me."

Talin's temper intensified with the wind. The soldiers were prone to jeering and taunting when nobody was around, but the bad jokes were usually made in name of good humor, or to stave off boredom. She'd been around them in her youth long enough to know. Armstrong wasn't like them. He was foul.

But why should she care? It wasn't her problem. As long as she knew what Vincent and the ghost are planning, or she could dispose of the girl without them knowing it was her who did it, anything else in-between wasn't her problem. Right?

"Get your hands off me!" Brielle said. Her face had become rosy pink as her lips in agitation, her arms twisting from his hold. The man was a deal bigger than her. She wouldn't escape him without help.

Armstrong laughed, knowing this. "Well ain't that cute? You're like a dancing mouse. Vincent must have liked that in a girl."

Brielle stopped struggling.