Black Stars - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 30 - Dead Man Walking

Hey everybody!

Black Stars is only a couple chapters away from finishing :O so exciting! I just want to say thanks to everyone who has made it this far. I really appriciate the support you're all showing to the book. Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter 30. Enjoy xx

- Skylar

...

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. 

- Wizard of Oz

The next two days were spent progressing uneventfully towards Byron Bay, giving Leah plenty of opportunities to think over the logistics of how to kill Jared. And yet, when they reached the headlands that rounded onto Byron, she found she was as unprepared as she'd been two days earlier.

Every time she'd considered what she had to do, her brain short circuited, and she eventually accepted that Jared had weaseled his way deeper into her subconscious than she'd presumed. Even as every rational part of her screamed that she needed to kill him, something consistently brought her up short; and she had a terrible feeling it was going to ruin everything.

Her one small consolation was that she still had Cassandra's gun. At least if she shot Jared, there would be some distance between them, some imaginary barrier that made her feel less involved. Less responsible. She wouldn't have to be touching him when it happened, wouldn't necessarily be near him at all. It was cowardly and twisted. She knew that. But her mind repelled every other alternative.

The sun was just beginning to slip beyond the horizon when they rounded the last bend and the city spread beneath them in glittering lights, sending Leah's heart thudding. Her joy that they'd finally arrived was underscored by darker emotions that pulsed with every heartbeat, reminding her how far she still had to go, and what she had to do to get there.

"Do you want to spend the night up here, or try and find another hotel?" Jared asked.

Leah let her eyes drift to him. She'd avoided him as much as possible these last few days, and an uncomfortable wariness and tension had built between them once again.

"Here would probably be safer," Leah said, unwilling to repeat any of the dramas that had been triggered by their last trip into a town.

Jared nodded and dropped his pack to the ground, falling back against a tree as he rummaged for some food. Leah watched him, examining the hard lines etched into his face. Two weeks of travel hadn't been particularly kind to either of them.

"How do we get to the whirlpools from here?" Leah asked, sliding down against her own tree and settling at the base. "Have you got a boat?"

Jared took a gulp from his drink bottle, his eyes on the horizon. "No, I don't. I know someone who will take us there, though. For the right price."

Leah blinked. "I don't have much money."

For the first time since they'd stopped, Jared looked at her, a half-hearted smirk on his face.

"He doesn't deal in money."

"What does he deal in?"

"Nothing you'd understand."

His tone was patronising and Leah bit her tongue against any further questions. She knew he was just trying to rile her up and she refused to give him the satisfaction.

"I'll leave it to you, then," Leah said coldly and turned away from him.

The gun in her bag pressed against her leg as she pulled out an apple and took a bite.