Part 17 (1/2)
”Ha! I wouldn't go so far as to say 'innocent'. They partic.i.p.ated in the failed attempt at an attack here tonight.”
”Only out of pack loyalty. It's our sworn duty to back each other up. They are no more guilty of wrongdoing-”
She holds up her hand. ”Enough. I've made up my mind. We deserve retribution for your crimes, yet we do not wish to incite the wrath of the Legionare by overstepping our boundaries. So I am going to give you something. A gift.”
Bones narrows his eyes. ”What gift?” he asks slowly.
”The gift of choice. I'm going to let you choose who lives, and who dies. Four of you are hostage. Two shall die, and two shall go free. It's your choice.”
”Wait, what? I can't decide-”
”Hey, wait a bloomin' minute!” Gyan's voice rings out from behind a row of guards. He steps around them and faces Xandria. ”You and I had a deal! You promised! You were going to torture the hound and kill the demion slowly-”
”Do we need you for something else?” Xandria asks, her voice daggers of ice.
A guard steps forward, flames swirling in his palms. ”Oh no you don't.” Instantly Gyan disappears, reappearing by the exit several yards away. ”I'll get you for this, you two-timing b.i.t.c.h! Just you wait!” And he's gone.
Xandria returns her attention to us. ”You have until the triple moons become one to make your choice. Tick tock.” She spins on her heel and stalks away, followed closely by her henchmen.
Bones crouches to the ground and sinks his head in his hands. ”What is this? How am I supposed to choose one of them-?”
”Two of them. Them,” I say, kneeling beside him.
”One. Obviously I'll be the other.”
I jump to my feet. ”No, not obviously!” I shout. ”Not obviously by a million miles! Obviously we throw them Alik and Khalil! I can't believe how lucky we got-”
”Lucky, I'm not throwing anyone anywhere. I will relay the ultimatum to Alik and Khalil and see if either of them wants to do the honorable thing. I have faith one of them will-”
”Stop it!” I scream. ”Stop acting like you're going to be some kind of martyr when you don't have to be! We have a way out! You have a choice!”
”I choose to accept my fate. There is no way out for me.”
Hot tears burn my eyes. ”Then take me, too.”
”What?”
”You heard me. If you're going to die, then I will too. We've done it before, right? Like you said. Besides...there's nothing here for me. I don't belong in this world. I haven't for a long time...”
”Lucky, you don't mean that.”
”Yes, I do.” I fall into his arms and look deep into his eyes. ”I am where you are. It's that simple. You can't leave me alone here. You just can't.”
Bones leans closer and holds me tight. ”There's no guarantee we'll be reunited,” he says softly. ”None. And if we are, it could be years...I may not even be in human form...”
”I've made up my mind,” I whisper, locking my eyes with his. ”If you go, so do I. There is no other option.” I realize this is true. Kieron's brutal betrayal has already shattered what's left of my fragile soul. And if Bones leaves, my life here is truly over. I'll never recover from that pain. Death is preferable, and now is as good a time as any.
Wrapped in Bones' warm embrace, I relax as I search his eyes. Occasionally his lips meet mine. This is the right thing to do. I don't belong in this world as a fractured, broken Halfling. Maybe next time I'll get it right, do it better.
”You say we've been able to find each other in every life?” I whisper, tracing his cheekbone. He gulps and gives my fingertip a small kiss, just as the cool tingles flush through my weakening body.
”Yes, we have. But there's something you need to know-”
”Oh no, no, she's coming...Bones, my time is up. Don't tell Liora our plan...just do what I need you to do...”
Bones leans down until his lips are next to mine, and I barely hear him as he whispers, ”You need to know that you also find Kieron. Every time.”
My world goes black.
Chapter 18. Liora.
I know Bones probably has me under some sort of trance, and that's okay. Whatever he's doing to make me feel this good is A-Okay with me. I don't even care that I woke up in some creepy medieval dungeon sitting on a straw covered floor, and that I just saw a big, fat rat scamper by. Or that my hands and clothes are covered with dried blood, and, judging by the fresh gashes on my arms and the wounds on Bones' face, it's probably from us. We're alone, it appears. Trapped maybe. Definitely in trouble.
Maybe it's his scent...or it's his essence, I don't know. I just know if they could bottle it and sell it, every drug dealer in the world would be out of business forever.
”Hi, Liora,” he whispers.
”Hi, Bones. Do I even want to know what's happening here?”
He flashes me a s.e.xy half smile and props me upright. ”Probably not. But you need to know anyways.”
”I'm still alive,” I mutter. I run my tongue over my swollen lip and can feel it split in two places. My eyes throb when I blink, and my left cheek feels like it's been beat with a hammer. ”...But just barely, it seems.”
”We ran into a complication,” Bones says quietly, sending waves of a relaxing warmth down my spine where it settles comfortably in my belly.
I give him a smile. ”Where's Kieron?” I glance around, but we're all alone in this place. Not my first choice of a hangout, but being anywhere with Bones is nice, so it's all good.
Bones sighs. ”That's part of the complication. Look, Liora, there's something you need to know. I have to go somewhere, and one of my pack-mates is going to have to take you home. I don't want you to be afraid. I trust him implicitly and have already given him instructions on how to take care of you. I want you-”
”Wait, where are you going? How could you leave me in this place with some creature I don't even know? And what about Kieron?”
”Liora, sweetheart...some things have changed. Our circ.u.mstances aren't exactly ideal right now, but don't you worry about that. You are safe. I vowed to protect you for as long as I could, and that's what I'm doing.” He reaches up and gently cusps my chin in his large palm. His gentle eyes fix upon mine and swim with unspoken meaning. ”Right now my number one priority is to keep you safe. You are very important. More important than even you know. But more than anything, I want you to not be afraid. Everything happens for a reason, okay? This is meant to be. I'm so sorry that-”
”What is meant to be? Bones, what is going on with-?”
The rest of my question is drowned out as loud voices ring through the cave. Instinctively I press back against the wall and flash Bones a worried look. ”What is that? Who's coming?”
He reaches across my body protectively and glances down at me. His smile is sincere, but his eyes are troubled. ”Don't worry. They just want me. Not you.”
”But-”
”Well, well. Time is up. Have you made your choice?” A pretty blonde woman stands before us. I know by her yellow eyes she's not human, and I cower behind Bones a bit more. Demons I don't know freak me out even more than the ones I do know.
Bones clears his throat. ”Yes, I have. You may take me, and my brother Alik. We'll go willingly and without a fight on the condition that this young girl is allowed to leave here unharmed, and that no further transgressions be made against her. She is to be escorted by Khalil and never be hunted or tracked-”
An outburst of laughter cuts him off. ”I don't think you're exactly in a position to be giving orders, little boy,” she says, amused condescension dripping from her ruby-red lips.