The only person who’d be happy to see me was Darcy, but that was a given. She’d been my best friend since we’d been rescued from the Oasis. My mind tried to take me back to the moment I realized she was not quite the friend I’d thought.
“You’ll be glad to see Darcy and Pig, won’t you?” I ran a hand over Balder and he snorted. Pig was his horse girlfriend and he adored the scruffy little bay mare Darcy rode.
I spoke to Balder to fill the space between us. “Darcy will have gotten the jewel from the Ice Witch, and then we’ll only have two left to get. Ish will be okay because she’ll have more of her magic back and maybe she can help Bryce then.” I frowned, thinking about how long it had been since we’d started this journey. I’d made Ish swear she wouldn’t tell my brother why I was so willing to be a thief. That every jewel I brought her gave us both hope she’d be able to help Bryce.
“Bryce really hates me, I think,” I said softly. “He believes Father was right about everything, and he wasn’t. I know he wasn’t. The world is not as black and white as either of them believe.” Believed, I should have said, in the past tense for Father. I blew out a breath.
Balder snorted and I sighed. “I know. I know. We’ve had this conversation a thousand times at least. But maybe this time, I’ll find a way to tell him Dad was wrong. That there is no black and white, that being a thief doesn’t make me a heretic or a stain on our family.”
Balder flapped his lips, and I slipped him a mint I had in the front pocket of my cloak.
Around us, the world had gone quiet. Most likely, it was our presence, and not anything else more sinister, but still I kept my ears perked. Surviving was something I was very good at, and I wasn’t about to let my guard down now.
I checked Balder’s wound. Already it looked days old, maybe even a week. The hacka paste was good shit, as my brother would say.
“How you feeling, my friend?” I tugged on Balder’s tail once and he swished it.
I turned, the sensation of being watched heavy on me, but there was no one behind us. Just in case, though . . . I held up both hands and flipped up my middle finger. “Whoever you are, I don’t have time for whatever shit you want to throw at me.”
Balder bobbed his head a couple times in agreement, then dropped to one knee on his front leg, inviting me to mount. I didn’t argue. If he was ready, I wasn’t going to question him. I leapt straight up and landed in the saddle as lightly as any cat, then picked up the reins and Balder stepped into a ground-covering trot. There was only the slightest hesitation in his stride, a mere whisper that he’d been injured.
“We might not be able to beat Steve home, but we can show up right on his ass,” I murmured.
I touched the ring hanging from the chain around my neck. The bump of it under my shirt was a comfort. Without it, my life would be a mess of epic proportions. With it, I could make my own choices without a curse dragging me down. With it, I had a chance at catching up to Steve—like a burr he didn’t notice stuck to him until it dug into his skin and drew blood. I grinned to myself.
Home was the northernmost tip of the Caspian Sea in a town once known as Atyrau. Not that there were many people left in the town, humans or supes. Balder picked his way around the bubbling pits of waste that smelled of sulfur, cinnamon, and death. Weird combination, but I’d learned not to question why they smelled that way, just to avoid them. They burned, though not like the toxic waste that had been in the giants’ home. That shit would eat you whole, an acid that cut through bone and tissue like it was nothing. No, this waste was hot, cooked from somewhere under the ground and then pushed to the surface—it would burn, but you could wash it off and survive.
Balder and I had ridden through the night, not pushing hard but keeping up the steady pace because I knew Steve. He’d push his poor horse so hard, he’d be forced to walk the last ten miles before home. At the least, if not more. At the two-mile mark, we found his horse limping his way home, head hung low.
“Batman . . .” I called to him and he lifted his dark head, his eyes fogged with pain and fatigue. I slowed Balder, slid from his back. Batman took a few stumbling steps toward me and I struggled once more to contain the anger.
Save it for the bastard. Save it for Steve. Narcissistic camel’s-dung-covered asshole that he is.
The need to help Batman allowed me to put the growing anger aside and focus on the horse in front of me. I grabbed my medic pack and pulled out my oat balls I’d made for the trip. Camel fat rolled up with oats and honey, then stuffed inside a leather pouch for storage. The horses didn’t take to them right away, but when they were at the end of the journey, they gulped them down like they were manna from heaven.
“Eat up, boys.” I held one out to Batman and he took it with soft lips. Balder pushed on me from the other side. I gave him one ball, but saved the last two for Batman. He was not as fit for these runs as Balder; Steve didn’t put the time into him he needed. I put it on my mental to-do list that I would condition Batman with me and Balder from here on out. The horse didn’t deserve to suffer because of Steve’s asshole-ness.
“You know that’s a stupid name he gave you. That’s what you get when you start hanging out with humans. Batman, who names a horse Batman? Ridiculous,” I muttered as I stroked the dark horse on the neck, then slid my hands over his body checking for wounds. His legs were swollen and a bit warm, but that would be expected with the headlong gallop through rough territory. I’d have to watch him for a fallout from this bullshit.
I held up my water bottle and tipped it so Batman could drink. Once he was as fueled up as I could get him, I loosened his cinch so he could breathe deeper, and took his bridle off. He would follow us home; I wasn’t concerned about that. Balder leaned over and nipped at Batman’s cheek.
The dark horse flinched, which wasn’t like him, and showed just how exhausted he was that he didn’t try to bite the gray back. Batman was a bit on the bossy side, so Balder taking the lead was unusual. I shook my head, mounted back up, and me and the two horses walked the last two miles home.
The stables came into view first and we went straight there. What had been a stockade was now a dual-purpose sprawling living area with a stable we’d added on. I got the two boys settled into their stalls with water and food. I’d have to walk them later so they wouldn’t stiffen up, but for now, they deserved to just rest and eat. I checked the other stall for Pig, Darcy’s mare.
While there were a few horses, none were the scruffy little mare. Which meant Darcy wasn’t back yet. My belly rolled with a sharp tang of fear. Darcy and her crew had headed out weeks before Steve and me. They were supposed to have been back by now. We’d planned it that way so we could celebrate with two jewels at once. Ish had planned it that way, really.
“Where are you, Darcy?” I whispered. Balder pushed his nose against me, shoving me out of his stall. “Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” I stripped off my cloak and hung it over the stall door, which left me in nothing but dark pants, tall black riding boots, and a plain white tank top. And my weapons—I was never without those. The twin kukri blades were strapped to my upper thighs, and the flail I kept in my right hand with the two spiked balls dangling just above the ground. If I was going to carry it as an actual weapon, I’d have to look at getting a strap for it. Maybe across my back.
At the moment, though, I had only one thought outside of my concern for Darcy.
“You are about to get your ass handed to you, Steve,” I muttered under my breath as I strode out of the stable toward the main hall. Darcy would love this. I only wished she was back already so she could see me finally put Steve in his place—I wasn’t the only one he’d hurt. That made me grin. Perhaps it would be more than a little fun to finally give him his comeuppance. And it would take my mind off Darcy not being there. She’d be back soon. I was sure of it. That’s what I told myself while my instincts screamed that something was wrong, off.
My home was huge, far bigger than it needed to be for the small number of us that served Ish, but she liked us all to have room to ourselves. Especially considering how poorly we got along.