My gaze goes back to his face, and he smirks at me. I ignore his look and my stare.
“What’s this job you have?” I ask, taking a couple more bites of my pie.
“I have two.” Keen starts to hum, looking out at the crowd.
“Two?”
“Aye. We’ll see how you do on the first one before I throw you into the deep end.”
I lean back in my chair. My gaze locked onto Keen’s face. He’s definitely a Crime Lord. Do they have such things on Elementum?
I shake my head and roll my neck, working out the kinks. I’m so stressed it’s not funny, and I haven’t really learned a damn thing.
“Are you going to explain?” I ask.
“Eventually,” Keen says, standing up from the table.
“Are we leaving Boss Man?” Keen shoots Rush a thinned-eyed look, causing Rush to laugh.
“We are. There's a lot of distance to cover before dark.” Keen mutters, walking away.
I look at Bran.
“He does that sometimes,” Bran mutters. He finishes his glass of water and tosses some coppers on the table.
I get up and push my chair in following Bran, leaving Rush inside the inn. I did learn something today; I guess. What they use for money and how much it’s worth. It’s better than nothing, I suppose.
I pull up short, seeing Bran standing on the side of the dirt road scratching his head. I walk over to him, dodging the people heading into the heart of Rosewell. The Wisp sits right outside of town, but the main road goes right in front of the Inn.
“What’s the matter?” I ask, watching Bran look up the road towards town.
“I lost Keen.”
I snort.
Bran looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Come on,” I mumble, walking towards the trees behind the Inn.
“How do you know where he is?”
I flick my eyes to the side of him but keep moving. The tug won’t let me not know where he is, but Bran doesn’t need to know that.
I step into the tree-lined woods and breathe in the scent of leaves and fresh soil. My feet sink into the soft dirt as I stroll along.
The trees are typical here. Well, typical for Elementum, I guess. They’re not the slim black things with purple leaves where I met Keen. No, these are gorgeous giants.
Their trunks are as thick and round as the length of a truck. They stretch so far up in the sky. It’s like they’re playing among the clouds.
I smile as I hear birds, and the soles of my feet tingle slightly, turning my smile into a frown. Those damn Runes. I didn’t even look at them last night or today when I was getting new clothes. I don’t want to see what they look like or how they’ve branded me. I’m in this phase of if I don’t see it, it isn’t real.
I hitch my pack up on my shoulders better and lean against one of the trees. The bark feels soft and has me surprised, rubbing my hand upon it.
“Why’d you stop?” Rush asks.
I nod my head to the tree across from me, slightly distracted from the smooth silk-like bark of the tree I’m leaning on. I run both of my hands across the bark and could have sworn the tree shivers.
I clutch my hands to my chest, walking around the tree and looking for eyes. I must be going nuts.
“Keen’s up in that tree,” I mutter after I finished walking around the tree that shivered.
Keen drops down from the thick branches on his hands and feet. Bindi is on his head, clutching his shaggy brown hair.
“Best we move on,” Keen says, walking north-east.
I groan, following behind Keen. I watch the surrounding woods, keeping my eye out for Prince. I wonder where he went too?
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was well into the night when Keen finally stops, and I sigh with much-needed relief. My feet and legs are killing me. I’m not a lazy person. I exercised. I stayed in shape, but this. We’ve had to walk at least close to 100 miles, and my body is overworked, overtired, and completely done.
I let my pack fall off of my back as I watch Keen, Bran, and Rush. They’ve done this a lot. They work like a well-oiled machine.
Squatting down, Keen moves his hands in a slow circular motion, and the dirt impacts to form a fire pit. The purple-tinted grass gets sucked into the earth, and the small twigs move into the middle of the area.
I tuck a piece of my brown hair behind my ear, watching as Keen stands up. He puts his hands on his hips and nods at what he created with a soft smile on his face. His pale green eyes flick to me, and I look away. A nervous energy hums in my body.
My eyes catch Bran. He’s sitting on the ground with his pack between his legs, taking stuff out of it. Four brown wrapped packages get laid out in front of him.
Rush strolls back and drops an armload of branches and bends down. Soon he has a small fire going.
I shift from foot to foot as the three of them sit or lie around the fire in Keen’s case.
“Come sit, doll,” Keen says without looking at me, taking two packages from Bran.
Moving a few feet to the others, I bite my lip and hesitantly sit down between Keen and Rush. Pulling my legs up to my chest, I tilt my head back, gazing up at the sky.
Stars shine from between the branches, and a lone tear slips down my cheek. I miss my mom.
“Basil?”
I jerk, turning my head back to Keen, “Huh?”
“Have something to eat, doll.”
I take the package from his outstretched hand, careful not to touch him in the process. I don’t want any more Runes to appear.
I untie the twine and move the brown paper from the bundle. A block of cheese and two rolls greets me. It’s better than the bricks.
I rip open the roll and stick half of the cheese block between it and devour my food in minutes.
Rush passes me a pouch of water, and I drain half of it.
“Sorry,” I mumble, handing it back to him.
Rush just smiles, taking the half-empty water pouch from me.
I stare into the flames of the fire. The colors change from red to orange to even yellow. The heat relaxes my body, and my eyes droopy. I try to keep them open, but they’re so heavy. I lay my head on my knees and stare at the fire. Soon my eyes shut.
Whispered voices float to my tired ears.
“How long are you going to let it go on for?” Rush mutters.
“As long as I need to.” Keen snaps back at him.
I perk up a bit at Keen’s voice. My heart stutters in my chest.
“She’s been through a lot.” Bran murmurs.
Something thumps, and I jerk.
Please don’t notice that.
“What in the four hells makes you think that?” Rush barks.
There’s shh, and it’s silent. I can feel their eyes on me.
“She doesn’t know nothin,” Bran says.
“True.” Grumbles Rush.
“Why do you reckon that is?” Keen questions. I can feel his curiosity from here.
I can sense those pale green eyes gliding over my body, and a shiver runs across my skin.
“She’s cold.” Bran states.
My muscles lock, and my breathing stops.
“Na. She’s awake. Ain’t ya doll?”
“Maybe,” I whisper, raising my head from my knees and grimace at the kink in my neck and shoulders.
I groan as I roll my neck around.