regarded me with suppressed concern, with a hint of annoyance. “If you leave before it hits, you’ll get a lead on them.”
I ignored my food, despite the fact that I was starving. The only thing that mattered was the words he spoke.
“When the winds hit, it’ll cover your tracks.”
My hands started to shake because the moment had arrived. This was really happening.
“But you won’t make it, Raven.”
It was the first time he’d said my name. I liked the way it sounded.
He shook his head slightly. “If you’re lucky enough to evade capture, you’ll get lost and die anyway.”
“Unless you tell me the way.”
He held my gaze, unblinking. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Please…”
“Even if I did, you aren’t going to make it.”
“Stop saying that. It’s not true.”
“Have you ever been out in the wilderness in your entire life?” His voice started to rise, his anger getting to him. “Let alone, in winter? You think those two flashlights are going to be enough to navigate in the pitch-blackness? In a storm? You’re going to get yourselves killed.”
“We’re just going to ride straight through.”
“Ride?” he asked incredulously. “Ride what?”
“A horse.”
“And how do you plan on getting a horse?”
“The same way I got the other stuff.”
He shook his head. “You can’t pick the lock on the stables. They’re bolted. That’s not an option.”
My heart did a somersault.
“You’ll have to go on foot. And you definitely won’t make it.”
“Do you think you could get me—”
“Did you really just ask me that?” He raised his voice again. “After everything I’ve done for you? You have the audacity to ask me for anything?”
I bowed my head in shame.
“I’m tired of saving your ass. If I really thought you had a chance out there, I would tell you that. But you don’t. You have no idea what you’re up against. And here I am, yet again, trying to save you.”
“I’d rather die out there than work for these monsters a day longer. My sister is gorgeous, and once the boss is done with her, it’ll just be another guy… They’ll force her until her beauty fades. She’d rather die out there too…with me.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is with her.”
“What are you talking about? She’s beautiful.”
“On the outside. But she’s weak on the inside.”
I lifted my head and looked at him again.
His eyes were on me with the same intensity as before. “And I’ve seen better.”
I was paralyzed by his words. All I could do was look at the brown eyes staring at me, look into the face of the man who held my life in his hands. My makeup had washed away shortly after I arrived here, and I hadn’t even combed my hair since. There was no mirror, so I had no idea what I looked like, but even on my best day, I was nothing compared to Melanie. So, there was no way he was referring to me specifically…right?
“Even with several hours of lead time, they’ll send all their guys out, on horses with hounds.”
“There are dogs here?”
“They’re inside because it’s too cold.”
So, we were forced to work outside in the cold every day, but the dogs got to stay inside? Wow.
“The snow will be piled high, so you’ll have a hard time getting through. There are frozen lakes out there hidden under the snow, and one wrong move will send you under the ice. The wolves are hungry because everything is hibernating, and they’ll smell you a mile away.”
“Then we’ll find a hiding place and wait it out until the guards stop looking for us.”
He shook his head. “They’ll never stop looking for you.”
“I just—”
“Nothing I say will make a difference, will it?” He leaned forward slightly, looking into my gaze with a pissed-off expression, like he wanted to grab me by the neck and shake me. “Nothing I say will make you see reason, will it?”
All I could do was shake my head.
He dropped his gaze and released a heavy sigh, his fingers curling toward his palm as he made a fist.
“Do you really think I won’t survive…or you just don’t want me to go?”
He was still as if he hadn’t heard the question, as if it didn’t elicit a reaction. But then he lifted his gaze and looked into mine. “I don’t want you to die, Raven. That’s what I want.” He rose to his feet and carried the chair back to the wall.
It was time to say goodbye…to the only friend I had here. Instead of rejoicing at