Den of Thieves - Shannon Mayer Page 0,25

a six-hour lead on Maks.

I went to Balder; Mamitu stood next to him. “You are ready to go?”

“I can’t fucking well go in the morning and not expect him to fight me on leaving him behind,” I said, struggling to keep my words low and still angry as a cat dunked in a tub full of cold water. I wasn’t angry at her, not really. I was angry that again I needed to part ways with the other half of my heart.

She smiled and slid a hand over Balder’s face. He leaned into her touch and that gave me as much solace in trusting her as anything else. Balder was an amazing judge of character.

For example, he’d never liked my douche of an ex-husband, Steve. In fact, he’d kicked him in the balls once. At the time, I’d thought it was just an accident. Now I had no doubt it was on purpose. Just one more reason to love my mount.

Mamitu continued to love on Balder. “Then I give you one last warning, one last piece of advice. The path to the vessel is as dangerous as you can imagine. Travel only during the day. The rabisu will be waiting in the night for you, and though they look somewhat weak, they are anything but and should not be underestimated. Ignore their song, plug your ears if you must, do not invite them in and whatever you do, do not let them bite you.” She handed me a small bag. “This is food and small supplies. It is all I can do without tipping my hand to Asag.”

I took the bag and tied it to my waist. “Thank you.” I looked her in the eyes. “If you want me to succeed, keep him here as long as you can. Tell him . . . tell him why I left without him. Beg him to stay here, for me and Lila. Or give him another task. Anything to delay him.”

I grabbed a piece of paper from my bag and scribbled a note on it. “Here, put this somewhere he will find it. Please. It will help.”

She pressed her fingers together. “Fate has brought you two together; you will find him again if he lives through this journey. Go north, that is the path you must take. You will find the signs that will lead you to the vessel.”

If. I did not like that word, but it was better than he’s for sure dead. I hopped up on Balder and Mamitu opened a side door in the stone wall that I would have sworn was not there before. But it didn’t matter. I was out and it shut behind me, and all I could hope was that Maks would forgive me when he woke.

That he would be alive when this was all said and done.

The high walls of red stone rose above us as I turned Balder to the north. I let him pick his speed which was a full gallop as we raced away from the round castle, away from Mamitu and her ghouls, away from Maks and Batman.

Only then did I let the tears flow down my cheeks. I should have known we’d not be given an easy go of this, that we’d once more be forced to make hard choices. Lila tucked her head under my chin.

“He’ll understand. He’d do the same were the positions reversed.”

But I wasn’t so sure. Maks and I had differing views on how to tackle problems. He always wanted a united front, and while I agreed with him for the most part, there were times you had to take action and do what you had to—even if it meant leaving someone you loved behind.

“I don’t know,” I said softly. “I want to believe he’ll forgive me, but I’d be pissed if he left me.” Then again, I was better at figuring out when he was up to something. He was an open book in many ways, easy to read with his emotions all but worn on his sleeves.

Lila snorted. “Then he shouldn’t sleep so deeply.”

I sighed and leaned into Balder as he navigated the moonlit valley of stones with ease. “You forgave me for leaving you behind, didn’t you?” I asked my horse.

He gave a low whinny which could have been yes, could have been no. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

I blew out a final shaky breath and looked ahead. “I’ll feel bad later. Let’s get this damn Vessel of Vahab