to the point, he’s someplace that he can’t hurt anyone else as he suffers from the sickness. I’m certain he’s past the beginning stages by now. You already knew that, though,” he stated impassively. “If you hadn’t known he was sick, you wouldn’t have broken protocol and come out searching for him without the backing of your Order.”
“They sent me to find him,” I hissed.
“No, Alexandria. They sent you to find the library because they had already written him off as dead. Landon and his entire team were infected, and yet the Order still sent them. Why?” he asked, smiling coldly as I narrowed my eyes to angry slits. “Because the Order didn’t want them to expire where the others would see it happening and lose faith in the Order of the Moon,” he said softly, turning onto his side, which bunched the muscles of his abdomen. “Now I have your attention, don’t I?”
I swallowed, closing my eyes before turning back to the crackling fire. If Torrin knew where Landon was, he knew that I’d come for him. The thing was, if the king got inside the Sacred Library, he could destroy the entire world. It held the first spells of our race and the history of the world. What would he possibly want from within it?
If I helped him to locate the library, would I be damning everyone to something worse than the plague of darkness? It was said that someone in Aragon’s line had read from one of the books, unleashing the frozen darkness onto the world. What if I helped him, and I lost myself to save Landon and the others in doing so? I’d seen my death once in a soothsayer’s dream, bathed in shadows that made it near impossible to know who it was that had murdered me, yet I’d felt the truth of it to my core.
“Sleep, because we leave at dawn.”
“There is no dawn anymore. Only darkness resides within these mountains,” I whispered icily, not bothering to tear my eyes from the fire. “Your king wants one of the books, the Book of Life or Death? Which one is it that Aragon craves to read?”
“If I told you, would you shut up and go to sleep?” he asked, and I turned to see Torrin close his eyes.
“Yes,” I whispered before sucking my bottom lip between my teeth.
“Liar. You suck your bottom lip when you lie, Alexa. Go to sleep, or I’ll gag you so I can.”
“Right…” He slipped off the bed and grabbed the curtain to rip a large section of it off before moving toward me. He smiled coldly as he lowered to a crouch in front of me.
“I warned you.” Standing, he leaned over me, securing the cloth around my mouth. I growled, but the fabric muffled the noise. Torrin patted my head, lowering his lips to my ear. “Sweet dreams, pray that I am not within them, Little One. I find I rather enjoyed the sounds you made when you entered my mind. Keep me awake tonight, and I’ll make certain you don’t sleep for days while we travel through the Badlands.”
Chapter Four
The mountain passes were covered in thick snow, making the large party move slower through the slippery trail. We’d been on the path since dawn, or what would have been dawn if the entire mountain wasn’t bathed in the darkness. There had been no sign of animals or people since we’d traveled past the first village.
The girls on my team paired up and rode with Torrin’s men. None of us were allowed to ride on our own mounts this morning, and none of us spoke, ignoring the men and their comments to one another as unease filled us. Until we knew what their actual intentions were with us, it was best to remain silent and listen.
Repositioning my body, I stiffened against the masculine form behind me. If Torrin noticed, he ignored it. It was mortifying to be forced to ride with the pompous cave dweller, and it had pissed Chivalry off to no end that I wasn’t to allow to ride him.
I hissed as Chivalry nipped my leg once more. Leaning forward, I patted his head even though the arm around my midsection tightened. Torrin grunted while he watched me, comforting my horse. Chivalry chose that moment to toss his head back and neigh loudly, complaining.
“I know, Chivalry. The stupid warlord is making me ride with him. Don’t be cross at me. You’re still the best boy ever,