keep up with his effortless speed, but it makes conversation difficult. “Hi,” I say breathlessly. “Can we talk for a sec?”
He glances over at me dismissively. “You are talking. Speak.”
God, this guy really is a dick. I hate that I let him grab my ass. “What’s the game plan? We don’t know how long it’s going to take to get to Katharn, so like, when are we stopping to eat and rest?”
He scowls at me as if I’ve said something highly obnoxious. “You are tired?”
“You aren’t?” When he shakes his head, I sigh with frustration. “Well, here’s the thing. I’m mortal, right? Mortals need to rest and pee and eat and all that good stuff and you might not, but I sure do.”
That makes him pause in the middle of the dusty, dirty road. “Rest and pee and eat?”
“Not all at once of course—”
He tilts his head. “Should I be doing these things since I am now mortal?”
Tricky question, and I have no answer for him. “I don’t know? Do you feel the need to, uh, relieve your bladder?” This is such a weird conversation to have with a god.
Aron thinks for a moment. “No?”
“Then maybe gods don’t use the bathroom. Look, I don’t know. All I know is that I need to do these things.” I press the heel of my hand to my forehead, and I’m not surprised to find that I’m trembling with exhaustion. “So please, can we take a break for a few?”
He considers this. His hands go to his hips and he studies the wide open fields around us, then the road. Then he gazes back behind us, as if he can still see the walls of Aventine. After a moment, he glances over at me again, his expression sour. “Am I going to have to carry you, Faith? Is this what you are going for?”
My jaw drops. “You arrogant prick. No! I would like five fucking minutes to rest my feet. Can we do that?” I drop to the ground and sit on the dusty cobblestones, glaring at him. “The very last thing I want from you is a free ride.”
Aron snorts, as if he doesn’t quite believe that, and I want to punch his smug face. What a huge dick.
I ignore him, because truth is, it feels so damn good to sit down and rest. I’m thirsty and my feet hurt like there’s no tomorrow. I’m starving, too, but we didn’t bring food supplies. I wonder how far away Katharn is. I’m starting to worry that leaving the city was a mistake, but we couldn’t really stay there, either. I don’t know what to do. I look around at our barren surroundings. Somehow I thought journeying outside the walls would be okay. That there’d be a nice road and some trees for shade. That there’d be countryside and farmland or something. Maybe a stream to drink from.
This place is just empty. There’s absolutely nothing. It’s a little creepy and definitely makes me feel defeated just gazing out at it. “I need to stop for a bit,” I tell him. I’m suddenly exhausted from everything we’ve been through over the last few days. It feels as if it’s all crashing in on me and I don’t think I could get up if I tried.
As I sit and try to catch my breath, Aron paces. When it’s been all of two minutes, he gives me a cross look. “Well?”
“Well what? I’m still resting.”
He lets out an impatient breath. “For how much longer?”
I stare at him, irritated and a little aghast that he wants to get moving again already. “I don’t know—an hour? Two? Does it matter?”
“We should get going. You were so eager to leave and now you will just stop? This is not a safe place. We are not safe here.” The god gestures angrily at the mounds and mounds of dirt that make up the landscape. “Every moment we spend in this place, we are in danger.”
“For a guy that doesn’t even know what a bathroom is, you sure are certain of that,” I mutter.
Aron scowls at me. “I wish to go, Faith.”
As if that solves it. “Yeah, well, I wish I had better company. We don’t always get what we want.”
He looks incredulous, as if he can’t quite believe I’m not jumping to my feet to do his bidding. “Faith,” he says impatiently.
“Aron,” I reply in just as testy a voice.
“Get up. We are leaving.”
“You know what, Aron? People prefer it if