just watches me. His mouth twitches, just a little. Finally, he says, slowly, “Magic poo gods?”
I throw my hands up in the air. “You’re impossible and I hate you. If we’re leaving, let’s just go.”
“Should we say a prayer to the magic poo gods first?” When I shoot him the bird, he snorts with amusement. “Here I thought you didn’t believe in any gods.”
“There’s just one where I come from, and he doesn’t put up with any lesser god bullshit like this place, thank you.” I stomp ahead, splashing through the horrible, sludgy water so I can get away from my equally horrible companion.
Aron’s laughter rumbles through the sewer pipe, and I ignore him, pushing forward. I’m so tired and the night has been so long. To think I just took a bath and now I’m covered in crap and mud once more. It’s like this entire world is conspiring against me. Heck, maybe it is. Maybe I’ve been cursed since I stepped through that portal. Given that I’m stuck with the infuriating Aron, I believe it. One minute I think he might be okay, and the next I want to choke him.
31
I finally get to the grate he pointed out and sure enough, it’s the last one for a while. The tunnels disappear into an alarming, deep darkness, and I’m glad we’re getting out here. It’s quiet up above, so if someone’s waiting for us, they’re being really stealthy about it. I don’t hear a mob, though, and that’s a good thing.
I don’t see a ladder, either. This worries me, especially when Aron pulls a rope out of his bag and makes a loop at the end of it.
“What’s that for?” I have to ask.
He looks at me with smug arrogance. “To get out, of course. Unless you have a better idea.”
“Ladder?”
“Did you find one?”
“Well, no—”
“Then we climb out.”
I stare at the rope as he manages to hook it on a decorative flourish on the edge of the grate and then wraps the rope around one big hand. “I’m not sure I can do that,” I tell him tiredly. I want to cry with how exhausted and dirty I am. We’re supposed to be resting in an inn right now, not running for our lives through a sewer. I just want a nap and another bath and maybe a day where someone’s not trying to kill me.
Aron puts a hand under my chin, tilting my head up until I look at him. “I won’t leave you behind, Faith.”
For some reason, that makes me feel better. I nod, trying to maintain a stiff upper lip, because I know that’s what he’d want. When he smiles at me, it’s stupid, but I almost feel like I won his approval.
Not that I want it, or need it.
But it’s nice to have it anyhow.
I remain standing in the middle of the sewer while Aron shimmies up the rope, all the way to the top of the grate. He hooks his hands into the metal of the grate itself, then presses his face against the bars. He spots something through them, because as I watch, he takes the length of rope and works it around something up top, his arms straining, and then when he’s done, he curls one hand around the rope again, drops a few inches and hangs by the strength of one arm as he uses the other to push the heavy metal grate to the side. Then, he climbs up.
It’d be an impossible feat for any normal human, but of course Aron isn’t normal. Or human.
He tosses the length of rope back down to me and I catch it. Aron leans over and peers down at me. “You won’t be able to climb.”
I shake my head. “I’ll try.”
“No, Faith. I don’t want you to hurt yourself. There’s a loop at the bottom I made. Slip your foot through that and I’ll pull you up.”
Thank god. I step into it and wrap the rope around my hands to anchor myself, and then Aron’s pulling me out of the sewer and into the moonlight. When I get close to the top, he takes my arm and hauls me onto the grass and I lie there for a moment, panting with relief.
At least, I do until I look up and see that he’s anchored his rope to what looks like a creepy white statue. Huh. It looks like something you’d see in a graveyard. Of course, when I take a look around, I