Mine to Fear (Mine #3)(24)
Though his body language ignores me, he says, “Just making sure we weren't being followed, at least not by someone close by.”
Oh, he's good. “Which means you don't trust your own spell to keep our tracks hidden.”
“Which means I'm cautious because I don't want to lead them to a safe hiding spot.”
Fine. But just because he's being smart for the moment, doesn't mean I have to trust him. Tawny and Annabelle have no problem as they talk quietly to each other. I'm sure I could join them, but I'm just so used to keeping an eye on Chardonian warlocks, I can't bring myself to chat.
Finally, he moves to a group of vines off to one side of the clearing. It was hard for me to pick them out with so much other foliage about. Underneath is a dark, narrow opening.
“Are there any critters living in it?” I ask.
“Why don't you go see? If there are any, I'm certain you can scare them away for us.”
I raise my head and, without giving him a second glance, I stride into the cave. So what if there's a mama bear protecting her cubs? I can take it, though once I'm in, I release some of my magic in a burst to light the way. After moving through a narrow tunnel, a wide cavern opens up. Relief floods through me that there's no mama bear, or any other animal in sight.
I make sure to scout the entire area. It's not big, but big enough to suit our needs. Once I'm certain there's nothing here but dirt and rocks, I lower my hand.
“Did the critters frighten you?” Jack says as he enters the cave.
“Only as much as you do.”
“How did you find this?” Tawny asks him.
He shrugs. “Like Annabelle said, I've explored around here often.”
Once everyone is in and the vines are back in place from the outside, I collapse to the floor, using my pack as a pillow. “That was exhausting.”
“If we weren't running for our lives, it would have been a good vigorous walk,” Jack says.
I glare at him. But the running for our lives reminds me of why we're here, and now that I'm not distracted by keeping track of our surroundings, it's impossible not to think on Zade.
Where is he? Is he in a lot of pain? Are they torturing him?
I squeeze my eyes shut tight, trying to keep composure. What is Serena going to do when she finds out how serious things are for Zade? I told her to run, told her to get out of there as fast as she could and that Zade was in trouble. But I didn't say how bad things really are for him. I don't even want to think how bad they are. What the Grand Chancellor could do.
Across from me, Annabelle is silent, her eyes closed, but I doubt she's sleeping. At least I didn't tell her everything, and that she doesn't know how serious it actually is. Torture. That's what the Grand Chancellor said.
How am I possibly going to save my brother from torture?
Chapter Fifteen
I don't know when I fall asleep, but it’s followed by much fitfulness. At least I manage to get some sleep in. By the heavy bags under Annabelle's eyes, it appears she had a lot more problems than I did.
“Can we make it to your safe house today?” Jack asks, handing me some dried meat.
The action startles me until I see Tawny pull out more and hand it to him and then hand some to Annabelle. “I'm not sure exactly where we are,” I admit.
He casts a spell in front of us that looks like a map, only made out of colored lights instead of paper. It's a spell I've seen from far away before but never up close. It has detail and talent.
“Councilman Daniel's house is here. We traveled this path yesterday.” His finger traces a line on the glowing map.
It's easy to tell where the safe house should be, but I don't want to trust him with its location. The thing is, he did bring us here, and his spell to hide our tracks seems to have worked since no one has found us yet. Plus, he didn't turn us over to the guards when he had the chance.
Besides, as much as I don't think I want to think of the possibility, something could happen to me. Zade's loss has taught me that much. I have to trust him.
“We should be able to make it to there even if we don't run into any trouble along the way.” I hesitate only another second before pointing to the spot on his spell where the closest safe house is. I can only hope it's still safe after everything that's happened.
“I'm certain we can make it.” The soft but serious tone of his voice makes me feel like I was right to trust him. I only hope he doesn't betray that trust.
“How soon can everyone be ready to go?”
Annabelle jumps to her feet. “As soon as needed.”
The ache in her gaze makes my own heart wrench to the ground. As soon as they're safe, I'll do what I can to help Zade and Daniel.
Tawny is still eating but bounces to her feet as well, dried meat in hand. “Let's go.”
I nod to Jack who leads us out of the cave and then arranges the vines and grounds carefully after we're all back in the clearing.
He moves next to me but seems to have trouble saying anything.
After several moments of silence, I say, “Is there something you needed?”
His jaw tenses and relaxes several times. “Would you like to lead us today?”
He's offering? And not just offering, but offering without any sort of cajoling? And I already showed him where we're going. He doesn't have to be doing this.