Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (ereader iphone .TXT) 📗

of dried meat. it was just a handful, but to my eyes it was a feast, and I greedily snapped them up.

It wasn’t much, but it eased the worst of the hunger and breathed a meager amount of life into my limbs.

“Thanks,” I muttered. “I still don’t see how I can help you. No one escapes Tombsgard. It’s impossible.”

“Normally you’d be correct, but I have firsthand knowledge that it might be possible. I just need a partner, someone I can trust.”

I wiped at the corners of my mouth to make sure I didn’t have any residual crumbs or bits of food around my lips or in my beard. “And what makes you think you can trust me, or that I can trust you?”

He pointed at me, a smile framed his lips. “Because you haven’t taken the easy way out. You could let any one of these men kill you and respawn, but like me, you’ve stuck it out. That means that whatever’s waiting beyond these walls is more important than you nearly starving to death.”

He had a point, but he knew that. I paused over his words, not trusting him exactly, but he was the only one in the entire prison that wasn’t trying to kill me.

“And if he tries, we eat him.”

Exactly.

I was a little worried with how in tune me and the Aspect had been the last week or so, but in a place like Tombsgard, its brutality was exactly what I needed.

“All right, Maus. We have a temporary alliance, but cross me, and you know exactly what I’ll do to you.”

“That I do, and I’ll thank you to leave my giblets where they’re at. We’re a team from now until we get clear of this hellhole.”

“What happens after we get clear?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Poor choice of words. We have a cease-fire. Don’t attack me, I won’t attack you, and we can part ways as uneasy allies.”

“I think I can work with that. So what’s this plan of yours?”

Chapter 21 - Home Again

Eris

As the first day of our return trip came to a close, I tried once more and failed to understand what Evelyn had told me. I sighed. She barely explained anything, just told me it had to do with those strange crystals. I’d tried to bring it up with her again, earlier, but she reacted badly.

I rubbed my neck, hoping her fingers wouldn’t leave bruise marks from how hard she’d grabbed me. I never thought she’d actually threaten me, let alone look at me so callously.

“I like you, little queen. But you weren’t meant to have that knowledge, and I will kill you if you even think about telling anyone. Do you understand?”

I nodded, and her grip on my neck eased. “What about Sam?”

She shook her head. “Especially him. He’ll learn about them in time, but it’s not the right time.”

Then she let me go with a piercing glare that commanded me to heed her words.

I shivered at the thought, at her words when she told me she’d kill me.

She’d do it without hesitation.

I glanced over to her as she rode next to Adam; they were engrossed in a conversation, and as Adam’s eyes flicked to mine every so often, I could guess the topic of conversation.

A nudge interrupted my thoughts. Kenna leaned over Cinder and poked me with her finger. It pushed into my thigh in lazy rhythm. “Lost in thought?”

“Just have a lot on my mind,” I replied.

“Ah, well, get out of your head and talk to me for a while. Gil’s still a little sleepy from the health potion. I’m bored.”

I laughed, and it felt good. She was right. I needed to get out of my head. I couldn’t do anything about what Evelyn told me, and it wasn’t like it changed anything. She was still Evelyn—she just wasn’t what I originally thought she was.

“I miss the spiderlings,” I said, my voice low.

“Surprisingly, so do I. But you saw how happy they were to see their mother. They’re back where they belong.”

“Yeah. Izella and her bondmate were very nice. They promised I could see Tegen and Cheira whenever I came back.”

“See, told you it would all work out.” She poked me again.

I swatted her fingers away playfully, and we both chuckled. “Did you at least have fun?”

“Uh, sort of.” She smiled as she leaned down to run her hands over Cinder’s flank. “While you were recovering, I talked with a few of the Arachne, managed to snag a new poison, but I didn’t like all the eyes on me.”

“What do you mean?” I cocked my head to the side.

“We had at least three Arachne guards on us at all times. They were skilled, used the trees and shadows well, but they couldn’t hide from me. Hive Queen or not, they’d have tried to kill us all if Reina had given the order.”

“And they’d have died very painful deaths,” Evelyn said, turning back to look at us as we rode.

Our eyes met, and I hastily looked away.

Adam sighed and reached over and flicked his sister on the head. “She won’t say it, so I’ll say it for her. She’s sorry for making you feel uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m not. I meant every word, but do chin up, little queen. It’s in the past.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Makenna asked, glancing between us.

“None of your concern, Red. Let’s get moving, I want camp set up before nightfall.”

We rode in silence while the sunlight faded below the horizon. After another few minutes we stopped and set up camp.

I went and set up my tent with Kenna while Gil worked on dinner. It was nothing but trail rations and dried meat, but after many hours of riding, I didn’t care.