The silence fell as jarringly as a thunderclap, and the world slammed to a stop—and Briar with it. Her hands, once gesturing in fury, dropped flat onto the surface of the table and stuck there as if held by a powerful magnet. The birds stopped singing, many frozen in mid-flight, the leaves of their trees no longer rustling. Dirk was motionless as a doll, and Axieva with him.
Rit, however, was not.
Briar opened her mouth, words on the tip of her tongue, lips forming the shapes: What the FUCK? But no sound escaped. She opened her mouth again, jerking her body, but when she found she couldn’t move as well as couldn’t speak, shock quickly bloomed into panic. Shit, fuck, this wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real!
The sharp snap of fingers made her flinch, and the blood drained from her face as her eyes met Rit’s. They were as good as alone now, and she was trapped with a man that was far more dangerous than she could have predicted.
And he looked displeased.
He spoke her name, her birth name, and she flinched again as her pulse rose to a drumming in her ears. She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. She wanted to sink further into her seat until she was nothing, but she couldn’t move. She could only sit there and listen, wincingly, as he...scolded her? Was she being scolded right now? Was that what this was? Beneath the panic, a sort of hysterical giggle rose in her chest but was trapped in her throat. What the fuck. What the fuck. She was being scolded by a guy claiming to be more powerful than gods, because she had snapped at his son, and some buried part of her was a little impressed, a little proud of his protectiveness, a little envious—as much as she was terrified. This guy loved Dirk. That was what parents were supposed to be like, right?
It was true, Dirk had been collateral in her outburst—she wasn’t mad at him, she was just thrown off balance by the situation. She really hadn’t meant to turn on him, it was just that he was safe. She stole a glance his way, saw the hurt frozen on his face, and looked away quickly—
In time to see a man in the garb of her people advancing toward her.
If she had been able to move, she would have screamed, would have fallen from her seat in her haste to scramble away. But she could do nothing but stare in unbridled fear, her breath catching in her throat and her teeth clenched so hard they hurt. It was Rit. She recognized his face as Rit. But that did little to ease her terror, because he knew, he knew her name, he knew her people—and he knew they were coming for her.
She felt dizzy as he spoke, her breathing quick and frantic as a rabbit’s. She liked to boast that she was fearless, liked to fancy herself a risk taker, but his words cut deep until they struck existential dread. They are coming for you. Fuck. Fuck. Oh fuck no. They would kill her, too. She knew the truth of his words. After what she had done, the way she had left, the things she had done in the world...fuck. She had thought she was safe, thought she was free. How the fuck did they know where she was?
How the fuck had Dirk gotten tangled in this?
How could he help her?
Treat him right and they would both live?
What the fuck?
The thoughts tumbled through her mind, her blood cold and shoulders sore from tension. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and to her embarrassment, her vision stung and blurred. By the time Rit eased his hold on her, she felt light-headed. Take a moment to speak, he said.
Well, shit. Now that she could finally speak and ask questions of him, she wasn’t sure she could actually manage it. Her mouth was bone dry, her chest painfully tight. She sucked in a slow breath through her teeth and let it out through her nose.
“When?” she said at last, forcing the word out. She hated the tremble in her voice, and swallowed hard to try to control it as she tried again. “When are they, uh...when are they gonna...?” Her fingers twitched. She wanted to do something with her hands, needed to fidget, but they were still bound to the table. She wanted to know, and yet she didn’t. How much time did she have before they found her?
“Fuck. How the fuck is he supposed to help?” she said, jerking her chin at Dirk. “They’re fucking crazy. If they really want me dead, there’s not all that fucking much any of us can do about it.” She drew another breath, shaky, and looked at Dirk again, a brief look of pain flickering over her expression. “I should leave. I should fucking go. Let me go!”