Page 56 of Sinful Curses
She wasn’t ready to cave, but the idea of continuing was terrifying. The further they went, the tougher it would be to return. Orin seemed to be thinking the same thing as he glared at the land.
Sensing her gaze, his head swiveled toward her. When his eyes met hers, they burned with a steely determination. He was still convinced he could bend the world, and everyone around him, to his will.
The Cursed Realm should have taken some of that confidence from him, but it hadn’t, or at least he didn’t act like it had. Outwardly, he remained determined to show this realm they would conquer it, and she truly hoped he would.
She had no idea how he felt about it inwardly and preferred not to know. They all needed his confidence to help them through this because hers was dwindling beneath her exhaustion.
As the day crept onward, the icy bite of the wind whipping across the plain didn’t stop sweat from beading on her brow and slipping down her nape. The strain of standing in one place for so long was taking its toll, but she wasn’t about to give in to her body’s demand for sleep.
“I guess we know how that immortal made it so far before they were burnt to a crisp,” Zeth said as the sun reached its pinnacle in the sky.
“By the time he got to the end, he was so exhausted, he messed up and stepped on a geyser,” Elsa said.
“He also could have traveled out here for weeks before then.”
Sahira gulped as she tried not to think about the horror of that possibility. After more time passed, she maneuvered her pack from beneath her spear and carefully held it above the field while removing some dried meat and water.
Supplies were running low, but that was the least of her problems right now. She sipped some water while chewing the meat. It helped revitalize her, but not enough that her eyelids didn’t droop before opening again.
The brownies, far more secure in their locations, drifted in and out of sleep. At one time, Gior’s tail waved in the air like he was dreaming about something good; she wondered if it was his children and possible grandchildren.
“I don’t know if it’s possible to destroy a realm, but if we get out of here, I’m going to find out,” Orin said.
The Lord had destroyed so many realms when he controlled the dragons, but any dragon sent here would be stuck. Besides, Lexi wouldn’t unleash the wrath of the dragons on this place.
“There are still so many trapped here,” Sahira said. “It can’t be destroyed.”
“Their lives aren’t much better than death anyway.”
Sometimes, she could forget how brutal he was. Then he’d slap her in the face with it, and she’d question how she could forget.
His brutality no longer unnerved her; she was starting to believe it wasn’t as soul deep as he portrayed. There was a softness to him when they were lying together earlier.
His arms had been secure around her, his body warm as he tried to cover them with their clothes. The cold made it impossible for her to lie there and enjoy it as much as she would have liked, but there was a tenderness to him that wasn’t a game.
Orin didn’t do gentle as a game. Hell, he didn’t do gentleatall, and he’d already had sex with her again. He didn’t have to stay, but he did.
He portrayed himself as an uncaring oaf, but there was more to this man than met the eye. She wasn’t sure what that meant for her or them.
“That’s not for you to decide,” she told him. “Even if they’re stuck here, I’m sure most of the immortals in Belda’s town and the brownies would prefer to live than die.”
When Orin scowled at her, she realized he was in a pissy mood and looking to vent his frustration. She chose to ignore him.
Sahira yawned as she rubbed her burning eyes before closing them. She didn’t realize she’d dozed off again until her chin hit her chest and her head popped up again. She had to stop doingthatbefore she became a steaming pile of meat.
Shaking her head again, she focused on the others to distract herself from her exhaustion. They all had bloodshot eyes, and Elsa’s were swollen from rubbing them every few seconds.
Sahira liked the brownies, but when Loth started snoring, she had to restrain herself from kicking him across the field. It was great they could sleep, but did they have to flaunt it so much?
Orin wasn’t the only one in a bad mood, she realized as her festering resentment battled with her sleep deprivation for control. If she could, she might burn this realm down, too, as the day stretched endlessly onward.
Finally, after what seemed like weeks of this torture, the sun set, geysers emerged, and without a word, they started across the land once more.
CHAPTERFORTY-NINE
With every passing minute,Orin became increasingly incensed with their current situation. He wanted to stalk across the land, hunt down whoever did this to them, and make them pay.
If he could get his hands on whoever, or whatever, made this realm so miserable, he’d tear them apart joint by joint until all their pieces littered the ground around him and their blood dripped from him. Once he finished, he’d curl up in the middle of his carnage andgotosleep.
