Page 9 of Wicked Curses
“Then he’ll die.”
Sahira blinked at his callous brutality. She didn’t know why it astonished her; she knew what kind of man he was, but still, the coldness of his words was unsettling.
With a hand on her arm, Orin turned her away from the pit. “Come, it’s time you learn the rules of this place.”
Sahira tried to ignore the small thrill his touch sent through her. The thrum of it ran to the tips of her toes, which sherefusedto let curl in her brown, soft leather boots.
She prepared herself for him to take control of her arm again, but instead of insisting on touching her, his hand slid away. She hadn’t expected that but was grateful for the reprieve.
And she kept telling herself that as her body continued to hum from their contact. Orin strolled beside her but didn’t encroach annoyingly on her as he often liked to do.
It made her suspicious. He was up to something, and she suspected this was a way to get at her.
“And what are the rules?” she asked.
“Everyone here works,” Zeth said. “Belda will find you something you’d like to do, but you have to do it.Noonegets a free ride here. Also, we all help to build one another’s homes; until then, you can stay at the pub. That’s where we all stayed when we first arrived.”
“I’m still staying there,” Orin said. “I won’t be here long enough to have a home built for me.”
“That’s what we all said,” Zeth murmured.
Sahira gulped at his cryptic words but chose to ignore them. “Where do you get building materials? This is an outer realm. There’s usually not any building materials in most outer realms.”
“There are some woods to the left side of the lake. You can’t see them until you’re closer to the lake, but they’re there. There used to be more trees big enough for lumber, but they were harvested, and nothing has sprouted forth to replace them.
“Soon, we won’t be able to build homes for everyone who arrives; they’ll have to use the ones that aren’t occupied anymore. There’s more trees by the river, but they’re too small to be useful.”
“Where did you get the gold for the palace?”
“Some of the witches and warlocks cast a spell to give it that appearance. It’s just wood, but that asshole troll was fine with it and stopped demanding a place fit for a prince afterward. The immortals trapped here didn’t build everything in this realm either. Some of the buildings were already here when the first immortal arrived.”
“They were?” Sahira asked in disbelief.
“Yes. The pub, infirmary, stable, library, jail, mercantile, and granary were all here before,” Zeth answered.
“How do you know that?”
“From a book in the library and Belda. The first immortal wrote their story in what was originally a blank book; it became the first of many stories. She was a vampire who reported that no one else was here when she arrived, but she discovered those buildings, food, and drink.”
“Was there blood?”
“No. She was nearly starved when a second immortal, Belda, arrived. Belda agreed to supply the vamp with her blood, and they worked together to try to uncover the secrets of this town. Neither of them ever unlocked those secrets, and the vamp died during the first Reaping. Belda’s been here for four hundred and fifty years; she established most of the rules we live by.”
Sahira’s heart sank. “That’s so much time.”
“It is,” Zeth agreed.
She glanced at Orin, whose jaw had tightened, but he didn’t say anything. Then another uncomfortable possibility occurred as she looked around the town. “How do the vampires here feed?”
“They have someone who agrees to provide them blood,” Zeth said.
“I will provide for you,” Orin stated.
She’d rather starve than drink from him. There had to be someone else in this realm she could feed from, and she would find them.
“How is there food here?” she asked instead of engaging Orin in the argument he was probably seeking.
“Originally, a fair amount of grains and salted meats were stored in the pub’s back room, along with some seeds. The vamp and Belda learned those seeds grow here.”
