Page 41 of Wicked Curses
“Nothing but sand, rocks, hideous creatures, and more despair.”
Sahira’s heart sank at her words. “You don’t think there’s a way out.”
“Leaving this place is still the dream, but every day, I wake up to the reality that I’ve been here for centuries, and I’m no closer to getting out than I was before.”
Sahira tamped down the sorrow trying to rise. She wouldnotgive up hope, no matter how discouraging it seemed.
She looked to Zeth, but his attention remained on the map as his fingers drummed on the table. Radagast was focused on the map again. Fred suddenly sat upright; he blinked at them before taking another sip of his drink.
“What did I miss?” he asked.
She felt like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill, but Sahira chuckled as the pixie looked around at them and grinned at her. “Hiya, toots!”
Apparently, that was going to be her new nickname from him. At some other time, it might have annoyed her, but she didn’t have it in her to get snippy when she was contemplating burying herself in a bottle too.
A brush against her shoulder alerted her that Orin had arrived a second before he rested his hand on the table beside her. With a casualness that made it seem like they were comfortable with each other, he leaned over her to look at the map again.
His cinnamon-and-clove scent engulfed her as his warmth sent a shiver down her spine. She pushed aside her impulse to lean closer and touch him.
He was standing too close on purpose, but did he have to smell and look so good? Edging away, she resisted shoving him when a smile tugged at his lips. The bastard knewexactlywhat he was doing.
“What does everyone think?” Orin inquired.
“I think you should be behind the bar where you belong,” Belda growled.
Orin gave her that dazzling smile Sahira was sure had caused countless women to get naked and jump him. It caused her heart to flutter, which made her dislike him even more.
Belda, a much better woman than her, was not impressed. She folded her arms over her chest and stared stonily back at him. Orin didn’t turn off the charm or walk away as his gaze returned to the map.
“You know this place better than anyone; is there any chance of escaping it?” Orin asked.
Sahira already knew what Belda thought about this but didn’t say anything.
“The longest I’ve spent exploring beyond this town was two weeks. I went south with the hope the symbol would be out there… somewhere,” Belda said. “I went in as straight a path as possible and did everything I could not to veer off it.
“I was determined to get somewhere and to discover something other than black rock and misery; I found nothing but death and destruction. There’s more than the scarogs out there. There’s also a land of bones so white they could rival any cloud, a place of monsters you can’t see, but you hear them hunting at night, and there are no resources to survive on.
“At the end of my weeklong journey into the Barren Lands, I had to choose between returning here or forging ahead to find food and drink. I risked losing everything if I continued, so I came back.
“When I left, I took as much as I could pack with me; when I decided to come back, all I had left was enough water for one more day. I crawled back into this town, a sunburned, starving mess. My pack took me in and bandaged my wounds. Many wanted to go with me, but I told them to stay here to watch over the town and promised I’d be back for them if I discovered anything.
“All I learned from my journeys was nothing good is out there, no eighth mark exists, there’s no escape… only death. And theinfinitefinality of death.”
Sahira didn’t miss her emphasis on the wordinfiniteand understood Belda believed that was what the symbols represented.
“Who brought the depressing gal to the party?” Fred muttered as he drank more from his cap.
Belda’s gaze flicked to him before she rested her hands on the table and looked at each of them. “I understand none of you have been here as long as me. You still hold out hope, as you should, but I can guarantee there’s nothing you haven’t considered that someone else hasn’t already.”
Sahira couldn’t breathe as Belda’s words sank in. Beside her, Orin’s fingers constricted on the table until his knuckles whitened.
When she glanced at him again, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes burned. For a second, she swore a flicker of black crossed the back of his hand, but it vanished so fast she couldn’t be certain.
Was it a hidden cipher?She’d probably never know the answer, but she suspected it was.
“I don’t believe that,” Orin said through his teeth.
“You don’t have to believe it, but one day, you will.” Belda rose and tapped her hand on the table. “I think you could all use a drink.”
