It was all the food. That was why they were happy. They were food drunk. It was the only logical explanation.
Burn put his plate down at a small two-seater table in the corner and started talking while I was busy chewing. “Food is served at eight. Once it’s gone, there’s nothing until noon, so don’t miss it. If somehow you miss breakfast and lunch, you’re done until six.”
Burn, who had appeared to be a bit tougher, seemed to think going over twelve hours without food was a travesty of some sort.
Soft. The whole lot of them. Not that I planned on skipping any meals. Had to get my strength up to make my next move.
Someone would come to their senses and kick me out of here for sure—if they didn’t try and kill me first. I shoveled some eggs into my mouth. My crew would never be this crazy, letting a stranger wander around their stuff.
Even the thought of them dampened my hunger. Ruck was probably going crazy right now while I was eating a feast. I had to get them a message. Ruck had known where I was headed. He might be watching this place now. I ate even though I wasn’t that hungry anymore. I needed to get healthy somehow and then get back to them. I’d wait until nightfall, slip out, climb the highest tree, and try and flash them a message. If he was out there, he’d be waiting for it.
Burn stared over at a clock on the wall. “Shit. You almost done? We’re late.” He looked at my almost empty plate and raised his eyebrows. “Guess that’s not a problem.”
I picked the last couple bits of egg off the plate before I followed him, dropping it into an empty bin as Burn had. I froze, looking at how many half bites had been wasted.
“That could feed a—”
Burn grabbed my arm and tugged me away from the pile of dishes, as if he thought I was going to start licking the plates clean.
He wasn’t necessarily wrong. He kept tugging as I looked back. “What a waste.”
“No, it’s not. The people on cleanup save all the scraps and save them for people with dogs.”
He said it so nonchalantly, not realizing that their pets ate better than my crew had all winter.
Chapter 11
We made our way, winding around buildings and past even more smiling people. We got to the last door in what appeared to be a row of homes, all in one building. I already knew Ryker was nearby.
“What is this place?” I asked as I followed Burn into the sparse room.
“Ryker’s place.” Burn turned and hollered, “Ryker?” He then moved to a faded blue couch and flopped down, kicking his feet up onto a rough piece of wood that served as a table.
“Be right there,” Ryker called back from the other room.
Other than the couch, there was nothing extravagant about the place. Where was the large manor house? Or palace, even? He lived…here? Was he poor? No. There’d been more food than I’d ever seen, not to mention the soap. Nothing about this place made any sense.
Ryker walked out a couple of seconds later, glancing over me as if the room were empty except for Burn. Then his eyes shot right back, as if he barely recognized me.
I swung on Burn. “He’s looking at me weird too. I want my clothes back.”
“If I’m looking at you weird for a second it’s because I can’t believe that there was actually skin under all that dirt. Sit.” Ryker pointed to the chair near the sofa.
I sat. I did have a lot of dirt on me before.
“You hanging out?” Ryker asked Burn, as if he were surprised but pleased.
Burn scrunched up his face and twisted his mouth to the side before popping back off the couch. “Nah, healers give me the creeps.”
“She’s not here yet. You want to come hang for the training?” Ryker asked as Burn made his way for the door.
I watched Burn, hoping he’d stay. Please say yes, please say yes. The room already felt suffocating with Ryker here. Even though Burn was Wyrd Blood too, and in theory, there would be that much more magic in the area, I knew what it felt like when it was only Ryker and I. Burn needed to hang around.
Burn stopped by the door, hand on the knob, looked at the two of us, and said, “Nah, I got a lot to do.”
Burn left and then there were two.
Silence fell.
Ryker walked over to the door and turned to me, giving me all his attention. His stare made me feel edgy. I’d liked it better when he tried to ignore me.
He rested a hand on the knob. “Can you train or are you too weak?”
“We train outside?” There was a way to get out of this small room with only the two of us?
He nodded, and I knew he wanted out as much as I did.
“I can train. I feel fantastic.” I felt like shit, but I’d fake it all day rather than sit here.
He raised an eyebrow. He might not have believed me, but he said, “Come on.”
I followed him and let the lead grow until there was a nice gap between us. We were quickly leaving the city and entering the wooded area surrounding it.
“How long is this training going to take?” I asked, as I followed him down a well-trodden dirt path.
“Probably much longer than either of us want,” he said, now about ten feet ahead of me.
I didn’t like him either, but did he have to color everything he said with it? “Is longer than either of us want approximately a week or a couple of days?”
“Hopefully weeks, but probably closer to months.”
I lost sight of him around a bend and then found that the path had opened up into a small field he was standing in, waiting for me.
I stopped, keeping the ten-foot buffer in place. “I already broke through your wards. I hardly think I need that much work.”
“You didn’t break through mine. You broke through one of my people’s, and it was purposefully weaker than intended. I don’t try and keep Wyrd Blood out. I want to know when they arrive, especially ones who can waltz through wards with ease.”
He smirked as he let me know I’d pranced right into his trap. How did people follow this man? It had appeared as if Burn actually liked him. All I saw was an arrogant man who thought he knew everything, and I was the peasant he was going to step all over to get what he needed.
“Then tell me what I need to do, Lord Ryker.” I said “lord” the way he said “thief,” not that I expected him to notice.
“It’s Ryker.”
So, he did notice. A lord of a country who didn’t like to give himself a title? I didn’t buy it. He probably had people call him king in private.
His magic poked me again, the way it’d done when I was in the room, before I thought we’d made peace.
“Breaking wards is only the beginning of what you need to learn. You have to be able to build one, too, or you’ll be a sitting duck once you get in.” He poked me a few more times.
“Stop doing that.”
He continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “Then there’s your control. Right now, your magic is flying out of you in a disorganized mess, chaotic shots out in every direction. You need to pull it tight to you, as if it were a force surrounding you. If you can’t control your magic, you’re going to be like a rabid dog on a killing spree for the rest of your life.”
I took a couple of steps back, wondering if that would lessen the magical poking. It didn’t. I tried a couple of different spots.
“Once you get in, the person who made the ward is going to know. With that kind of magic, there’s a good chance that anyone else who’s Wyrd Blood is going to sense you. That’s why you’ve got to drop the ward and immediately put one up around you and keep it up until I get you out. Moving isn’t going to help you.” He shoved so hard with his magic that I fell on my ass. How did he do that?
“You’re stronger. I got the point. Are you going to help me or just shove me around all day?” I got up right away and brushed the dirt from my pants.
“I am helping you. You want me to stop? Learn.” He pushed me again. I stayed on my feet this time, but only because I’d expected it and widened my stance.
Then he poked harder.
“You better watch out, because once I can push back, you’re in trouble.”
“That’s not the kind of gifts you have.” He pushed.