Page 58 of Lucifer's Mirror

He’s silent for a moment. “Maybe. Who knows what a god is?” He sighs. “Enough of this depressing talk. Time for me to take a look at that camp.”

I realize that a full night has fallen.

Thanouq gets to his feet. “Will you be okay?”

“Of course. I’m tough, remember?”

His mouth quirks in a brief smile, and he nods. “There’s food in the bag,” he says, dropping the backpack next to me. “Don’t wander off.”

I want to say… don’t leave me. I mean, what if the slavers find me? I doubt they’d bother with me—I’m hardly in good shape. They’d probably just slit my throat like they did with the slaves whose bodies we came across. At this point, I sort of feel it would be a mercy killing.

So instead, I nod. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

He looks like he wants to say something else, but he just copies my nod, and then he’s gone, silent as a big cat.

Leaving me alone in the darkness with just a bottle of brandy for company.

I suspect we’ll be very good friends before too long.

Chapter 27

When I’ve drunk all the brandy...

Somethingstartlesmeawake.I jump, squeak, and then I freeze.

I don’t move a muscle, not even opening my eyes, just in case it’s one of the slavers out for a midnight stroll and stumbling across my sorry, worthless ass.

Or maybe something even worse. An image of scary crimson eyes flashes across my closed lids.

But nothing bad happens, and I get bored of playing dead, so I squint open one eye. A pair of long dark boots stands right in front of me. I tip my head slightly and take in a pair of familiar black leather pants encasing a very impressive set of thighs. Thighs I thankfully recognize.

Thanouq is back.

I hope he’s not wanting his brandy.

I push myself up a little and wince at the pain that shoots through me. But it’s better—the brandy has dulled the sharp edges a little. “Hi,” I say. “You’re back.” Nothing like stating the obvious. The pain isn’t the only thing the brandy has dulled.

He crouches down next to me, reaches out, and picks up the bottle lying beside me. He shakes it—there’s actually maybe an inch in the bottom that sloshes from side to side.

“I saved you some,” I say with a bright smile.

His lips twitch, but he raises the bottle to his mouth and drinks. “You look… better,” he says.

“I feel better.” Actually, I feel a little weird, sort of lightheaded and fuzzy. Hmm—I wonder why.

“Have you eaten anything?” he asks.

I shake my head and wish I hadn’t as the world starts to spin.

He gives me one last look and then straightens and grabs the backpack from the ground, comes back, and sits down beside me, his legs stretched out next to mine. They’re about a foot longer. He rummages through the bag and pulls out some bread and cheese and a bottle of water. He hands me some food. I stare at it, then decide I might possibly keep it down and take a small bite. Then a bigger one…

“So what did you find?” I ask between mouthfuls.

“The camp is about two miles that way.” He waves an arm to the south. “And it’s big—probably two hundred slaves and around fifty guards. But no shadowguard.”

“That’s good. Isn’t it?” Though fifty guards against our little group doesn’t sound promising.

“Yes. But unusual. I don’t like it.”