Page 163

What the fuck is he hiding?

Chapter 47

Kaiya

The suns were setting in a burst of orange, falling behind the trees when Tye finally called us to a halt. It haddefinitelybeen more than thirty minutes. Or at least it had felt that way traveling in complete silence.

To our right was a burbling creek, and to our left was a forest and an angular boulder covered in brush.

Tye pulled out a map and looked it over, gaze going from it to the boulder, then back again.

"Holden, you asshole," he muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"Someonemarked that crumbling mess" — he pointed to my left — "as a usable safe house."

I followed his finger but there was nothing in that direction except that weird boulder and the forest.

Tye dropped from his dark blue fleiral, stumblingover his own feet as though he were carrying some weighty burden.

Fucking tattoos.Whatever Frexin had promised him, there was no way it was worth it.

They were destroying him from the inside out.

Tye shook off the effects, then rolled up his sleeves, grabbed his ax, and stalked up to the brush.

Confused, I watched him lift the ax, then slam it down on the mess of vines and bushes repeatedly. Finally, he dropped the ax and began tugging and pulling the mess aside one by one — revealing what looked to be a small wood cabin … a veryabandonedanddilapidatedwood cabin.

We were supposed to usethatas shelter?!

We'd be better off riding through the night or sleeping out in the open like that older couple!

Tye tore a small bush from in front of a wooden door hanging at an angle, then yanked it open. Dust flew out, followed by a sharp screech and a panicked stampede of half a dozen small creatures pouring from the new opening.

I yelped in surprise, but Tye didn't even slow — marching into the dilapidated structure as though it were nothing new.

Seconds later, a flurry of debris began flying out the door. Inside, I could just barely make out his large form moving through the darkness.

Shaking my head, I looked around. "Why yes, Tye, Iwilltake care of the mounts while you set up the shelter.Thank you so much for discussing the plan first and not making assumptions …"

I clambered off my fleiral. The stable hand hadn't known her name, but I'd been calling her Mae. It seemed to fit, and she hadn't complained.

"He really can be an ass sometimes, can't he?" I asked, patting her beautiful purple feathers and pink swirling wings. She shook her wings out and stomped her front hooves as if to say she agreed.

Laughing, I pulled off the saddle and went about grooming her, then did the same for Tye's dark blue mount.

By the time I'd finished feeding and watering them with a bucket of water from the nearby stream, Tye had re-emerged from the shack, shirt unbuttoned, golden skin gray from dust.

"It's not much," he said. "But it's the best I could do. We're lucky the roof is intact, and the critters didn't stink up the place."

I looked to the tiny cabin, and my jaw dropped.

The dilapidated, overgrownmesshad been transformed into a cozy little house!

Tye had somehow cleared off the growth, straightened the door, and even started a fire inside — sending a slim gray spiral of smoke out the small chimney.

"Holy hells," I said, momentarily forgetting my irritation. "I'm impressed."