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Rummy leaned back in her chair, rolled her eyes, and threw her hands up in the air. “There it is. There’s the truth behind this horrifically idiotic idea.”

“It’s not idiotic,” I retorted. “Can you hear me out, please?”

Her nostrils flared, and I knew Rummy well enough to know that her temper was raging within her right now.

She crossed her toned arms over her chest. “Fine. Start talking. And this better be good.”

“I’ve been training for this all my life, Rummy. Lord made sure I was prepared. I’m the best damn fighter in Midgrave. I’ve killed hundreds of vampyres, if not more, and this could be my ticket out of here.”

A flash of hurt crossed her features. “You want to leave that badly?”

I shrugged, taking another sip of ale. “If it were up to me, I would be perfectly happy staying here and protecting Midgrave from those bloodsuckers. You know that. But Lord needs me to do this, Rummy. We both know I owe it to him.”

She scoffed before looking away.

“What?” I pushed.

She shook her head before finally meeting my gaze, an intensity I had never seen before lingering there. “You can’t keep letting him control you, Hunt. Yeah, he took you in as a baby and raised you as his own, but was it fucking worth it? I mean, look at you! I bet if I looked at your back right now, it would be covered with reasons you shouldn’t give a shit about him or his orders.”

I shushed her, quickly glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one had heard. “Keep your voice down!” I whispered.

“My bad, wouldn’t want the big, scary Lord to hear me talking this way to his precious Huntyr.”

“Goddess,” I mumbled. “I thought you might at least be the tiniest bit happy for me. I’m actually getting out of here, Rummy. How many times have we talked about leaving this place? How many times have you urged me to run away from here? Well, here I am, finally doing it. And you’re so angry, you can’t even fake a tiny smile for me.”

She gave me a half-laugh. “Please, when have I ever been one to fake anything?”

I waited for another argument, another retort, another piercing glare, but none came. Rummy’s smile lingered long enough to break the tension building between us.

Hells. She wanted the best for me. I knew that. Nobody truly understood the relationship I had with Lord, the life debt I would be forever paying back. He took me in and saved my life, giving me the strength and skills I needed to stay alive in a vampyre-riddled kingdom.

I would do anything he asked of me. It was that simple.

“Iamhappy for you,” Rummy said after a while. “I’m going to miss you like fucking crazy, but if anyone deserves to get into The Golden City, it’s you.”

Heat rose to my cheeks. “I’ll come back and visit you once I’m in,” I added. “Moira Seminary only lasts a couple of months, and as soon as I’m finished with this mission, I’ll come back home. Lord says I have to learn magic, but I have no clue how that will be possible.”

Her eyes widened at the mention of magic. “You’re kidding, right?”

I shook my head. “Not in the slightest.”

She tossed her head back and laughed. Her shiny hair fell over her shoulders as she leaned forward, the grin on her face spreading from ear to ear. “Okay, tell me everything.”

So I did. I told her everything Lord and I discussed, from the combat training, to the magic that existed in The Golden City. I told her about the strongest fae that would compete with me to get in, about how mysterious everything was, how secretive. Her face lit up as I told her about the magic, about how I would be able to use it after they trained us at the academy.

By the time our conversation was over and two more mugs of ale were emptied, any arguments lingering between us faded entirely. That was another thing I loved about Rummy. No matter how much we fought, it was quickly forgiven.

“I fucking love you,” she mumbled as we both stood from the table. She slipped her black jacket on and threw an arm over my shoulder. “And if you don’t make it back here alive someday, I’m really going to be pissed.”

That, I believed.

With only one day remaining until I left Midgrave for an unknown amount of time, I trekked out to the woods that surrounded the city. I found it much easier to clear my head out here, with nothing but the tall masses of trees and trickling water of the river to distract me.

Rummy would kill me if she knew I was coming out here alone.There are vampyres outside of the city, she would argue.You shouldn’t be going out there by yourself!

I wished a vampyre would try to attack me. It would give me an excuse to tear their heart out.

Besides, Lord trained me to be a killer. Vampyre or fae, I would be perfectly fine.