Page 132 of Loreblood

“Insinu-assing my ass, girl. I’m just telling it like it is.” There was a hint of a smile on her face when I looked over.

“It has nothing to do with me,” I said firmly. “Vallan Stellos hates me.”

“Reckon what I just said about there being more going on up there than we think?” She tapped the side of her head.

With a heavy sigh, I turned away from the river. At that moment, I caught Vallan glancing at me from a distance, with Lyroan berating him. It almost looked like he was begging for assistance, for a moment there. Or maybe that was just the tint of the pale moonlight on his stoic face, with his beard getting swished by the wind.

“It’s getting chilly,” I said, though it really wasn’t. “Let’s get back to the house.”

She snickered but didn’t resist when I began walking in that direction. “Someone’s feeling squirrelly.”

“Shut it, Jin.”

Her snicker turned into a laugh and she clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re a tough nut to smack, Sephy. I reckon once youdobreak, it’ll all come pouring out.”

My brow threaded in confusion. She winked at me.

Jinneth had her own language at times. I only vaguely understood what she was trying to say.

I was also trying to ignore it.

Despite all the bickering going on behind us, I appreciated these trivial times with my friend, walking freely through a rocky countryside. We talked about nothing, and that was perfect.

We returned to the Hall of the Chained Sisters an hour after Jinneth and I had departed. It was sad, spending so few hours together, but at least I gotsometime with her.

When we sauntered through the front hall, the complaints of Lyroan carried in behind us. Vallan remained quiet, taking the verbal and sometimes physical beating like a well-versed brick wall.

We reached the main room on the lower floor where Keffa and Skar were speaking underneath the leisurely rotund naked woman painted on the wall. A few other girls were awake, speaking around the tables and studying. What they were studying for, I had no idea.

Iron Sister Keffa and Lord Ashfen glanced over at me and Jin as we entered the room.

Keffa smiled kindly. “How was your walk, Sister Jinneth, Lady Lock?”

“Too short,” Jinneth answered, wrapping an arm around the back of my neck and draping it over my shoulder. She had to goon her tiptoes to strike the pose. “This one got cold. She’s thick but sensitive, this lass.”

My cheeks warmed when I noticed Skartovius scrutinizing me from over Keffa’s shoulder. Lyroan kept yelling at Vallan near the entrance of the room.

Keffa lifted her palm, walking past me. “Sister Lyroan, that’s enough. Please. There are others sleeping and your wailing gives me a headache.”

“Praise the chains,” muttered a girl from the table.

“Quiet yourself, Aleth!” Lyroan viciously snapped back.

Keffa turned to me and Jinneth.

Lyroan squealed. “Ah! Rat!”

Flaring her nostrils with barely restrained irritation, the Iron Sister spun around to reprimand her. “Lyroan, that’s enough name-calling for Master Vall—”

“No,” Lyroan interrupted, pointing down at the ground behind Vallan. “It’s a rat!”

Vallan stepped aside as the furry little critter skittered into the room. Two of the girls from the table squealed and stood, one of them hopping onto the bench.

I blinked over at them, then the floor, confused.A rat? What’s the big deal?In Nuhav, rats and trash-eating rodents were everywhere because the city was littered in filth.

. . . Not in Olhav, though.

My brow furrowed. Vallan lifted his foot to stomp on the scurrying creature.