Page 56 of Spirit Trials

Chapter 30

When I feel like I’m finally sufficiently warm enough that I can take a bath, I head upstairs. I knock on the door Harper and Kinsley are sharing, and Kinsley answers. “I’m just making sure you’re both okay.”

“Peachy,” Harper says, coming around the corner with her hair wrapped in a towel. “Who doesn’t love a refreshing ice bath when it’s cold out?”

“Her snark is back; she’s fine,” Kinsley whispers. “Are you okay? You had to stay out there longer than us.”

“Yeah. I survived. It wasn’t my first ice bath and probably won’t be my last.”

Kinsley gives me a sympathetic look. “Hey, um, we wanted to ask you something.” She gives Harper a nervous glance.

“What is it?” I ask.

Kinsley looks around the hallway and then pulls me inside the room and shuts the door. “Do you think we could visit our community soon?”

Remorse hits me. “I’m sorry; I should have taken you home sooner than this. I’m sure you want to check in.”

“Well, sort of,” Kinsley says. “We were wondering if, maybe,” she pauses, obviously uncomfortable.

“It’s like this,” Harper joins in. “You have so much food here. They wouldn’t notice if we took some of it to our community.”

“To the little ones that need it,” Kinsley says quickly.

I stare at the two of them. “Seriously?” I look between the two of them. “You want to steal from Rysden?”

“We’re not stealing, exactly,” Kinsley hedges.

Harper levels a look at me. “They have so much food. They won’t notice if we take just a little bit.”

“It’s still stealing,” I say, exasperated. “How about I ask Rysden and—”

“You can’t ask Rysden,” Harper says. “He’ll just say no. He doesn’t care about the banished. I mean that couldn’t be more obvious. Look at all the wealth he’s sitting on.”

A defense rises on my tongue, but I keep silent. I get it. I thought the same thing when I first got here. I look between the two of them and shake my head. I already know I’m going to say yes. “Only a little bit and just extras of what we can find.”

“Done and done,” Kinsley says and starts getting dressed.

“We’ll meet down in the kitchen tonight after everybody’s asleep,” Harper adds.

“Wait. Tonight?” I look between the two of them again and groan.

“We can’t go during the day because of your captor,” Harper says.

“He’s not my captor.”

Harper raises her eyebrows. “Do you go anywhere that he doesn’t know about?” I open my mouth but don’t know what to say. “Exactly. Unless you’re going to stay here, the only way we’re going to get out is while he’s sleeping.”

I groan. “This is such a bad idea.”

Kinsley must take this as a yes from me because she hugs me tightly. “Thank you.”

“I’m going to be in so much trouble,” I mutter.

“It will be worth it,” Harper says and disappears into the bathing room again.

“I’m going to my room to take a bath and then sleep for a few hours. I’ll meet you both later.” I’m just about out the door when Kinsley stops me.

“Thank you.” Her eyes are so earnest, I can’t find it in my heart to not go with them and help them. I head to my room. “This is such a bad idea.”