Page 41 of Snake Eyes & Bad Luck

Even if she left her bleeding, broken heart in Gloomsdale, she was getting out. She couldn’t stand to be in love with someone who wasn’t willing to risk it all for her. It was the first time Callum disappointed her, because if he was one of her storybook heroes, he’d stop at nothing. But this wasn’t a story, there were no guarantees. Callum wasn’t her happy ending. And that’s what stings the most.

Chapter Twenty-One:

Callum

Fuck. Come with me instead . Fuckin’ shit. You’re miserable here! Fuckin’ shit fuckin’ gods damnit. You’re a coward and a liar, Callum. Fuck…

Callum left the cabin. He burst right out his front door and flung himself down the steps into the murky, darkened paths of Gloomsdale. He stewed under the thick canopy of trees, unable to even glare at the moon if he wanted.

What are we doing? His mind raced for understanding but there was none. He had nothing left inside. He left everything with her. Like his filthy, rotten heart was worth half of hers, even broken. Even bleeding out on his bathroom floor, nothing of his was worth an ounce of her.

Avelina wanted him to go with her. She offered him an escape. It would be bloody work. They’d never be able to escape all the outlaws that wanted him dead. The Paladins would hunt her down because she’d always be associated with him. Her face would be on posters next to his, and this life would never end. They’d be on the run but never free.

No, he couldn’t. He was so close to freedom, truly disappearing and leaving all this behind. What was he doing? Letting a silly little girl and her fantasy romance get in between him and his happily ever after.

A life with her on the run would be a nightmare! It would! He’d constantly worry about her getting hurt or if she resented him for the danger he brought to her life. She’d want him to meet her best friend, to try and be a better person. She deserves a better person. Callum was not a hero in one of her books. He wouldn’t rescue her from a terrible fate.

Callum was the terrible fate.

Her being in love with him was a death sentence. It might not be tomorrow at the vault, it might not be in a few weeks if they went on the run…but being in love with him would mean they’d die in a terrible way. Going down in flames, that’s what the bard’s say. She would meet her maker kicking and screaming.

That was no life worth living. He swore to himself that he would get out. If Callum took her with him…no, he couldn’t take her with him. Alone. Always alone.

Which is why, under that darkened canopy, swatting away mosquitos with a hardened scowl on his face, he slithered up to Grahm’s cabin. It was a tiny shack place nestled between three trees. It had one window, one door, and the stilts were partly roots. The door had been replaced six times since he took up the mantle of Cottonmouth. Its newest iteration was paler in color but thicker than the last one. I’m at fault for three of them…the other three is because he’s a fool.

His knuckles hesitated by the door, but he replayed her words again and started to bang on the scaley bastard’s door. Grahm pulled open the door swiftly then froze. “Boss?”

“That twerp we sent to Eshorion? To spy on the monk…we heard from him?”

Grahm’s face fell. He glanced back at his meager dwelling, then returned his attention to Callum. “Nu-uh.”

“Damn.” There went his original plan. Without a man in the capital city, he couldn’t snag the feisty friend and bring her back here to the swamp. It wasn’t much of a plan; he’d not put a lot of thought into it on the way over. His mind swarmed like wasps, and he was grasping at straws. He’d originally had a man awaiting to murder the monk as leverage should he need it, but he’d never needed to pull that card. Avelina was surprisingly obedient all on her own, self-contained. Part of that was him, indulging in things he ought not to, but consequences be damned.

More like, hello, consequences to my actions. Ya fucked around with the warlock. Now yer findin’ out, fuckwit.

“Come in,” Grahm stepped aside, opening his arm to the burdened outlaw. Callum slipped inside, his tail curling around the edges of the cabin. It wasn’t much. A bed, a cushioned chair, a stone, freezer box, toilet and shower, all crammed like puzzle pieces into the room. There was enough room for the bulky Drakonis to move around, but it was a shoe box. Callum’s tail tip flopped up around the leg of Grahm’s bed.

“What’s up, boss? You think the Tala lady’s gonna spoil this for us? She’s four days ride, minimum, by train.” Grahm was thinking like an outlaw. Each person a threat to the outcome of their heist. Clearly, that would be why Callum was here, anxious and furious that some random person might up end their crime.

“Nah, but I need you to do something for me. And no one can know.” He licked his lips. This is it. This is the kindest thing I can do for ya darlin, I hope ya fuckin’ appreciate it. She couldn’t come with him, and he couldn’t save her a lifetime of misery from being a wanted warlock…but he could do this for her.

“Oookay?” Grahm squinted.

“Tomorrow, after the warlock gets us inside in the vault, when the coast is clear and we’ve got cover, I want you to blindside her. Hog tie her, gag her, and put her on a one-way wagon to Eshorion.”

“What? You want me to boot the warlock?” Grahm squawked.

“Shush, ya windbag!” Callum hissed, slapping Grahm upside the back of the head.

“Sorry,” Grahm grimaced, shrinking, and put both his hands on the sore spot on his head. “Boss, what the fuck?”

“Yer too loud,” Callum snarled lowly. The soil, the trees, even the fucking wind had ears in Gloomsdale. If anyone heard he was smuggling the warlock out, they’d wonder why. Cottonmouth didn’t send anybody anywhere without a reason, and there was none for Avelina. She was his plaything. His crew saw her as his bed warmer and his pawn. She was his warlock, but she wasn’t trustworthy enough to go solo. Not in so short a time, they were idiots, but they weren’t that foolish. They’d sniff out a birdie springing free of her cage and hunt her down just for the pleasure of it.

Because that’s what I’d do if I were them…what I would have done when I was one of them.

“No, I mean, what the fuck about the warlock?” Grahm whispered, throwing his hands about. “Why am I smugglin’ yer girl out?”

“Because I fuckin’ said to, that’s why.” He lunged like he might smack Grahm again, but the slick bastard jutted out of the way. “Look, I don’t care how ya get it done but get her out of the city safe and make sure she can’t come back. For you, that vault ain’t the objective, got it?”