Curse Breaker (2)

13

"No," he says. "I think you're right about the cloud. The rest of it... I don't know. But what I do know is that if Trina gets the location of their camp, her intrusion will have nothing to do with getting Samu back." He meets my gaze. "Ensuring you and Samu are safe is my main priority. I don't care what happens to those shifters. To Killian. Especially Killian. But it's a waste of our resources and time to attack them when Ereon's the real enemy."

He's right, I know that, but the knowledge of it makes my stomach lurch. The thought of leading the deserters there and being the fault of an attack makes me nauseous. While I still don't entirely know where I stand with the Torinnian shifters, I've seen enough to believe that they don't deserve to be attacked any more than the people of Veymaw.

I let out a breath of air, the tension leaving my body as I rest against the wall. Casimir runs a hand through his dirtied hair. Soot from his hands shifts to his forehead.

"So we hide it from her?" I nibble on the edge of my lip. "And when she finds out the truth? What will she do?"

His jaw tenses. "Don't worry about that."

"Of course I worry." I reach over to put my hand on his. "You can say what you like about her, but she's your mother. The deserters... they're your home."

"You're my family. Samu is my family." The intensity in his gaze knocks me back. "And family comes first. Always."

I squeeze his hand. "I know what it's like to be ostrasized by your own, I don't want that to happen to you."

He shakes his head. "You don't need to worry. You're not the only one in this camp who questions Trina's leadership. If she tried to kick me out, exile me, and she would, not everybody would be on board."

"You mean Elex?"

"More than Elex," he says. "You were right what you said back there. Trina is a good leader, but I'm not the only one starting to see the cracks. She lets her hatred get in the way of her logic, sometimes. We all hate the shifters but we don't let that drive our decisions. Sometimes she forgets that."

I lie back, pine needles tickling my neck as I free my legs, exposing them to the sun. Lei's smile fills my mind, Killian's eyes. The way they look at each other, care for each other, like a family.

We all hate the shifters.

"Tomorrow night," he says eventually. "We'll leave then. We'll get Samu and get the hell out of there."

"And then what?" I ask. "Trina was right. I can't go back to Veymaw."

He nods in agreement. "And then we figure it out. Together. Everything will be okay, we just have to stay together."

Together. He's right. I don't need to go back to Veymaw, not when Casimir has always been home.

***

The deserters are no more welcoming now than they were a month ago. Aside from a polite smile in the tunnels of the cave when I pass someone, they mostly ignore me. Jax, however, makes it his mission to scowl at me from across the cavern.

I scowl back.

Shadows crawl up the walls of the cave as the deserters round the fire for their dinner, filling up their bowls from the large pot sitting atop. I sit and observe quietly, keeping mostly to myself in the corner. The jagged earth stabs my legs where they stretch out, but I don't let it bother me as I observe the deserters.

Casimir has been gone since lunch. According to Trina, he went to scope out the campsite where they found me, tracking their movements if they've already left. It was a good enough excuse for him to leave camp for a couple of hours. I know the truth--he's finding transport.