A Soul For Trouble

Chapter 32

Kell poured another glass of wine and stared at the dim light that filtered through the fog. He wanted to feel giddy drunk or at least numb, but the wine didn't have its usual effect. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the betrayal on Arden's face. It ate away at his gut like a gallon of vinegar.

"Damn it!" he shouted and hurled the glass at the wall. The crash echoed in his mind, wine-coated shards tinkling across the floor. He'd been so close to having it all come together perfectly. So damn close...

His head ached, and the pounding at the door only made it worse. "By the light of three moons, stop."

"Unlock the door then." Bynn. Of all the times to have an overly concerned friend, this wasn't one of them.

"Leave me alone."

"Not likely." A series of clicks came from the other side, and the door sprang open. "I knew learning how to pick a lock would come in handy one day."

"You're in. I'm alive. Now piss off."

"You're drunk, and you look like shit. I'd be a bad friend if I let you continue to drink alone." He sat down at the table next to him and eyed the untouched food. "Let me guess: dinner?"

"I lost my appetite."

"Listen, if this about Sulaino—"

"Sulaino can go fuck Gandor for all I care." The image of that flickered through his mind, and he snickered. His self-absorbed brother deserved it.

"Ouch!" Bynn poured a glass of water and shoved it into his hand. "Drink this instead. You need to sober up if we're going to form a plan to deal with that mess out there."

"I don't wanna sober up. I wanna feel something other than what I'm feeling now."

"And what's that?"

He wasn't drunk enough to admit it out loud, even to his best friend. Instead, he just pulled the gold and sapphire comb out of his pocket at tossed it onto the table.

"Ah, the lady witch."

Calling her a witch rankled his insides as much as the smell of stale piss. "Stop calling her that."

"What happened between you and Arden?"

"Why the fuck do you care?"

His friend pouted. "That's a bit uncalled for."

"Well, so is you picking a lock to get in here." Every lash of his anger relieved some of the pain inside his chest. He wondered how much longer Bynn would sit there and take it.

"I'm not leaving until you're better."

He gulped the water in the glass, and his stomach lurched. "Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass sometimes?"

He shrugged. "Because you'd do the same for me. Now, tell me what she did."

"She let me down."

"Because she didn't want to risk her neck? Not too surprising."

"Then she accused me of playing games with her to recruit her to my cause." While the rest of his mind felt as foggy as the weather outside, he remembered every word of their argument with crystal clarity. "She told me she didn't want to look at me anymore."

"Can't say I blame her. You were using her."

Kell rubbed the greasy stubble on his cheeks. "It started out that way, Bynn, but then, things changed."

"Who'd have thought she'd be the one to snare you?"

"Yeah, who'd have thought it?" he muttered. He reached a shaky hand across the table and refilled the water glass while Bynn went to the door to speak to one of the servants. When his friend returned, he added, "I wonder what my father's going to do with her now."