“You clearly have the roles reversed!”
“I am tired of this… I just want to find Clover and get out of here…”
Wait, what?
His confession took me for a loop. I was so dumbstruck that I didn’t even realize my grip on him loosened up a bit.
“I only stick around because she does. I know we talk bad about her behind her back, but I only join in to keep Pixie from using me as a fat toothpick. I’d do anything for that girl. And I know, I know, she’s rough around the edges, but she means well. To be honest with you, she’s the one who really turned my life around. In prison, I was a mess. After breaking out, when Clave introduced me to her, everything changed. My world was turned around for the better, and there was no way I was going to leave her side.”
As he spoke, I could sense the sincerity in his voice. He wasn’t screwing with me. It was clear that he held a deep affection for Clover.
“Clover may seem tough, but she has a heart of gold. She’s been through some hard times, and I know she’s not perfect, but neither am I. She’s the only one who’s never judged me and never looked down on me. And I’ll never forget that.”
“If you love her so much, you should have helped her leave. Your hearts aren’t devoted to the Deo Guild. You should have saved her.”
“It’s not as easy as you think. That brother of hers… he’s somethin’ else. I’d tried to fight for her a couple times and got beaten to the brink of death for it. Got a prosthetic leg for my daring! Heh, the love of a sweet gal can really give a man like me strength he didn’t know he had…”
Shit… I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Rufian had killed her. If I did, he’d definitely keep him locked up inside of his wall.
“If what I think about you is true, then you want to save Mavriel as well. And in order to do that, you know that the council must fall. You don’t have to give me details, but I just want to know if you know about curses. Clave is not telling us something about his master plan that he is putting no effort in. He swears curses are a myth, even had Pixie and Lanette fooled. But I know better. So tell me, are they true?”
“They are. And I don’t care how convincing Clave can be, you’ve seen with your own eyes that they do exist, haven't you?” I released the knife I pressed up on his back, but I didn’t order him to turn around yet. “Chuck it up to bad luck or being punished by the dungeon core or whatever, it’s no myth. Using the Grimoire will unleash curses depending on the magnitude of the spell used from it. But… I have a plan, we have a plan. I can’t explain how we will nullify it, but we will, and I need you to free that man inside the wall to do it,” I said sternly. “If you don’t, Mavriel is doomed. I know you don’t have to take my word for it, but I think deep down inside you have an idea that what I say has some truth to it.”
He lifted his hands in the air to show that he was harmless.
“But… you do know that you’re still a piece of shit, right?” I hissed. “While I promise not to kill you, I can’t let you and your team free.”
“Ugh, I figured that much. But… what about Clover?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “What about her?”
“Are you going to chase after her, too?”
I hesitated. “No, I won’t…”
“Well, if that’s the case, then I’ll go down without a fight. She isn’t bad, you know.”
“I know…”
“Do I have your word? A fae’s word is—”
“Yeah, I know. Trust me. Clover was never my enemy.”
“She’s a better person than all of us. I see how terrible she feels when her brother makes her do these atrocious things. Now, I know I’m no saint. I got impulses and urges. But Clover deserves better. She deserves to live in a better Mavriel, one free from curses and chaos. Now, don’t ask me why but, I have hope you can give that to her. You seem like the fae this country needs. That friend of yours on the other hand…”
“Get on with it…” Rufian growled exhaustedly, his voice coming from the wall of the cabin.
Gam and I turned to his voice, a cheeky smile etched on Gam’s face. “Oh, he speaks!” He chuckled. “And here I thought you were just mute.”
“Quit your rambling and free me,” Rufian ordered Gam, and I inched Gam toward the kitchen door.
I paid careful attention to the hybrid as he searched drawers for the scroll with the Scrabe spell on it. Rufian approached the wall again, listening in on us.
“So, who are you, anyway?” he asked curiously. “What’s your allegiance?”
“That doesn’t matter. As far as you know, Rufian and I don’t exist. We haven’t been here, and you’ve never seen me. Got it?”
He snorted. “Yeah, sure.” Gam rolled out a scroll that looked vintage, the edges torn and battered. He mentioned finding a few spells around the cabin when they first found it, but I was pretty sure they’d robbed someone of their home. Gam cleared his throat and began to chant the spell, the words rolling off his tongue with ease. The air in the room shifted, and I knew that the magic was working.
As the last word was spoken, the wall where Rufian was imprisoned began to shimmer. Soon, a glowing aura surrounded him, and then he was spat out from his trans-dimensional prison.
He stumbled forward on his hands and knees, his eyes squinted as they looked up and adjusted to the light. The glare from his glasses made me take a step back, and as he straightened himself up, Rufian grunted. “Bloody Scrabe spell…”
“You’re welcome,” Gam said snarkily.
Rufian glared at him, then at me. “Are you seriously considering letting him go?” he asked, his voice cold and hostile.
I turned to him. “We had an agreement.”
“You are aware that he fears nothing. Clave will find a way to bring him and his guild back on the streets. You’re best doing away with him proper.”
Gam choked. “Now wait a minute—”
“We already talked about this. No more unnecessary killing,” I reminded Rufian, who seemed to be playing around the fact that Clave wasn’t dead in front of Gam...
“Right, but this here is necessary.”
I bit down on my jaw. “If you think you’re going to pull what you pulled back there, then I—”
