Reese didn’t trust herself to speak the things she’d been thinking. She knew the walls had ears, and though there were few walls in the carnival, she knew her words would wander to the wrong ears.
There was a possibility that Lyonell would never let them escape his little game. In the event that happened, they would have to kill him, but she didn’t dare start plotting with Luca. The second she voiced it she would have an even bigger target on her back.
Reese would rather face a nameless killer than Lyonell Montgomery if it came down to it.
Luca stuck his arm out, halting Reese in her tracks.
She didn’t say a word as she glanced up at him.
He tilted his head towards the building they were about to turn around.
There were voices.
Reese couldn’t tell what they were saying, but she could make out two of them, if not three.
They must have been some of the other accused stuck in Lyonell’s game. Which meant one of them very well may be the killer.
If that part was even true.
Reese didn’t trust Lyonell enough to believe that he wouldn’t lie about something he’d done himself just to breed distrust and fear between those he’d trapped.
The longer she thought about it, the less sure she was of the truth of her situation.
“Should we go meet them?” Luca’s breath brushed against Reese’s ear as he whispered.
She gave a small nod.
The truth of the matter was: she didn’t know anything but her own innocence.
There was a possibility that one of the people they were about to meet was a killer, but if they were all innocent, they would need to work together to escape Lyonell.
The more allies they had, the better.
Despite her reasoning, Reese was grateful when Luca took the lead.
He rounded the corner with his head held high, not at all the image of a convict.
The voices stopped as soon as Luca vanished around the corner.
Unwilling to be left alone in the strange emptiness of the carnival, Reese slipped around the corner as well.
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Two girls stood behind a boy, their fine skirts nearly spilled around him in a curtain of tulle and silk.
Reese tried not to look down at her own ratty skirt with holes eaten through it by moths and a very obviously ripped hem.
“Who are you?” The girl on the left had curled blonde hair and a thick accent.
The Ravari Mountains.
Reese would recognize the accent anywhere.
“Well?” The boy asked.
Two things occurred to Reese then, first he was not from the mountains, and second, she had not answered the question.
She glanced at Luca, who hadn’t answered either, and he shrugged.
There was no harm in telling them.
“I’m Reese.” She held out her hand.
“And I’m Luca.” He made no move towards the strangers.
“I’m Derrick.” The boy shook Reese’s hand, but he was quick to let go.
“Theresa.” The blonde girl offered.
“Myla.” The remaining girl smiled.
She shared the boy’s accent and his dark hair.
Two with a Black Sands Beach accent and one with a Ravari accent.
Reese couldn’t help but wonder what had brought them all to a place like this when they came from the two most magical places in the realm.
“Myla is my sister,” Derrick said, confirming Reese’s assumption. “And Theresa is my fiancé. I thought this would be a fun trip before our wedding.” The laugh that rumbled from his mouth was nothing but bitter.
He seemed to be regretting his choice of attendance as well.
“I came alone,” Reese said.
Derrick glanced between Reese and Luca.
“I also came alone.” Luca supplied.
Not a word as to how they’d met.
As a matter of fact, he sounded bored.
Reese had thought she was just as curious about these people as she had been, but now that they’d met them, it was like he had no interest at all.
Maybe he didn’t realize it could all be a lie yet.
Reese needed to find a way to tell him what she thought, but she couldn’t risk doing it around other people. She still wasn’t sure of her theory; she didn’t want to trust them too much and wind-up dead.
Her only goal now was to leave the island alive.
She’d come to the carnival because she’d wanted to know what life was like on land, however brief it was supposed to have been, but she found herself missing the sea more and more with each passing hour.
“Are you a pirate?” Myla asked. Her large green eyes were pinned on Reese.
“Not quite.” Reese smiled. “I’m only a sailor. You’ll find no treasure aboard my ship.”
Reese didn’t miss the strange look Luca gave her.
He hadn’t known because she hadn’t told him, but there was something more than surprise in his eyes. She just couldn’t quite place what it was.
“I assume you two are looking for the uh-” Derrick’s sentence trailed off as he fought for a proper way to phrase what he was trying to say.
“Yes, we thought it best to work together.” Reese answered.
“Safety in numbers.” Theresa agreed with a small nod.
She was the only one who hadn’t at all relaxed.
If Reese had to guess, the girl was some lady of Ravari and had never had a hard day in her life. Now she was being accused of murder and hunted like a deer.
She wouldn’t have survived it if she’d come alone.
Reese suspected she might not, but she hoped otherwise.
She might have started out alone, but she was far from it now. She just had to hope she was right about who the real enemy was.
“We’re harder to kill as a group. Together, we make up half of the people trapped here. We just have to find the other half and hope for the best,” Luca said.
