Chapter 65

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

Ellery

"I have my reasons for that." Ryker waved a hand at the children. "Is it just you and them?"

Ianto hesitated over the abrupt change in topic, but he rolled with it. "Yes, it's only the eleven of us."

I bit back the words that would tell him about a safer place; Tucker's encampment wasn't mine to share. The giant seemed like a decent man, but we'd only known him for a short while.

"What are you going to do with them?" Ryker asked.

"Keep them alive. I can't think about the future; I can only focus on keeping them safe and ensuring they survive the day. I don't think many in Tempest have plans anymore; most are focused on survival."

"That they are. Why didn't you take them somewhere else, somewhere safer?"

"Is anywhere safer anymore?"

"No," I whispered.

"Besides," the giant continued, "without knowing why they burned the orphanage, I don't trust anyone else to look after them."

"I wouldn't either."

"Will you join us for dinner?"

"No." There was no way I was taking food from these kids. "We already ate."

It was true, at least for me, as I'd shared a silent dinner with my mother before meeting Ryker in the woods. I didn't know about Ryker and didn't care; he could eat later.

"How about some drinks then?" Ianto offered.

"I never turn one of those down," Ryker said.

We followed Ianto over to the largest lean-to. Despite its higher stature and doorway than the others, he still ducked to enter the structure.

He reemerged with two glass bottles, one filled with an amber liquid and the other with clear. "This way."

Ryker's limp had improved and was barely noticeable as we followed him to a section of fence partially hidden by the large trees overhanging it. Despite the height of the fence, black dogs and other creatures could climb those trees and jump into this area. The children wouldn't survive such an attack.

Ianto sat with his back against the fence. Ryker moved to his left, but when I settled by the giant's right-hand side, Ryker scowled and came to stand beside me.

"Move over," he commanded.

I frowned at him, crossed my legs, and placed my hands in my lap. I wasn't moving.

The tension escalated as he stood before us, refusing to sit elsewhere. Finally, Ianto grew tired of the standoff and shifted a few feet to the left.

The giant mumbled something as he moved, but all I caught of it was… "Not… anything." Then the man had the nerve to chuckle.

I shifted my glare to the giant but returned it to Ryker when he sat between us. Ryker smiled at me as he leaned against the fence.

I didn't find anything amusing about his possessive, asshole behavior, especially when he was doing whatever he pleased with who knew how many women in the realm. The giant was handsome, but I wasn't attracted to him, and even if I was, I should be allowed to sit next to whomever I wanted. Ryker would soon learn that.

Now was not the time for a fight. That would come later.

"Are you a wanted man?" Ryker asked.

The giant produced three tin cups from his pockets and filled each with liquid. The cups looked more like thimbles in his hands, but he held them with ease.

"Not that I'm aware." Ianto passed a cup of the amber liquid to Ryker who passed it to me. "The money from my wrestling had dried up. When that happens, I usually travel the realms for a decade or so before returning home to run my show again. That helped to keep things fresh.

"Since I can't leave and everyone interested in wrestling me already has, I'm out of a job. I was getting ready to leave Carthaway for Calsar, where I could hopefully find work in the mines, when I saw the orphanage burning. My plans changed after I found the children.

"I never expected to live in the Revenant Woods. I'd only traversed them a few times in my life, and those few times were more than I'd ever wanted. I'm not a big fan of ghosts or creatures that try to eat me."

As he spoke, three ghosts and a spirit horse drifted through the fence and floated across the encampment. A couple of kids moved to avoid touching them, but the rest ignored them. They'd grown used to sharing their space with the specters haunting the woods.

"Few are fans of ghosts." I didn't tell him they'd never bothered me as I sniffed the potent liquid. My eyes watered, and I was sure I became a little drunk from smelling it. "These woods have always been one of my favorite places."

I took a sip of the liquid and tried not to spit it out when it burned my tongue and scorched my throat. When I finally forced the last of it down, I blinked away the tears in my eyes and gave a small cough before setting it aside.

Ryker didn't miss my reaction as he smiled before taking a swig of his drink. I glowered at him.

He lowered his cup and winked at me. "It will put some hair on your chest."

How was I supposed to respond to that?

"You like the Revenant Woods?"

Ianto's question saved me from coming up with a witty retort for Ryker. "I spent a lot of time playing in them as a child."

He gawked at me. "You played in them as a child ?"

"Things are making more sense now, aren't they?" Ryker asked.

I didn't know what to make of that, but Ianto must have as he said, "Yeah."

At the moment, I didn't like either of them.

"You know why I'm here," Ianto said. "But why are the two of you here… other than apparently liking this place?"