Chapter 16
As Nate’s car drove away, leaving Kytrima standing on the side of the road, she couldn't do anything more than stare after it in shock.
She’d bared her soul to him, and he hadn’t believed her.
That hurt. Hurt more than anything had before. The ache deep down in her belly settled in, like it planned to stay a long time.
And Kytrima couldn’t help feeling like she deserved it.
She’d known, from very early on in this situation, that lying was a bad idea. If she’d come clean sooner, maybe it would have made a difference. But she hadn’t.
Oh, she had tried to adjust the lies to be closer to the truth, but not close enough. The big one, that the baby was most likely Nate’s brother’s, and that the princess could well be in love with him, that she’d never fixed.
In fact, she’d lied as soon as yesterday afternoon, when she’d said she wanted to share a room with him to protect him. She was pretty sure he’d seen through that one, but it didn’t matter. That hadn’t been her intent. Her intent had been to protect herself from the truth.
The truth that was now coming back to bite her.
She loved Nate, and now, because she’d lied to him, over and over again, she’d lost him.
It didn’t matter that she’d realised her mistake and tried to make up for it. It didn’t matter she no longer planned to take the princess home to her clan, that she just wanted to help him find his brother.
He hadn’t believed her. And she didn’t blame him. Why should he? She wouldn’t believe herself after the number of lies she’d told.
He hadn’t even believed her when she’d told him she loved him.
That was the bit that hurt the most. Like a bolt of lightning that just kept zapping her, over and over again in the same spot. Whenever she thought about it, it dug in again.
Kytrima sank down onto the side of the road and sat on the kerb, staring off into space.
She’d really thought that one would work. That he’d believe her.
Couldn’t he see the truth of it in her eyes? Couldn’t he feel it in his own heart?
She heaved a sigh, and dropped her head into her hands. Even if he could, he would refuse to believe it. He couldn’t trust her after this.
And she couldn’t blame him.
She deserved all of this.
She didn’t deserve to find love. Not after all she’d done to pull apart someone else’s love.
Maybe this time it really was time to admit her mistake and go home. She could make up some reason she’d left her post, and never tell her clan about the princess or Nate’s brother. Maybe that would go some way towards atoning for her lies.
Except that Nate would never know about it.
She knew that shouldn’t matter. That she should feel good just for doing the right thing.
But her heart wouldn’t listen.
It still wanted a way to get Nate back. Surely there must be some way to right her wrongs and still show him?
Kytrima sat up a little, and stared out across the road.
What she needed to do was to find the princess, and take her to him.
If she did that, he’d see that she was serious, wouldn’t he?
Kytrima examined the plan from all angles, but she couldn’t see how it could fail. If she brought the princess to Nate instead of taking him to her clan, surely he would be able to see she wanted to do the right thing?
The only question was, how was she supposed to find the princess? She and Nate hadn’t managed to find her, despite all their searching. Kytrima didn’t even have a car. And she couldn’t fly here in the town, too many people would see her.
Well, she was more than capable of walking, wasn’t she? She’d just wander around the town until she found her. Maybe she’d do better on foot. Or maybe a better plan would come to her.
Either way, it was better than waiting here.
Kytrima began to walk. Since she had no real destination in mind, she headed back towards the centre of the town. They’d already found one clue to where the princess was, maybe there would be another.
Of course, then she’d had Brad’s twin brother to jog people’s memories.
She walked up and down the streets for hours, until long after her stomach was rumbling and she was wishing Nate was here to suggest they stop for lunch.
It was hopeless. Pointless. She was never going to find the princess this way.
As night started to fall, and the sky and streets grew dark, Kytrima crept back to the street where the pub was, where she and Nate had stayed last night. Would he stay here again tonight? The man behind the counter had said one night only, but maybe Nate could convince him.
She hid in a strand of trees across the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. He wasn’t going to listen to her, but she wanted to see him again anyway…
*****
As it started to grow dark, Nate gave in. He’d been driving around Mungaloo for hours, but he’d had no more luck than he and Kytrima had. He didn’t know why he’d expected to. It was pointless. He had nothing at all to go on.
But he couldn’t just give up. He had to do something.
He had to find Brad before Kytrima did.
He had no idea what she intended to do when she found the princess, but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be good. And Brad would likely get caught in the middle.
He headed back to the pub, hoping the barkeep would let him keep Lily there again. She hadn’t been the slightest problem last night.
Luckily for him, the barkeep seemed to have a soft spot for him. Or he felt sorry that not only had Nate lost his brother, he’d lost his girlfriend too. He didn’t tell the man the whole story of course, but the fact that she wasn’t there kind of said it all, didn’t it?
Nate sat in the room, patting Lily absently, wondering what on earth he was going to do. He held out a vague hope that his brother might return to the pub that night. It had been twenty-four hours since Kytrima had scared them off. Maybe Brad would think they’d be gone by now.
It was the best lead he had, and Nate was out of other ideas.
He should get some sleep, but that seemed pointless too. What did he need his energy for? Driving around town all day again? That achieved nothing.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there staring off into space, but eventually, something seeped in past his stupor. Maybe it was Lily, nosing her way under his hand and demanding a pat.
Or maybe it was his phone, blinking with a message.
How long had it been doing that? It had been in and out of range of the tower all day. Nate had given up even trying to use the maps. He hadn’t even thought to check for a message.
He grabbed it quickly, and read through it, his hands shaking.
Brad. Brad had contacted him.
His brother was back at his uncle’s house now.
Nate’s heart was thumping. And it twisted when he realised he was glad Brad had called now, and not earlier, while Kytrima was still around. He didn’t have to have the slightest doubt about calling his brother immediately.
For a moment, how close he had come to exposing Brad to Kytrima’s hunt took his breath away.
But it was safe now. He could call his brother, catch up with him, and then he’d admit the truth.
And maybe he’d be able to help him.
His hands shook as he dialled his uncle’s number.
It rang for several long moments, and just when Nate was beginning to wonder if his brother had lied to him, or was asleep, he heard his voice. “Yes?”
For a minute, it was hard to speak around the lump in his throat, and Nate realised that until that moment, he’d had a fear that something had happened to him. That he’d never talk to Brad again.
He swallowed, and forced the words out around the lump, hoping they sounded vaguely normal. “Hey, bro, what’s up?”
Brad didn’t seem to hear anything amiss in his voice. “Everything. But first, where are you, and why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
Nate didn’t even know where to start with that one. Blurting out everything that had happened, the mistakes he’d made, seemed like a thing for a face to face meeting, not over the phone.
Not when there was every possibility Brad would disappear again as soon as he heard them.
“I’m the one who should be asking that,” Nate said. “What the hell happened?”
“I did try to call you back, but you weren’t answering,” Brad said, his voice defensive. He paused for a moment, then said. “You know when you asked if I needed help? Well, I do. Can you come up here?”
That was just what he wanted to do. “I’m already here, bro,” Nate said quickly. “I’m at the pub in Mungaloo. I came up straight after that call. But you weren’t at the house, and I couldn’t find you. I’ve been looking everywhere.”
He broke off, wondering how he was ever going to explain.
“I’m sorry, things have been a little… crazy,” Brad said, and his voice sounded strange. Hesitant.
Nate winced. He needed to get to Brad, before he and the princess disappeared again. “Yeah, so I gathered. Do you want me to come out now? I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
Brad hesitated again. “There’s no rush. The morning is fine. It feels better just knowing you’re here.”
Nate wanted to push him. To jump in the car right now and go out there.
He was half afraid if he waited, that Brad would disappear again. But if he pushed him, he just increased the chances of Brad guessing something was up. “Sure thing, bro,” he said. “See you first thing in the morning.”