me more suspicious, frankly. We had better hurry, or we’ll never catch up to him.”
“How are we going to catch up to him at all? It’s been a while hasn’t it?”
“Not more than five minutes,” Rio said with a shrug.
“That’s a lot of time,” I said. I eyed the bed with longing.
“Maybe, but I’ve already followed him long enough to see which direction he has gone.” He grinned proudly.
I sighed a little, then shooed him away. “Well, give me a minute and I’ll be ready to go.”
“Of course, m’lady. Do hurry, though, as in about three minutes he’ll be far too ahead of us. Though, I’m sure if we ask anyone on the street, they’d remember a great big horned beast like him lumbering about.”
My stomach did a strange little fit. Before I could call it into check the words burst out of my mouth, “Don’t call him things like that, okay?”
The half-blood blinked, his eye widening. Then he looked away and seemed embarrassed by his behavior.
“Yes. Of course. I do apologize, m’lady. That was uncalled for.”
“It’s okay,” I murmured. I had not meant to scold Rio so, and now that he had apologized I felt even more like it had been unnecessary.
“I’ll give you a few minutes,” he said with a gentle smile before retreating to his room.
I stood there for a moment and then pressed my face into the covers. I took a moment to steady myself before I finally got around to getting dressed.
In what I hoped was less than three minutes, I met Rio out in the lobby. He seemed to have just finished a conversation with the innkeeper. As the young man walked up the stairs he threw me a smile.
“Ready, m’lady? We may have to run a bit.” Rio tugged on his shirt, readjusting it. Unconsciously, I did the same with my own clothes.
“Sure. Will our things be okay here for the time being?” I had never left my bag in an inn before, and I felt quite naked not having it with me.
“Yes, I’ve just arranged it with our host. Now, we must hurry.” He smiled and opened the door for me.
Once outside, the half-blood led us in a new direction. At a brisk pace, we followed the alleys until a crowd of people forced us stop. A huge marketplace