A Girl Named Calamity (Alyria 1)

“Where are we going?” I asked while I hopped off the bed.

“To get you out of that dress.”

I froze and stared at him with wide eyes.

He laughed at my reaction. “You’re all talk, aren’t you?”

“No . . .” I mumbled.

Not all of the time.

“Relax. Your innocence is safe.” He shook his head in dry amusement. “We’re going to the bathhouse.”

I took a deep breath and threw my cloak on before I followed him out the door.

“I don’t have anything else to wear because someone ripped them to shreds.” I looked at him pointedly.

He ignored me and we walked side by side down the street. People parted for us, and I imagined it was because of the Titan next to me. I was his prisoner, and yet I felt safe walking close to his side. Somewhere along the way, his presence had turned into some kind of safety net when it was far from the truth.

It was hard to even comprehend how I had gotten entangled with an assassin. But somehow I couldn’t imagine going back. I couldn’t envision marrying the blacksmith’s son because I never even knew what color eyes he had. That told me everything and scared me more than anything.

After I had spent too much time debating between two different shirts, Weston snatched one out of my hands and paid for it and the pair of pants I had picked out. I frowned at him. “If this is how you woo the women you are courting, I feel sorry for them.”

“The only kind of wooing I do doesn’t involve clothes,” he said dryly.

I walked right into that one . . .

When we reached the bathhouse, I looked at it hesitantly. The sloping roof looked like it would fall in at any moment. The wooden door was warped and didn’t even close properly, and there were no windows. It looked like a death trap.

I scoffed. “This is where all my dreams are supposed to come true? This won’t even be a dream bath.”

Weston laughed. “I’ve never been here once and had my dreams come true so I think it’s safe to say yours won’t either.”

“What are your dreams?” The question flew out of my mouth. Weston’s face sobered, and he looked at me with cautious eyes before he answered. I didn’t know why, but it really felt like I would finally get some insight into his reasoning.

“Right now? For you to go take a bath and hurry up.”

I sighed and hesitantly walked into the worn-down building. I ended up cutting the red Untouchable dress off because I couldn’t figure out how to get it off. Another woman in the baths watched me with wide eyes while I massacred it with my knife.

After I had scrubbed myself down, I walked out of the bathhouse and looked around uncertainly. Weston was supposed to be waiting for me, but he wasn’t here. The dirt streets were empty.

The other woman in the bathhouse had walked out moments before me. And yet, nobody was in sight. A chill went down my spine as I drifted down the street. I jumped when a tavern door flew open with the wind.

The silence in the city was eerie as I took in the stands full of clothes and fruit, but with no one running them. The only sounds were of the wind blowing through the alleys of the rundown buildings and my heartbeat drumming as I continued to walk down the empty street.

Goose bumps covered my skin when I realized I was the only one in the city.

This was definitely a nightmare.

* * *

I didn’t walk around for long before I saw a familiar wooden building squished between two rundown ones. Like a vacuum, it beckoned to me. It looked out of place as it was sturdy and not falling apart like all the other buildings in this city of nightmares.

Bells dinged as I opened the door. The smell of home hit me in the face, and I sighed in relief when I saw the woman behind the counter.

I wasn’t alone.

“Hello, Calamity,” she said. It gave me the chills. I had never shared my name with her, nor had she ever addressed me so formally.