Read Collide and Seek: Act 4-5 (Bitter Ashes Book 2) for Free Online

commented.
    Alaric shrugged. “Perhaps once, but things change, and some things are unforgivable.”
    “And those unforgivable things have to do with Sophie?” I pressed as my curiosity got the better of me.
    “Sophie and James were together for two years, and then Sophie lost interest. Sophie was unfazed, but James had taken their relationship very seriously,” Alaric explained.
    “Why was Sophie so unfazed?” I asked. “Two years is a long time to spend with someone.”
    Alaric shrugged. “Two years to someone who has only lived a human lifetime can seem like a lot, but when you live long enough, two years seems like a blip on the radar. Sophie tried to explain the concept to James, but he wouldn't accept how casually he'd been brushed aside. My sister admittedly could have had more tact, but she has a short attention span, and moved on almost immediately with another man.”
    I glanced at him with an eyebrow raised, then glanced at James in the distance to make sure he wasn't close enough to hear us. “You know, that's exactly what Sophie said about you when she warned me not to develop any feelings.”
    “That I moved on immediately with another man?” Alaric joked.
    “The short attention span,” I replied without mirth, though I was pretty sure he knew what I meant.
    Alaric looked down at the ground as we walked. “My sister needs to learn when to keep her mouth shut.”
    “Was she telling the truth?” I prodded, not willing to let the subject drop so easily.
    Alaric sighed. “Perhaps, but the past is not always a predictor of the future.”
    We walked in tense silence for a moment, then Alaric said, “But back to my story.”
    I blushed, because I'd completely forgotten that we'd originally been talking about Sophie and James. I cleared my throat. “Yes, do go on.”
    “James couldn't handle seeing Sophie with another man,” he continued, “though he never admitted it. Instead he befriended the man, Sammael was his name.”
    “Well that was big of him, I suppose,” I commented.
    Alaric shook his head. “James spent a good deal of time befriending Sammael. They became quite close really. Sammael would have trusted James with his life. It was at that point that James tortured and killed Sammael. This happened roughly six months before you came to us. James later admitted that he spent the time to gain Sammael's trust in order to make his vengeance more rewarding. He also wanted to allow Sophie enough time to get attached to Sammael, so that the loss would hurt her more.”
    “And he was allowed to remain in the Salr?” I asked, shocked.
    “That was the day James became Estus' pet torturer,” Alaric replied distantly. “Estus claimed that James would prove to be the very best man for the job.”
    I let out a slow breath. “Well, Estus was right on that count, I suppose.”
    “Though he was wrong to ever trust him,” Alaric added.
    “Wasn't he wrong in trusting you as well?” I countered. “You didn't exactly hold up well on the loyalty meter either.”
    Alaric glanced over and offered me a small smile. “I suppose you're correct.”
    I shrugged. “It still seems too simple to me . . . ” I trailed off.
    “That Estus would put so much faith in any of us?” he questioned, reading my mind.
    “Escaping shouldn't have been as simple as it was,” I elaborated, “and even after James and I escaped, to let you go as well?”
    “I've considered that,” Alaric replied.
    I rolled my eyes. “I'm going to need a little more feedback than that.”
    “I've considered the fact that perhaps we are doing exactly what Estus had hoped. Perhaps he knew all along that the charm was not in the Salr. He couldn't trust us to go free and find it for him out of loyalty, so instead he set us up to do it out of a need to defeat him,” Alaric explained.
    “What if that's all true?” I asked. “We could very well be doing exactly what he wants us to do.”
    Alaric's expression turned somber. “We must