Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) Grayson Sinclair (book recommendations website .TXT) 📖

to my Strength and Constitution Sub-Stats. I added five points to my Attack Damage and five to Durability, ensuring that I could continue to do both attacking and defending.

My Exoskeleton shifted under my skin as I confirmed my points. Does increasing my Durability also affect the resistance of my chitin? An exciting line of thought.

With my stats settled, that left one problem to deal with.

“How much, Oscar?”

He turned to me with confusion before smiling. “Oh, it’s no trouble, friend. There’s no need for payment.”

“That wasn’t what I was talking about,” I said, sliding my knife free from its sheath. “How much did they pay you to set us up?”

Oscar paled, which was all the confirmation I needed for my theory. He stood from the chair and started stammering.

“What are you talking about, Duran?” he asked, tripping over his words.

“Sam?” Eris asked, her head tilted to the side.

I stuck the point of my knife into the wood of the table, causing both of them to flinch.

“We were ambushed just outside the Outlier Farms. Darren and his filth were waiting for us, so someone tipped them off. I’ll ask one more time, Oscar. How much did they pay you?”

Oscar deflated, sighing into his hands, his face red with shame. “They didn’t pay me nuthin’. The leader kidnapped my wife, told me to keep an eye out for a red-haired male and a young demi-human. I was told to stall you if I could, and he gave me a communication scroll to warn him. Please believe me, I had no choice.”

From the look in his eyes to the timbre of his voice, I could tell he was speaking the truth, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t change what I had to do next.

“I do believe you, Oscar. I believe that you were only thinking of your wife and felt you had no choice, but you put me—and more importantly, Eris—in danger, and that’s not something I can forgive.”

Pulling the knife free from the table, I stood. Oscar panicked and fell backward out of his chair, landing in the kitchen. He scooted back in fear but hit the wooden counter a foot later.

“I’ll make it quick, if it’s any consolation,” I told him.

I stepped into the kitchen and raised the blade to slash his throat when Eris stopped me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me off balance.

“Stop, Sam. I know he wronged us, but put yourself in his place. What would you have done?”

“I’d kill anyone who dared get in my way to get you back.”

“Okay, but not everyone is as strong as you. I’m asking you to see reason. You don’t have to kill him.”

I knew I didn’t have to kill him. He didn’t have much choice in the matter, and realistically in his shoes, powerless against greater odds, I’d have made the exact same call. But it was a mistake to let enemies live.

Eris was pleading for Oscar’s life, but all of this was her fault.

“None of this would have happened if you’d let me kill Darren and his fucking friends back at the inn,” I said, jabbing a finger at her. “All of this happened because of your soft heart.”

Eris reeled back like I’d slapped her. Hurt filled her eyes as they watered, brimming with tears. Ah, hell.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” she said, pushing past me to rush outside.

“Fuck,” I cursed, before turning to Oscar. “If you run, I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth and butcher you like a dog.”

He nodded emphatically, but I was already heading for the door.

Outside, I frantically searched for her. I ran around the house and found her. Eris was sitting on a small stone fence that came waist-high, separating Oscar’s backyard from the road. Her head was in her hands, and she was shaking, crying.

More than anything else, I felt like an utter jackass for making her cry. Just because I was right didn’t give me the justification to shove it her face like I had. She was too consumed with her tears to hear me approach on the soft grass. I knelt and wrapped my arms around her, placing my forehead in between her shoulders.

“I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “You’re right, though. I let all this happen. You warned me, but I didn’t listen.”

“Doesn’t make what I said okay, though, or what I was about to do to Oscar. I was furious that you got hurt, and I was going to kill him because he put you in danger, but you weren’t wrong, I’d have done the same thing in his place.”

Eris looked up and turned around, pulling my face to hers. Tears were still falling down her cheeks, but she curled into my neck, holding me tight. “I love you, Sam, but you can be so cold to others. Killing just to get rid of an obstacle isn’t always the correct thing to do.”

I cupped her cheek, rubbing away the streaks of tears with my thumb. “And sometimes it is, Eris. If I’d killed Darren, despite the darkness pushing my anger at the time, none of this would have happened. We nearly died because I let them live.”

“I know, but it can’t always be the first thing you jump to, especially for people like Oscar, okay? Promise me, that you’ll try to consider other options in the future.”

I sighed, pulling back from her, hopping over the fence to sit next to her. I didn’t say anything for a few minutes, trying to work out my thoughts. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I could never keep that promise.

“I can’t, Eris. I’ll do what I think is best to keep us both safe. Even if that means I have to wade through an ocean of blood to do it.”

Eris