Chapter 21 - Glory #2
“It is a formal process,” he said. “Not all demons have control over how much they feed, so humans wouldn’t survive long on their own.
To live among us with any degree of protection, they need someone to vouch for them and keep an eye on them.
It avoids conflict with other countries, which is a priority for my father. ”
“Understandably. But is that really the only purpose humans have in Karhasan? To serve as donors?”
He shrugged. “The other humans live with their mates, and they aren’t passed around.”
My eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t realize demons and humans could mate.”
The look he shot me summoned a heat in my belly that travelled all the way down between my legs. “It’s biology, Buttons. Pheromones attracting a compatible subject.”
“Not love? You’re such a romantic.”
“What’s love but a chemical reaction and the brain telling us we want and need someone else? Give it enough time, or the right addition of any other chemical, and your love dries up like an old river bed.”
I couldn’t help but think of my parents. Their adoration of each other had been my guiding light for so many years I’d begun to believe finding someone to share that with was the greatest goal in life. Apparently they’d never suffered the pain of having that additional chemical thrown into the mix.
I was just about to press him further on his emotional experiences—not about love, obviously—when my eye fell on a strange-looking formation at the top of the rock face.
I drew to a halt and pulled out the clue we’d found at the last landmark.
Halfway to five, you’ll find a man with long grey locks and an ashen tan.
I stared from the parchment to the formation, and a cheer escaped me. The rock was shaped almost exactly like a humanesque figure, with a rounded top covered in stringy moss and a squat little body that made it look as though it were sitting and waiting for someone.
“We’re going the right way!”
I looked to Cammon, expecting to find him as relieved as I was. Instead, I found him standing on the side of the road, frowning at something in the dirt.
“Cammon?”
I stepped towards him, but he held up a hand to stop me and knelt to get a closer look at whatever it was. I did as he said, waiting for him to explain. The muscles in his back were taut with tension through his black shirt, and I wondered if he was struggling to keep his wings retracted.
He stood up and brushed the dirt off his knee. His brow was furrowed, and in the crease, I read his confusion mixed with concern.
“Mutts,” he said. “Probably the same ones the shifter said were crossing their territory. The tracks aren’t fresh, probably a day or so old. It looks like they were moving our way.”
I frowned. “How could they be ahead of us?”
“Maybe they’re not? Mutts don’t usually gather. For them to be travelling like this, something must have drawn them from all over the woods.”
I looked around us, searching for a pack of shifters half trapped in their animal forms that might be closing in on us. But the birds were chirping and the only movement was the branches blowing in the soft breeze.
“Coincidence?” I asked, even though I knew it couldn’t be. Mutts didn’t tend to wander. Not far, anyway. Hunters normally tracked them down and destroyed them before they made it beyond their approved boundaries.
“Unlikely,” Cammon said, confirming my opinion. “Not only are they far from home, but there are a lot of them. I’ve counted tracks of at least fifteen, which is more than I’ve ever seen travelling together. And they’re coming in from all directions, like they’re being summoned.”
A shiver ran through me, and I rubbed my arms, wishing for the moment that I’d worn my waistcoat today. “You still think they’re tracking the amulet?”
“It makes the most sense. I don’t know if they can read, which explains why they haven’t come for your notes. They must think you have the best chance of finding it. If that’s the case, then they won’t attack until we have it.”
I frowned. “We should have mentioned it to His Majesty. If someone in the palace spread word to the mutts, then he has a spy close to him.”
“All palaces have spies, mage. They’re called servants. And nobles. And the king’s own mother.”
“She’s dead.”
“Not my point. Everyone working around your king understands what’s at stake if they open their mouths. They’re also all human and make mistakes. If his spymaster tried to chase down everyone who let something slip, he’d be working night and day and Evaniel would be wiping his own ass.”
His logic made sense, but my worry didn’t fade. What exactly did the mutts think the amulet would do for them? Heal them of their half-formed state? Maybe the magic was that powerful, but even if it was, it would only save one of them.
“What should we do?”
Cammon pulled himself out of his deep thoughts and mustered a smile.
“Nothing yet. We’ll keep moving and keep our wits sharp.
As long as we stay aware of them, they won’t sneak up on us, and as soon as we find the amulet, we’ll get to Blue Harbour and board the ship Evaniel said would be waiting. They can race us home.”
I appreciated his confidence, but after what had happened with the shifters, I wasn’t so sure. I hadn’t been trained to fight. That skirmish had nearly killed me, and I didn’t know if I’d be lucky enough to survive a second one.
But I trusted Cammon to guide us. It was why he was here, after all, regardless of whatever other value he had.
With my thrill over finding the rock man dulled under this new threat, I turned my heavy steps towards the road.
The path veered right, and the roar of a waterfall reached my ears.
Beneath my worry, my heart gave a tiny leap of excitement that we’d nearly found another point along our map.
We had to be close to the fifth signpost. After that, we only had a few more to go before we finished our mission and headed home.
Whatever was chasing us, whatever other dangers existed out here, we were nearly rid of them.
As long as we made it through the next few weeks, we would be fine.
“Shit,” Cammon hissed under his breath.
I stopped again and looked up at him. The surprise in his eyes, lined with fear, was so intense I was amazed I couldn’t feel it through the bond.
I whipped around to follow his gaze, expecting to see the mutts, but my eye landed on two giants standing among the trees.
They were easily half the height of the towering firs.
My head might have come up to the shorter one’s kneecap.
They were both naked, their bodies covered in thick, dark hair—almost a pelt—and they both held smoothed tree branches as clubs.
The wind shifted, carrying the stench of rotten carrion and fetid breath.
My guts turned to water, and I backed away, craning my neck to see their faces, which I prayed were pointed in any direction but ours. If they hadn’t noticed us yet, we could slip away and find another route past the falls. We could—
“Run,” Cammon said, and as the taller giant bared his teeth and tightened his grip on the tree branch, I obeyed.
My feet fought me at first, taken aback by my sudden need to escape, but they caught on quickly when the giant took its first lumbering step towards us.
Cammon grabbed my hand and pulled me after him.
My heart thundered in my ears, matching the rhythm of my boots slapping against the packed earth of the road.
Then we were off the road and sprinting through the grass.
I had no idea where Cammon was leading us, but I didn’t question him.
Those giants were catching up too quickly, and we weren’t gaining nearly enough ground.
The earth trembled with their footfalls, and the stench of rot grew stronger. Every moment, I braced for a massive hand to grab me, for my last sight of this world to be of large, flat teeth slamming down around my skull.
Then the water was right in front of us, the river rushing towards the cliff where the waterfall spilled into the pool beneath.
There was no way across, and even if we made it, I doubted the rapids would be enough to throw the giants off balance.
It would be better if we followed the road, maybe found a more gradual slope to slide down.
Movement in my periphery guided my eye to a wide palm swooping towards me, and a scream lodged in my throat.
“Hold your breath!” Cammon shouted, which was all the warning I got before he pulled me into his arms and hurled us over the waterfall.