Chapter 10 Scarlett Learns A ThingTwo
When Ransom strode into their campsite, Flynt was eating berries.
Where he’d discovered them was anyone’s guess.
Ransom prayed they didn’t poison the Trolleris kid.
Scarlett was asleep when he checked on her, her face a pale round amongst a tangle of black hair.
Stealthily, so he didn’t disturb her, he drew away the foil blanket to check her arm.
He drew a sharp breath, the air hissing through his teeth. The puncture marks from the Trolleris’s teeth were still present, but now her arm bore two deep holes. On the plus side, they appeared to act as drainage holes. He could spray an antiseptic inside. He stood to collect his first aid kit.
Flynt’s head jerked up. He raced over to Scarlett and hissed, baring his sharp teeth at Ransom when he attempted to approach. In another sign, Flynt placed his clawed hand over the wound.
Ransom frowned. “I shouldn’t treat her arm?”
Flynt blinked at him. Three times.
“All right. We’ll wait until Scarlett wakes and talk to her.”
But Scarlett didn’t wake. She remained unconscious for the next four cycles. Every time Ransom tried to check her arm, Flynt hissed and growled and bared his teeth.
On the fifth cycle, another one of those ground tremors woke him. Smoke puffed from the distant volcano—the direction Ransom had determined they needed to travel.
He checked on Scarlett. Still sleeping. Her fever had gone, and although Flynt hadn’t allowed him to see her arm, her color seemed better. At first, he’d worried about Prince Kalim. Had he entered Scarlett’s mind?
For once, he welcomed the prince’s visit during the middle of the blacklight.
The prince had railed and threatened and fed from him.
He sensed the prince’s ravenous hunger. Not for the first time, he wondered if he should turn away and leave the prince to his fate.
Yes, he’d die, but the resonance in the mountain range between the prince and Ransom’s people seemed to work in the dragons’ favor.
The Maphra hadn’t determined how to break through the resonance they’d made.
Instead, they had to rely on capturing the minds of dragons who blundered into the resonance zone.
Ransom sighed. He should rise, add wood to the fire, and make a meal to break their fast. Instead, he slid closer to Scarlett, forcing away worry. He had to assume the wound had healed because, despite not waking, Scarlett seemed better.
“Hmm.”
It took long seconds for Ransom’s beleaguered brain to process the sound hadn’t come from him or from Flynt. “Scarlett?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you feel?”
“I need to pee.”
“Can you make it on your own?”
“Of course, I can,” she retorted.
Her sharp response had him grinning. She was back.
He rolled away from her, smiling again as Flynt woke and chattered to her, patting his clawed hand against her hair.
Scarlett rose and wobbled. “Perhaps I do need help. My legs are as limp as spaghetti noodles.”
Ransom stood and scooped her up. At least her eyes had changed from the weird milky white. They weren’t her original green, but he could live with the golden-brown. He carried her to the outskirts of their camp and set her on her feet. “Can you see all right?”
“Yes, why?”
“Your eyes are brown.”
“Really?” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s weird. My vision is fine.”
“That’s all that matters,” Ransom said. “They’re still pretty. Call if you need me to come and get you. Maybe you should try to shift. You might feel stronger.”
“No! I can’t shift right now.”
“Why?”
“Go.” She flapped her hands at him. “I’ll explain later. I could murder a hot drink.”
Ransom turned to camp. “Very well. I’ll make food.”
When he arrived, he found Flynt had dragged pieces of wood, large and small, to the edge of their fire.
“Thanks,” Ransom said. “We’ll get some food underway. Scarlett needs to eat.”
Another of those tremors vibrated the ground beneath their feet, and Ransom paused until they ended.
By the time Scarlett staggered back and pulled on her tunic and trews, he had water boiling, and Flynt was eating the first of the shrink-meals.
“We’re running low on food,” Ransom said.
“What? We packed plenty.”
“We’re feeding Flynt, and you’ve been sleeping for almost five cycles.”
“Five? No wonder I’m thirsty.” Scarlett gestured at the Trolleris. “His name is Talon.”
“How do you know?”
Scarlett accepted the hot drink he handed her. “When you went for water, Talon and I had visitors. I could understand them, and they interpreted for me. I guess my translator needs an update. Yours too.”
She told him about the visit and everything that had happened.
“You let him drill in your arm?” Horror filled him at the danger she’d put herself in by trusting a stranger.
“I wasn’t getting better,” Scarlett said. “Talon trusted them, so I did too.”
“Can I check your arm? Talon has kept me away. The kid hissed and growled every time I tried to look at it.”
Scarlett lifted her tunic sleeve. “It has healed, but I have a weird scar. They told me I shouldn’t shift until after our showdown with the prince.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Whatever they did, it was Talon’s idea.”
They both glanced at Talon and found the Trolleris kid watching them with interest.
“If the volcano is about to blow, we need to hustle to find the prince,” Ransom said. “Are you up to walking?”
“I’ll have to be.”
After they ate, they packed up everything and set off.
“Cease your hovering,” Scarlett snapped several hours later. “If you wish to help, take my pack and go ahead. Find a suitable campsite for this evening, I mean blacklight, and I’ll catch up with you.”
Talon signaled he wanted to get down, and Ransom stooped to set the Trolleris kid on a rock. Talon scrambled over to Scarlett and sat to chatter in Ransom’s direction.
“All right.” Ransom took her pack. “I’ll come for you. Keep heading toward the volcano, and you won’t get lost. If the path forks, I’ll mark it for you.”
“Go!”
Ransom went, hiding his delight until his back was to Scarlett. He’d missed her snappish retorts and quick mind. Grata, for a few cycles, he’d thought he’d have to return her body to her family. Facing her temper was nothing compared to the angst he’d suffered while she’d been unconscious.
Before he strode around a bend in the track, he glanced back.
Talon was scampering beside her as she meandered up the incline to where he stood.
The Trolleris didn’t seem to be the child they’d assumed he was, and Ransom wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not.
Scarlett had trusted his word during the visit with the alien insects.
Still, she seemed to be on the road to recovery.
A tremor rocked him, and Ransom glanced toward the volcano. A black plume of smoke rose from the conical top, more prominent and blacker than the previous cycles. He upped his pace and pushed harder.
One decent thing had come from this journey. No, two. He’d regained a lot of his fitness, and he’d met Scarlett.
Blacklight was closing in again when Scarlett dragged herself into camp. Ransom had come back for her. He’d tried to hide his worry, but it was kind of cute. He fretted as much as her brothers. One huge difference. Ransom wasn’t a sibling.
When he’d first seized her, he’d provoked her anger and fueled her determination to escape.
He’d talked her around with his mention of precious stones.
But since she’d learned the truth, her stance had shifted.
She’d come to know Ransom, and the more she’d discovered, the more she liked and respected him.
The prince—well, someone had to stop the tyrant.
The way he preyed on other races to survive wasn’t right.
Daenys was right. Tiraq and its residents were close to Narenda.
It could be her family, her friends, her people suffering next.
Dammit, she had to regain her strength to help Ransom rather than become a hindrance. Already, her illness had put them behind. They must locate the prince and soon.
“The good news is we’re close,” Ransom said. “The bad news—the volcano looks volatile and on the brink of erupting.”
“Can we travel farther during blacklight?”
“It’s best for us to rest. I recognize the two landmarks the prince mentioned. Give me your opinion when you check the map.”
“I am tired,” Scarlett admitted. Every instinct told her to shift, but the insect-men had been adamant that changing to her animal form would negate their fix to her arm.
They’d indicated Talon would know when she could safely transform, which struck her as ominous.
Scarlett heaved a sigh and tried not to dwell on the possible consequences of alien healing.
“Sit, and I’ll sort out something to eat. Where’s Flynt? I mean Talon.”
Scarlett frowned. “He was here a moment ago.” She turned to Ransom. “He’s older and wiser than he seems.”
“My thought too. You should’ve seen the way he protected your arm from me.”
The ground shook yet again, and a rolling tremor tossed Scarlett off her rock seat. She rubbed her arse while noting the tremors were coming closer together.
“The chances of us leaving aren’t stellar,” Scarlett said.
“No.” Ransom sighed. “Not me, at any rate. You could leave and save yourself and Talon. Prince Kalim will kill me.”
Their gazes connected, and Scarlett’s feline spat a snarl of protest even as she—her human side—accepted this truth. Once they released Prince Kalim, he had no need of Ransom. He’d feed on him to boost his own energy, sucking Ransom dry in the process.
“Well, we’ll have to make the most of the days—cycles—before we locate the prince,” Scarlett said. “We’re having sex this blacklight.”
“You’re still recovering, although I appreciate the suggestion.”
“We will enjoy ourselves,” Scarlett stated. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you do most of the work. Where is Talon? I’m not sure whether to worry about him or not.”