Spilled Blood
“Y ou’re squishing me.” I wheezed, pushing Kaschel’s body off me.
Kaschel stood up and dusted off his black pants and shirt without offering a helping hand. He apparently wanted to overlook the fact he launched out of the sky and pummeled me to the ground.
“Do you always jump in headfirst without thinking of the repercussions?” Kaschel growled; the frustration rolled off his tongue.
“Not always,” I barked back. Yeah, I sounded like a child defending their idiotic actions, which sounded less convincing even to myself, and maybe there was some inkling of truth to what he said, but the hell if I was telling him that. I glanced behind him. “What about the others? Gren?”
Kaschel shrugged as he walked up to me and slanted his cruel eyes. “Your pet raven is of no concern to me.” He paused, crouched down, and brushed some dirt off my shoulder as he leaned closer, his calloused hands teased my neck as they grazed my skin. “I think you should be more worried about yourself and the dangers awaiting us.” He glowered as his cool breath sent shivers down my spine.
Unable to endure his closeness, I waved him away with my hand.
Kaschel’s face reflected displeasure as he launched up and stepped over me.
My jaw clenched. Didn’t he already know I was constantly worried about the keys and our situation? It occupied my mind twenty-four seven.
I took a deep breath, exhaled, and pulled myself off from the ground. Small pebbles embedded themselves onto my backside and I wiped them off and willed myself to stay calm.
“What are we supposed to do now?”
“Find the key.” He grumbled and trudged on ahead, leaving me behind.
I was about to lose my shit on him.
This man tested my patience way too many times. What happened between last night and now? He was as fickle and moody as the weather here.
I groaned and stalked behind him. “No shit. I mean HOW are we going to get it? Do you have a plan that I’m unaware of? You seem to love keeping me in the dark.”
“Labyrinths don’t come with instruction manuals, little flea. So, the plan is, don’t slow me down.”
This man was really going to bring the petty Addy back to the surface.
I cleared my throat and ran my fingers through my hair. “Then can I have some form of protection? I see you’re fit for battle, yet all I have to defend myself are my wits.”
Kaschel stopped, grunted, and turned to me and devoured the distance between us before I could even breathe.
He towered over me with such ferocity I wanted to take back my snarky remarks—almost.
Kaschel lifted his shirt, and I peeled my eyes away. “What the heck are you doing right now?”
Kaschel scoffed and a clang of metal reverberated beside my feet, and I peeked down at a black dagger the size of my hand.
My cheeks flushed from the sudden heat. “Ah.”
Kaschel lowered a brow. “I don’t want you to be completely defenseless since ... just having your wits wouldn’t be your best bet at survival.”
Holy fuck. He wanted to get stabbed. “You really have a way with words. Incredibly charming,” I mumbled under my breath and snatched the dagger off the ground.
Kaschel’s mouth tugged up, and I hated to admit it, but it was chaotically hot.
I abhorred this very moment for showing me Kaschel in such a light. He appeared incredibly attractive under the sunrays as his amethyst eyes flickered mischievously, his defined muscles even more noticeable from how the light reflected off his body. I once thought he looked the most in his element during twilight, but right now, his alabaster hair had a celestial glow, and it mesmerized me.
But I hated myself even more as his smirk turned into a full-blown smile and stirred something within me.
I slapped my cheeks to stop my thoughts from escalating.
A harsh shrill resounded off the cliffside, and then another and another.
I whipped my head to the withered trees and back to Kaschel, desperately searching for a hint of reassurance that what we heard wasn’t a big deal.
Kaschel snatched my hand and hauled us deeper into the forest. My legs barely maintained the same speed with his long strides.
“Please tell me you have a better plan than just surviving,” I said between breaths.
Kaschel didn’t answer me for a moment, and his furrowed brows made it apparent he was calculating our chances of survival.
Kaschel spoke in a raspy voice. “Whatever they are, it sounded like a pack of them. We need to gain some distance so we don’t get cornered at the edge of the cliff.”
I could only nod in agreement like a bobblehead as we dodged trees, branches, and boulders.
I only caught glimpses of where I stepped as my heart thrashed against my ribcage.
Kaschel’s grip tightened but it didn’t bring me any relief. Instead, I dreaded the thought of the creatures catching us as sweat beaded at my brows. The frigid air flailed against my skin. The branches came alive, snagging my clothes, tearing bits and pieces off.
Crimson eyes floated in between trees and vanished.
A scream bubbled up my throat, but I was so out of breath and could only force a few words out. “I saw”—I sucked in the air again, and it grazed my throat like pins and needles as it punctured my lungs—“something.”
Kaschel snapped his head to the side and turned us in the opposite direction. “Jump.”
I almost didn’t register his words in time to leap over the fallen tree before us.
Another sharp howl echoed through the forest, and a blur plowed and snapped branches from the side as it closed the distance between us.
My jaw dropped in horror. I hoped to fucking god Kaschel had a plan.
I slammed against his back. “Why are we stopping?!” I pushed myself off him, and my eyes widened in disbelief.
We were back where we started.
We couldn’t run or hide.
We had to face whatever creature that came after us head-on.
My whole body trembled and a realization hit me.
Kaschel didn’t have his abilities, and I was practically useless.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Kaschel shoved me to the side with so much force I went tumbling.
A bloody howl pierced my ears again, and I landed on my stomach. A loud Ooof escaped me as my head bounced off the rocky ground.
A vociferous thud followed, and I pressed myself off the dirt, but the world spun around me.
My vision came into focus as I picked myself up.
I gaped as the mutated gray wolf launched itself at Kaschel.
The wolf bared its fangs, and its spiked horns spiraled out of its skull—dangerously close to puncturing Kaschel’s throat.
It enveloped itself in a red mist and drove Kaschel closer to the edge.
I stood there frozen, unable to move my body as I gawked at its colossal size that was comparable to an overgrown grizzly.
The wolf lunged at Kaschel again and dug its claws into his back, and Kaschel groaned out in agony as it brought him to his knees.
I panicked.
What could I possibly do? Poke it with this tiny dagger?
Run?
The dagger wouldn’t even pierce through its fur, and I couldn’t risk running since others were silently watching us from the forest.
And I would never survive on my own.
The wolf howled again, and Kaschel crumpled to the ground as it hovered over him. Drool poured from its malformed mouth, hitting Kaschel’s neck and making a low hissing sound each time a droplet fell onto his skin.
Kaschel clenched his jaw as he wrestled to get the wolf’s claws off of him.
But the wolf overwhelmed Kaschel, edging him off the cliff. It snarled and lunged at his neck.
My heart hammered harder against my chest as adrenaline took over my limbs and propelled me forward.
I grabbed the nearest rock and sprinted to Kaschel’s side.
Without thinking, I smashed the rock against the wolf’s skull.
And I smashed and smashed, screaming as spraying blood obstructed my vision.
It toppled over him and slid down the mountainside.
I inhaled and exhaled heavily as the silence rang in my ears.
I glanced down at Kaschel who breathed just as erratically. A wild look unraveled on his face as he stared back at me.
The wolf tore Kaschel’s shirt in half and drenched him in blood, but I couldn’t tell if the blood was his or the wolf’s.
I held the rock to my chest as my uneven breaths exacerbated my unhinged appearance.
I threw my head back and laughed.
I mean, I fucking laughed like some deranged psychopath—not someone who had just murdered something.
My feet were at Kaschel’s side as I tilted my chin to meet his confused expression. He narrowed his eyes and mine sparkled back with mayhem as a wicked grin stretched my cheeks.
I had never been one to filter myself, and I said the first thought that crossed my mind, “You know, you really are too weak to be this pretentious.”