Chapter 2
Chapter two
“Rise and shine, shithead.” Rynna crouched beside Kaelith.
Propped up against a tree, his bleeding had slowed, thick and sluggish now, but it still leaked through the torn fabric.
She frowned. The puncture must’ve gone deep.
Slowing her breathing, she listened with the strange awareness that ticked beneath her skin. His heartbeat was a thready, barely there thump thump, but steady enough.
Fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, she didn’t know if that left her annoyed or relieved. Wandering blind through this forest was a fool’s errand, and carrying his limp form wasn’t much better.
“I said, wake up.” Her hand went back, aiming to smack that smirk off his face—the one that lingered, somehow, even in unconsciousness.
But, before she could connect, his hand shot up, grabbing her wrist in a grip that shouldn’t have been that fast, not with how broken he looked.
Her body jolted in surprise, muscles going taut as instinct pushed at her to break free.
Then his eyes fluttered open, narrowing with careful focus as they found hers. Two dark pools, seemingly endless.
Is the ground further away? Her center drew toward him before she stopped herself, nails digging into her palm.
“Let go.” She yanked at her hand, but his fingers only tightened as his mouth quirked, amusement straining the edges of pain.
Then, his tongue slipped out from between his lips, skimming the underside of her wrist before it flicked up the line of her forearm.
Hot. Wet. Rough. And entirely too long and nimble for a human tongue.
What if… Her teeth snagged on the swell of her bottom lip, and for a moment, she imagined what that tongue might do elsewhere.
Jerking harder, she stumbled, toppling back onto her rear.
“Gross,” she forced the word from somewhere too far beneath her ribs.
“Seemed only fair, after you took such pleasure in tasting me yesterday,” he sighed, watching her.
“What!” She cradled her wrist as the memory of his blood on her tongue nearly dropped her fangs. Again.
Kaelith’s laugh scraped from his throat, vibrating through her body, and down…
Get it together! He’s just a stupid man. She scooted further away, watching as his laugh broke apart into a wet cough, and flecks of that dark, delicious blood stained his chin.
“You are horrible.” Her mouth flattened as she scrubbed a hand over her face.
“And I still don’t know your name.” His other hand dropped. “But I think this is what you’re looking for…”
Eyes narrowing, she tracked the motion as his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of his pants. “That is not—”
He withdrew a crumpled piece of vellum, dirt-smeared and folded in quarters.
“Oh?” He held it out between two fingers. “You weren’t keeping me around because you need help getting out of this wretched jungle?”
She snatched it from his hand. “Obviously.”
“You’ll need me to provide orientation.”
“Oh?” She unfolded the vellum, frowning down at the scrawl. A few uneven lines crisscrossed the page, thin and uncertain, ending in what might have been flames drawn in the far right corner. But there were no labels, nor scale.
She frowned. It was barely a map.
“You’re not from around here. That much is clear.” Kaelith tried to push himself up, one arm bracing against the tree, but his body didn’t cooperate. Muscles gave out beneath him, and he slid back down, panting.
Rynna’s gaze lifted. There was nothing but trees in every direction, except for the serpent’s path behind them, already half reclaimed by undergrowth.
“I told you.” The man wheezed.
“Shut up.” She turned to the nearest tree, sized it in a glance, and launched upward.
Her fingers found the smallest holds, while her feet wedged where bark cracked or branches split, strength unfurling through her muscles and bones as she climbed.
At a mid-level branch, she paused to look down.
Kaelith looked on, something between surprise and calculation sharpening his features. His hand pressed into his ribs again, but he didn’t look away.
Ha. Her mouth crooked at one corner. Then she pushed higher.
Through the canopy, jungle stretched in dense waves between high peaks dusted in snow. There was no smoke. No roads. No sign of habitation at all.
“Damn it,” Rynna muttered. She still needed him.
Scaling back down the tree, her boots hit the ground in a low thump.
“Back so soon?” His head wobbled on his neck, words slurred.
“Which direction?” Rynna looked down at him.
His eyes blinked, unfocused. Open. Closed. Open.
Shit. He’s going to pass out again.
“Tell me.” Torture wasn’t usually her method of extracting information, but for him…
“Swear you’ll get me to the village.” His throat bobbed. “Alive. In one piece.”
“What village?” She dropped into a crouch, closer now, watching as he struggled with every inhale.
“The Flames.” His eyes found hers. “On the map.” He exhaled. “They’ll have healers there. The snake bitch must’ve laced her bite with venom. I’m not recovering as I should.”
Rynna watched him for a beat, weighing the words. A village, hidden deep in thick mountainous jungle. Maybe his target all along?
She folded the crumpled scrap of vellum between her fingers, sliding it into her pocket without looking at it again. Useless.
“What makes you think I’ll take you, once you tell me how to get there?” Her brow scrunched. “You lose your leverage.”
“You’re a hero, remember?” His eyes barely peeked open, no more than a sliver. “You’ll do the right thing.”
“I’m not—” She pinched the bridge of her nose.
But his lids stretched wider with effort, just enough for her to catch the violet flicker beneath.
“Even if you’re not a hero,” he rasped, “and just another monster like me…you’ll honor your word. I can tell.” He swallowed. “Promise me you’ll get me there alive. And I’ll tell you which way to go.”
Her muscles locked. It felt like the whole damn world had funneled down to this—his words, her answer, and no way to step past it.
“Fine.” The word punched from her throat. “I promise.”
He didn’t answer.
“I said I promise!”
She grabbed his shoulders, shook him hard enough to whip his head from front to back.
Nothing.
“Damn it.” The snarl tore out. “You are so annoying!”
The vow sat sour in her mouth, but it bound her just the same. She’d do what she could to keep him alive long enough to point the damn way.
He’d played her like a hellspawned fiddle.
“Where have my clothes gone, pet?” Kaelith coughed himself awake.
“You kept leaking. And your ribs are broken.” Rynna didn’t bother looking up. She pointed toward the bandages now wrapped across his torso—layers of dark linen, torn from his shirt, and knotted firm to keep him held together.
“Also. My name’s Rynna. Enough with the ‘pet’ nonsense. It’s creepy.”
She drew the last knot tight on the makeshift stretcher—branches lashed together with pieces of her own clothes, crude but serviceable. Rising to her feet, she dusted her hands off against her thighs.
“There’s some water next to you.” She jerked her chin toward the small waterskin resting near his side. “Drink up. Then tell me where to go.”
Kaelith reached for the water with a wince, turning it over once in his hands before lifting it to his lips. He took a small sip, swallowed, then grimaced.
The satchel hovered in front of his face for a moment.
“Rynna.” He said it as if he were tasting the sound of it. “You went through my things.” His eyes traced down the length of her. “Find anything you like?”
She cocked a hip, arms crossed loosely. “Nothing large enough to notice.”
He choked, snorting out the water before stoppering the sack with one hand and letting his dark hair fall forward, half-shadowing his face.
“Perhaps, one day, I’ll show you just how...noticeable I can be.” His tongue flicked out, wetting his lips. “Rynna.”
Lifting her face toward the sky, she silently begged for mercy as she lugged the stretcher next to him, then slipped her arms under his armpits.
“Not now! You shameless woman! I am injured!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She heaved, then dropped him onto the stretcher.
“Ow!”
Ignoring him, she pulled one of the ties loose from her belt and started securing it across him, maybe a little too snug.
“I still need to breathe!” He squirmed weakly beneath her knot.
She stepped back and looked him over, jaw tense. It was going to be a long freaking journey if he kept this up.
Rynna smiled.
“What are you thinking?” Kaelith’s brow furrowed. “Whatever it is, I don’t like the look of it.”
She nodded to herself, tugging the last strip of torn fabric free. And without a word, she bent low and shoved it into his mouth.
Kaelith growled behind the gag, trying to twist away, but his body had no strength left.
“Better.” She straightened, brushing off her hands.
He glared up at her, mumbling furiously around the wad of cloth.
“Now.” She jerked her chin toward him. “Look in the direction we need to go.”
Another glare, and some added sulking.
“It’s fine. I can wait.” She glanced around for a halfway comfortable patch of moss to stretch out on. “I’m not the one with internal bleeding.”
Kaelith rolled his eyes so hard it looked painful, exhaling through his nose with enough force to blow his hair off his face.
Then, he looked left.
“That way?” She pointed. “Blink once for yes. Twice for no.”
His eyes closed and opened once.
“Okay then.” She stood, circled behind him, and grabbed hold of the stretcher’s handles.
The frame lurched in her grip, mass swaying awkwardly through dirt and leaf rot. Her shoulders tensed against the strain as she picked her path through the underbrush, and the smothered ranting finally quieted once she got him moving.
“Much better.”
She continued dragging the stretcher as it bumped and skidded over roots and loose stone. And when it caught on a half-buried rock, jolting the frame in her hands, Kaelith’s stifled yelp barely broke through the fabric.
“So much better.”
Picking up her pace, she ignored the sting in her palms and the ache in her legs.
She’d dump him at whatever passed for a healer in this god-forsaken village. Then someone else could deal with him.