Chapter 24 A Tempting Offer
A Tempting Offer
I stiffened.
Behind me, deeper in the field, something was moving through the stalks of grain. I couldn’t see what, but judging by the ripples in the grain, it was larger than me.
Immediately I thought of the boarlath. Maybe it had come back to hunt me down and get its revenge. Or maybe there were other giant, dangerous creatures in this world just waiting to chew me to shreds.
Maybe it’s a person, said the part of my brain that was desperately trying to remain calm and logical. Maybe it’s Radven, come to find you.
But unless he’d looped all the way around the field, the direction was all wrong. Radven had been ahead of me, not behind.
And, since I had no idea what I was up against, I had no idea what to do.
Did I stay still and silent and hope it passed me by?
Slip back out onto the path and take my chances with the zhespers?
I wished I’d thought to ask Radven for one of his knives.
He certainly had more than necessary for one person, and I would’ve given anything for a weapon.
In the end, the still-and-silent plan won out. I told myself it was the most sensible thing to do and ignored the fact that it was also the most cowardly.
Trying to keep my breathing as quiet as possible—which wasn’t easy, considering I was still recovering from my first intense physical sprint in years—I stayed low, watching the grain and listening for the whir of zhespers overhead.
For a long moment, nothing moved. And then the grain rippled again, and a deep, low growl trembled through the stalks.
Nope nope nope.
That sound made my decision for me. Whatever was in this field with me posed more immediate danger than being spotted by one of the zhespers.
As quietly as I could, I rose to my feet again, then moved slowly back toward the path along the edge of the field.
Only the path wasn’t there. I was sure I’d only gone a few feet into the grain, but the path wasn’t where I’d left it.
Think, Marigold. I’d probably just gotten turned around when trying to hide from whatever terrifying creature was in here with me. I simply needed to turn slightly to the left and—
The growl came again, closer this time. The grain moved, the ripples coming nearer.
There was no reason to try and be sneaky anymore. I picked what I thought was the right direction and ran, praying that the path would appear under my feet.
It didn’t. There was only more grain.
I veered to the left again, but I still found nothing but more shadowy stalks. Behind me, I heard heavy footsteps give chase.
The creature had spotted me.
My bare feet protested with every step. There were dead, dried bits of stalk along the ground, and their edges sliced into my skin like papercuts, but I didn’t slow. My arms were out in front of me, batting the grain out of the way as I pummeled through.
All the while, I kept looking for the path. It had to be here somewhere.
My foot caught on something. I managed to keep myself from falling, but when I found my stride again, my entire body was suddenly wracked with shivery, shuddering pain.
I gasped, stumbling again, and this time, I didn’t manage to catch myself before I hit my knees.
At first I assumed the creature had done something to me, but as that familiar shivery sensation quivered through my body, the horrifying truth dawned on me.
The pearls had fallen off.
Desperately, I reached for my ankle, but I really didn’t need the confirmation that they were gone. I already had plenty of physical proof.
The pain was blinding, running in shivery waves up and down my body, and I bit down on my tongue to keep from crying out. Not that it mattered—the creature was still moving toward me through the shadowy grain, and it would be upon me in seconds.
They can’t be far. The thought broke through the pain and panic. They must have fallen off when my foot got caught…
I felt around in the darkness, my fingers scrabbling against the tilled earth, and every second the growling beast drew closer.
And the pain grew to unbearable levels.
So this was how I was going to die—not murdered by Tendrils or the boarlath, but mauled by some mysterious growling creature in a grain field.
I thought Therador was supposed to be like a fantasy novel, not a horror movie. That single darkly humorous thought broke through the agony, and it was enough to give me a split-second’s worth of clear-headedness.
I’d made the pain go away before. More than once. I just had to remember how to—
Something exploded.
This time I felt it blast out of me, coursing out of my body and into the surrounding area. And once the shock of that power had dissipated, I was pleased to recognize that the pain in my body had disappeared, too.
I did it.
Grinning in spite of myself, I sat up. The field immediately around me had been flattened, the grain decimated in a wide circle.
The patch wasn’t nearly as large as the one I’d destroyed in the forest, but it was still a good ten feet in every direction.
And just like last time, everything glowed faintly green for a few seconds before falling back into shadowy moonlight.
At the edge of that circle, much too close for comfort, was the corpse of a large, scaly creature.
It was hard to make out exactly what I was looking at because at least half its body was just gone, and the rest of it was so shredded and destroyed that even its pieces were largely unidentifiable.
All I could tell was that it had been big, with dull scales, and it had had some gnarly looking claws on at least some of its feet.
“Bloody gods, what did you do?”
I jumped. I hadn’t even heard Radven come up behind me. The bastard was quiet, for as quick as he moved.
“That thing was chasing me,” I said, indicating the dead creature. “I somehow tapped into my power and—”
“Alerted everyone within two leagues as to exactly where you are.” He reached down and grabbed me by the arm, helping haul me to my feet. And then he paused, taking a closer look at what I’d done. “You did this while wearing seven pearls?”
“Shit, the pearls!” I pulled out of his grip and dropped to my hands and knees once more. “They fell off, but they’re somewhere around here…” Unless they’d been destroyed by what I’d just done. Damn it, if I’d just exploded the one thing that kept me from unbearable pain…
To my relief, though, now that there weren‘t any stalks of grain in the way, the pearls were easy to spot, their small, milky sides reflecting the silver moonlight. The bit of twine where they were strung was half gone, but part of it had apparently been protected from the blast by the pearls’ power.
What remained looked just long enough to tie around my wrist.
“Quick, I’ll do it,” Radven said, impatience edging his tone.
He managed to knot the pearls around my wrist in record time, and while there was little contact between his skin and mine, my body still responded to those rare, light touches with enthusiasm.
Haven’t you had enough for the day? I chided myself. If you’re not writhing in pain, you’re getting turned on at the slightest touch. Calm down, Marigold.
For better or for worse, Radven made no wicked attempts to tease me or remind me of our unfinished business.
The minute the pearls were secured around my wrist, he was looking up at the sky once more.
“We need to go. Now. Laitha assuredly knows where we are by now, but I don’t want the zhespers to show her which way we’re heading. ”
He still held my wrist, and this time he didn’t let it go as he led us at a sprint back to the path.
We were closer to the hills than I’d realized, for which I was grateful.
That explosion of essence or whatever had healed the cuts and bruises on my feet, but they were still bare, and my muscles still ached with the exercise.
When the ground began to slope upwards and we crossed beneath the first line of trees, I tugged my arm.
“Wait,” I said, panting. “Wait, I need a minute.”
Radven released me, but he was clearly unhappy about it. “We have to keep moving.”
“I know, but give a girl a break. I’m out of shape.”
“You just alerted Laitha to exactly where we are—we must keep moving.”
“What would you have had me do, let myself get eaten by whatever that thing was?” I leaned against a tree, still trying to catch my breath.
He didn’t bother answering that question. “Why were you even off the path in the first place?”
“I was hiding from those zhesper things. One of them flew right overhead.” I decided to leave out the part about getting lost in the field. “Are you mad at me? You were the one who left me behind!”
His frustration vanished, and in the moonlight filtering down through the trees I could have sworn I saw surprise, then embarrassment cross his features.
“I thought you were right behind me,” he said. “We cut off the bottom of your dress so you could keep up.” His gaze dropped to my hem, where he finally noticed my bare feet. “What happened to your shoes?”
“Ballet flats aren’t made for running,” I said, wiggling my toes to relieve the cramping muscles.
Radven was looking more shamefaced by the second, though I could tell that he was fighting it. “You should have said something.”
“When?” I countered, secretly enjoying his guilt. “When you were half a mile ahead of me and we were trying to be sneaky? Or after I blew up a chunk of field and we had to move quickly?”
He gestured wildly, uncharacteristically flustered. “Just…you should have told me. I’m trying to help you, you know.”
I hid a smile, enjoying my new-found ability to agitate him. “Be careful, it’s starting to sound like you care about my wellbeing.”
That comment seemed to startle him, too, and in a second he’d closed the distance between us, looming over me as I stood with my back against the tree.
“And that bothers you?” he demanded. Then added, “When have I given you the impression that I don’t care about your wellbeing?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” My heart was beating too fast again, but I managed to keep my voice casual. “Maybe back at your mansion, when you were threatening to torture me.”
“That wasn’t torture I was talking about,” he said, his rich voice going deep and velvety. “And judging by the earlier events of this night, I have a feeling you’d have enjoyed what I had in mind.”
I was starting to get dizzy again, my breath speeding back up.
“Besides, what about all those times I’ve saved you?” he demanded. “From the Tendrils, from Laitha, from the boarlath… How many times does it take before you trust that I’m trying to help you?”
“I don’t doubt that it’s in your best interest to keep me safe,” I said. “Or that you feel indebted to me. But I’m surprised that you, of all people, are asking me to trust you. It seems a little…off-brand.”
“Perhaps.” He’d apparently gotten over his initial embarrassment and offense, because now he was looking positively devilish again, like he’d caught on to the game and had every intention of enjoying it. “Or perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think.”
The witty retort I had in mind died on my lips, and instead I found myself studying him, curious. “So tell me the truth.”
He didn’t hesitate. “That’ll cost you.”
“Cost me what? More secrets? Or something else?”
His smile curled higher. “That depends on you. Make me an offer.”
I bet he’d give me a lot for my virginity, I thought, then blushed furiously. I was not going to make that offer, even if my body had other ideas.
Radven could evidently see my inner turmoil, even in the dim moonlight filtering down through the leaves. He leaned closer, putting his lips right at my ear.
“Think about it,” he said in that syrupy voice. “Everything is on the table for the right price, butterfly. And I mean everything.”