4. Perseus
Perseus
“ M edusa!”
Perseus’s heart jumped into his throat as Medusa’s body crumpled. Thanks to his quick reflexes, he caught her before she hit the ground. Her head rolled back, and with her mirrored glasses, he couldn’t tell if she was conscious.
“Medusa! Medusa, can you hear me?”
The silence that answered him filled his stomach with dread. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground, cradling her head in his lap. Her chest rose and fell, so at least she was still breathing. Her skin, however, was ashen.
I should have insisted we rest.
He’d seen her struggle since they began the climb and ignored it initially.
She had insisted she was fit enough to do the climb and keep up with his and Gaurav’s pace, so why would he doubt her?
Besides, he was eager to get this over and done with.
His reaction to her falling into his lap on the plane has solidified that.
The attraction he’d been trying to ignore and keep at bay was getting worse.
Her sweet, plush ass on his lap had been too much, and it had been a true test of his strength to control his raging erection.
If he had been somewhere more private he could have taken care of himself, so he had no choice but to quickly get ready for bed and hope he’d fall asleep quickly.
“Oohhhh…”
“Medusa, are you okay?”
Her lips parted. “I…what happened?” Her hands went to her glasses, adjusting them slightly.
“You fainted, I think.” Relief washed over him. However, she remained deathly still. “Can you move?”
“Maybe…just give me a second.”
“Take all the time you need.” He was just glad she was awake. Without even asking, he took his thermos, opened it, and put it to her lips. “Here, have some water.” He half expected her to say no, but to his surprise, she took a few sips. “Are you hurt? Do you feel pain?”
“No.”
“Then why did you faint?”
“I don’t know.” Her mouth tightened. “I was feeling dizzy and nauseous.”
“When did it start?”
“Since, uh, we got here?”
“On this ridge?
She turned quiet. “No, since we landed.”
“Since we landed? Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”
“I thought I was just tired,” she shot back, then winced. “Then I started getting a headache, and it was like I couldn’t breathe and I started seeing white spots?—”
“Stubborn woman! You should have said something!”
“Don’t yell at me,” she hissed. “I didn’t want to delay us. And you and Gaurav were okay; I thought it was just jet lag.”
“It’s not jet lag. You’re experiencing altitude sickness.”
“Alti—what?”
“Altitude sickness. It’s when your body hasn’t adjusted to the lower levels of oxygen up here in the mountains.”
“But I told you, I hike all the time.”
He snorted. “At ten thousand feet above sea level? Because that’s how high we are.”
“Ten thousand—” Her lips clamped shut. “I didn’t realize we’d get so high up. I wasn’t sick on the airplane, though.”
“The jet’s cabin was pressurized. I don’t know how it works myself, but it helps you from getting altitude sickness.”
“But you and Gaurav didn’t get sick,” she reasoned.
“I told you, Gaurav’s a sherpa. He was born and grew up here, so his body is used to having less oxygen.”
“Is it magic?”
“No, just evolution. His people have lived up here for thousands of years.”
Her dark eyebrows slashed downwards. “But you live at sea level. How come you didn’t get sick?”
“I’m a shifter. My body quickly acclimated to the altitude. I was a bit dizzy when we arrived, but then I adjusted. Aren’t gorgons the same?”
“Not really. Aside from our hair and gaze, physiologically we’re just like regular mortals.”
“Well, that explains it.” He clucked his tongue. “When you said you’d be fine with the hike and lived in the mountains, I thought that meant your body could adjust too, so I didn’t say anything. Otherwise, we could have given you pills to help.”
“I suppose this is my fault, then,” she said, sheepishly.
He was about to agree, but stopped himself because he grew up with three sisters, so he knew better than to say I told you so.
“Look,” he began. “We need to get you to a lower altitude. It’s the only way you’ll feel better. We’ll hike back down as far as we can until dark, then continue back down until we reach the camp again.”
“What? But that will push our schedule back too far. Can’t I just take the medicine?”
“You could, it takes about twenty-four hours for them to take effect. You should have taken them before we left.”
Her jaw set. “I think I’m fine to keep going.” Shifting around, she braced herself on the ground and pushed up. “See? I’m—” Her hands covered her mouth. “Oh gods, I think I’m going to throw up.”
“For fuck’s sa—” Perseus bit his tongue.
Though it was her fault for being stubborn, he didn’t want her to suffer.
“Just…breathe, okay?” He gently rubbed circles on her back.
An idea popped into his head. “Hold on.” Reaching for her discarded backpack, he shoved his hand inside. “You should have a…found it.”
“What is it?”
He pulled out a long metal cylinder that resembled a can of bug spray with a plastic cup at the tip. “Portable oxygen. Here, push the plastic end against your mouth. That’s it.” He placed his finger on the trigger. “Take a deep breath on three. One, two, three.”
She inhaled as he pushed the trigger. He repeated it twice more.
“Feel better?”
“A little bit.” She rubbed at her breastbone. “My chest doesn’t feel so tight, and I’m less dizzy.”
“Good. Take a few more huffs, but not too much. It’s only meant for emergencies and doesn’t have a lot of oxygen. I have a can, too, and Gaurav probably carries one as well. Once you’re better, we can start hiking back down.”
She shook her head. “No, we can’t. We’re close to Sirbhajun, aren’t we? Shouldn’t take too long now.”
“If the rope bridge is up, sure.”
“So, we can’t turn back now, not when we’re practically there.”
She truly was stubborn. “Your altitude sickness is only going to get worse from here. Sirbhajun is a few more thousand feet up. You’ll have to go to a lower altitude and wait for your body to acclimate. Once you get some rest, we’ll try again in a few days.”
“A few days? We can’t wait that long.” She shook her head vehemently. “I’ll take the pills now so that I’ll be good by tomorrow, but we can’t stop. I’ll rest when we get there. They’ll probably have more oxygen there too.”
He tsked. “It’s going to take too long. You’re going to need more breaks as we ascend, and by the time we reach our destination, we may as well have just turned back.”
“Well, I’m not going back.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re being unreasonable, Medusa.”
“And we came all this way. I won’t be the reason we fail. I can rest once we get there and take more oxygen. Can’t we just find a faster way up? There must be another way.”
There was but…
She cocked her head to the side. “Wait, you do have an alternate plan, don’t you?”
He did, but… “You really insist on going forward?”
“Absolutely.”
“And I can’t change your mind?”
“No.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Alright then. I’ve studied the map, looking for alternate routes. In my wolf form, I should be able to scale the side of the mountain and be there in about two hours, one if I don’t stop.”
Actually, if it was just him, he could have made the entire trip from the bottom in half a day. When he was younger, his father used to take him and his brother Theo mountain climbing in their wolf form all the time. He had said that even though they were sea wolves, it was good training for them.
Thank you, Dad.
“How would that help me?”
“Since you insist on going forward, I can carry you on my back, and we could reach the village sooner, and you can get some rest and more oxygen.”
“But what do we do about Gaurav? He doesn’t know you’re a shifter, right?”
He thought for a moment. “I’ll leave our packs here, along with a note to tell him to head to the village, and we’ll meet him there.
We’re paying him too much for him to be asking questions, so don’t worry about him discovering our secret.
But, are you sure you’ll be able to make it all the way to the village without passing out?
You’ll have to hang on to me because it’s going to be pretty steep. ”
She held up the oxygen can. “I’ll take a few puffs of this when I start to feel sick. One or two hours isn’t so bad.” She gently ran her hands over head. “Thank the gods and goddesses, my snakelets don’t seem to be affected as much as I am.”
“Snakelets?”
She patted the side of her head. “You know.”
Oh, right. Instead of hair, gorgons had snakes, which was probably why she kept her head covered.
“I’m surprised you didn’t recoil and let me fall when I fainted.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Aren’t you afraid of snakes? Or disgusted by them?”
“Why should I be?” The thought never even occurred to him.
“Your snakes are a part of you, just as my wolf is part of me.” Even behind her glasses, he could feel her stare at him.
“Speaking of which…” He stood up to his feet and turned away from her.
“We really should get going. Gaurav might be on his way back.”
“Wait, where are you going?”
He glanced back at her. “I need to take off my clothes to shift.”
An awkward pause hung in the air. “Oh. Right. Um.” Shifting around, she faced the other way. “Go ahead.”
He handed her his phone and the map for safekeeping. “Check inside your backpack and look for straps or rope. Wrap it around my chest once I’m in my wolf form, so you can use it to secure yourself to me.”
Dropping his own backpack, Perseus shed his clothes, letting them fall to the ground before dropping on all fours to change into his wolf.
As he shifted, it wasn’t just his physical body that altered, but his senses too.
In this form, smells were sharper, and his ears could pick up the smallest sounds.
Padding over to her, he nudged her hand with a nose.