Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Vhaena
DINNER WITH A DEMON
Ihad no choice but to follow him.
What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t outrun him, and I certainly couldn’t fight him.
The venom had taken more out of me than I thought—more than I had let on.
Even after he had extracted it, my body shook from the exertion of simply standing.
I didn’t want the demon to realize how weak I was—that even walking was a struggle.
Because what happened when prey seemed injured? Predators pounced.
I still didn’t trust him. Not one bit. Sure, I had a momentary lapse in judgment when he took off his shirt and all my mental faculties turned me into a dumbstruck fool; drooling at the glistening abs, rippling muscles, and wounds he’d acquired while fighting another demon to save me.
But I blamed it all on the venom. That had to be it.
A croak came from above, the sound irritating me.
My eyes flicked up to see the raven landing on another limb.
He had been flying from tree to tree this whole time.
I was getting really tired of seeing him.
Every single time it made me think of Neo, which only made me think of home—and that led to me thinking about my family.
“How far away is it?” I asked as I followed behind the demon.
“At this rate? A full day. But if you’d let me carry—”
“I’m fine. Thanks,” I clipped.
Another croak sounded, and I was ready to pluck the bird’s feathers one by one.
My breathing was labored, and my legs strained for every step. They felt like dead weight, moving only because I begged them to. The demon had to slow his pace twice now so I didn’t fall too far behind.
There wasn’t much to take in as far as landscape. Just trees, trees, and more trees. But the terrain was becoming rougher as the land turned into steeper and steeper hills.
We remained silent as we walked. But it was awkward.
I felt like I should have said something, but I had no idea what.
He wasn’t speaking either, though I could tell he wanted to.
He had turned his head a few times, taking in a breath like he was about to say something, but then changed his mind and looked forward again.
At least with Inka, we had distracted each other by telling stories clinging to scraps of normalcy while the demons hunted us.
Surprisingly, thinking of her now didn’t bring the pang of sorrow I had expected.
Perhaps it was because I only knew her for such a short amount of time.
Or maybe it was because my heart was already in ruins.
My brother’s death had gutted me so completely, there was nothing left to mourn with.
Not having given myself the chance to grieve, I felt hollow, unable to carry any more anguish.
And yet, here I was, walking with the very thing responsible for every death my heart had been shattered by—blindly following a demon.
The exhaustion kept me from thinking about it too much. All of my concentration was dedicated to moving one foot in front of the other. That and the hunger twisting my empty stomach. Add in that I was sweating from the heat, and my mood had turned sour quickly.
Not to mention, I was on edge. I needed to find a way to get away from the demon. Maybe if I could get him to leave for just a bit, I could run off and hide.
“Can we find some food?” My question came out harsher than I intended, more like a demand, but at that moment I didn’t really care.
If I had to keep walking, I needed something to fuel my strength. I had filled my stomach with water back at the stream, but it only staved off the hunger for a short while.
“If we can get to the river, there’s plenty of fish,” the demon said over his shoulder but with a mocking tone.
“You just said it was going to take another full day.” I glared daggers into his back.
“Well, then either hurry your ass up or let me carry you. The sooner we get there, the sooner you can get food and rest.”
“But aren’t you hungry, too? I haven’t seen you eat anything all day.” The sun was lowering more and more, and while I was glad that I was nearing another day that I had survived this place, I dreaded the darkness that would blanket this place.
“I don’t really need to eat right now.” He shrugged.
“That doesn’t solve my problem,” I snapped.
The demon stopped and half turned around to face me. “Are you okay?”
I came to a halt with a huff. “I’m tired. I’m hungry. My feet hurt, and I’m traveling with a demon on an island full of other demons hunting me. Plus, I have a stupid bird following me who keeps reminding me of… Ugh. Never mind.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. Only stared. I wished I could have seen his expressions. I was sick of staring at a mask.
He grunted dismissively.
The nerve!
“What, you don’t agree? It’s not exactly normal for someone to be followed by a raven. Even for a demon.” Everyone who ever noticed Neo had always asked about it.
“You carry around a spoon and use it as a weapon. A bird flying around you is the least abnormal thing about you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well to answer your earlier question, no. I’m not okay,” I said, groaning.
“Want me to cook the raven?” he asked with a twinge of humor in his voice.
“No,” I said quickly. As much as I despised the raven at the moment, I didn’t want to eat him. He actually made me feel safer for some reason… “But can we please find some food?!”
His head rose at my tone, and I could only imagine what he was thinking. “The fact you’re using manners tells me that would be wise.”
He probably thought I was crazy or something. Good. Maybe I could annoy him enough to get him to leave.
Being hungry was something I wasn’t used to. No matter how many problems my family had had, an empty stomach wasn’t one of them.
“But you need to actually be quiet so we can catch something.”
The idea of cooked meats made my mouth water.
“I doubt there are any animals on the island. I haven’t seen a single one this whole time except for that creeping rock-spider thing.”
“It’s called a felskreicher, and there are plenty of animals here. Deer, squirrels, hares, and foxes; just to name a few. And you haven’t seen any because you don’t pay attention to your surroundings. Plus, you’re loud as fuck,” he said pointedly.
I spun in a slow circle, glancing all around, then turned back to him with a challenging stare and whispered, “Oh, look. I’m being quiet, and I’m not seeing any animals.”
I felt his eyes narrow. “No, you’re not quiet.
Not even close. In addition to not speaking, you have to silence your movements.
” He pointed to the ground. “Your feet shuffle the leaves and scatter rocks when you walk.” He then pointed at my mouth.
“Your breaths are too audible.” Then he gestured to my whole body with his hand.
“On top of that, you don’t know how to make yourself invisible so that you can sneak up on your prey. ”
I felt slightly attacked, his words hitting hard. Maybe he was right. I mean, of course he was. I didn’t know what I was doing, and he clearly did. He had had no issues sneaking up on me completely undetected.
My head fell, and I lowered my voice. “You’re right.” I wasn’t above humbling myself and admitting it. “I’m not exactly trained to survive this, you know. I can probably be quiet if I try hard enough, but I have no idea how to be invisible.”
“I know,” he mumbled.
I looked up at him with narrowed eyes from beneath my lashes. “Could you just go find something? Please. I can stay here so I don’t mess it up.”
“No.”
“Why?” I demanded.
“Because you can come with me, and I’ll teach you. I can’t do all the work of keeping you alive. The least you can do is try feeding yourself.” I could hear the smirk behind his mask.
Damn it. That wasn’t what I wanted him to say because that didn’t get him away from me.
“But what if I mess it up?”
“Then, you won’t eat.”
“Fine.” I blew out a breath, hating him for using the possibility of food against me.
He raised his chin a bit. “Good. Now, follow me and do exactly what I do.”
I tried to follow in his exact footsteps, avoiding rocks and leaves on the ground, keeping my feet light.
Controlling my breath was an issue. I hadn’t realized how loud my breathing was until he mentioned it—and now that he had, I noticed that I could hardly hear his.
It was truly eerie how someone so much larger than me could move so silently.
He moved swiftly between the trees, sticking to the denser areas and using them as coverage where he could. I tried to keep up, pushing through the weariness weighing me down.
He held up a hand and pressed himself against the bark of a tree, flicking his hand for me to do the same. I remained on my toes, mindful of the leaves piled at the base of the tree. He peered around, and I did the same.
Long ears protruded from the tall grass; a lone rabbit sitting in front of a bush. The demon was certainly right about one thing: I had no awareness of my surroundings. Not with the keen eye that I needed here. I hadn’t seen it until he pointed it out. I doubt I ever would have.
The demon lowered ever so slowly, crouching down and growing incredibly still.
I didn’t move, too nervous that I’d give us away.
But then he reached up and slowly wrapped his hand around my wrist, pulling me down gently without so much as looking at me.
After letting go, he turned his head ever so slightly and pressed a finger to his mask against the slashes at his mouth.
Then, he moved. In the blink of an eye, he leapt from behind the tree with a speed I couldn’t fathom. One second he was beside me, and the next he held the rabbit in his hands, neck broken.
All I could do was gape at him when he walked back toward me. If he could move and hide like that, surprise an animal as fast as a rabbit, I truly didn’t stand a chance against him or anyone else.
I have to get away.