Chapter 22
Without thinking, I ended up back at the abandoned base. Trash and non-necessities still littered the area. Including my hammock.
The emptiness reminded me that I was alone, and things were better that way.
I flopped into the netted bed with a loud breath of relief that came from my toes. This felt right.
Here, I was an outsider, and that was what I needed. Life was safer when I knew that I didn’t belong.
A huge portion of me yearned to go back, but that was exactly why I couldn’t. My eyes fluttered closed as the exhaustion from everything hit me.
It was easier to rest now.
A rustle in the distance made my eyes pop open, and I was surprised to see the night sky and stars. The rustling to my right came again, this time closer.
Idiot, you don’t have a fire. It’s probably a predator.
“Hey!” I announced my presence and turned on my flashlight, hoping it would scare whatever critter was sauntering up. Only to find the monster walking up, coated in a sheen of blood.
The term monster was becoming more and more distasteful even in my mind, but I also didn’t like the names Defect or Rot. Everything felt unnatural to think, much less say.
As he got closer, I saw the gleam of disapproval in his eyes, and I remembered that I’d left the nest when I knew he didn’t want me to. I hadn’t even been thinking about it at the time. The only thought I had was to escape.
The loud chatter of a rattle made me freeze as I realized an entire family of rattlesnakes rested on my body. They must have sensed my warmth and cuddled up by the proverbial fire.
I froze, making sure not to have any more shaky movements. In my pocket was some cinnamon spray that would be perfect for making them scatter, but I wasn’t sure if I could twist my body and get in that pocket without disturbing them.
I slowly reached, but another rattle started up. A duet of ‘you fucked up’ made by nature herself. How had I not noticed all the weight sitting on my torso, but heard him walking through leaves?
“What are you guys even doing here?’ I whispered so my voice wouldn’t vibrate. “The sage should have kept you out of here.”
“Just move them,” the monster grumbled when he got closer.
“These sweet babies are highly poisonous,” I informed him. “I’ll be dead before I make it to a hospital if I startle them.”
“The swamp chose you,” he said. “That’s why they are there.”
His words made me pause. I licked my lips. “You said it was because I fucked up.”
“That’s what I tell myself.” The soft confession caught me off guard. “But I don’t think you would have found the nest if the land hadn’t guided you there. The same way it chose me.”
Guiding was too gentle a word for dropping me into this mess.
Unease went through me, and I wanted to say there was no way to move four snakes without triggering one. But he couldn’t give a helping hand with the sage between us, and he wouldn’t let me do something stupid that would kill him too.
What if he is wrong?
There was no science to his words. It was based on ‘the swamp’s’ decision. Blind faith, if I’d ever seen it.
I took a deep breath. Whether it was faith or not, I couldn’t stay like this. I could wait for them to go off on their own, but I’d piss off one sooner rather than later. A single mistimed sneeze would kill me.
Sack up, Talia.
My heart sped up as I slowly reached for the closest snake to my hand. My fingers ran across their bumpy, slick skin. When I opened my fingers to wrap them around its body, it snapped at my thumb. My breathing caught, but I didn’t dare yank away. That was a recipe for disaster.
I should’ve waited for them to go on their own.
After a long second of holding still, the snake slithered into my grasp like an obedient puppy.
I gasped at the way it wrapped around my arm and rested its head against me.
As if it knew I wouldn’t harm them if they didn't hurt me. I’d spent plenty of time around snakes, and I’d never seen one that wasn’t a pet behave like that.
What kind of magic did this monster have that would change how animals treated me?
Each one allowed me to wrap it around my limbs without any fuss. They must have only gotten upset because I startled them jerking around for my light.
It was easy to secure them onto me. Rot took a step forward as if to help. Fire blazed up my foot and through my blood until he stepped back with a hiss.
The vivid image of me flipping the hammock and ending up on the ground with some pissed off snakes filled my mind, but I couldn’t give whosoever fear that was any attention.
I slowly rolled to the side he stood. There was a jerky moment where all of them complained with a warning rattle, but I got to my feet smoothly enough that they kept their fangs to themselves.
After that, the task was easy enough. I escorted them a few yards away, crouching down to the ground. At first they coiled tighter around my limbs, refusing to go.
Shit. What now?
“It’s time to go, guys.”
One by one they released and slithered in the darkness. One even looked back at me as if it was disappointed I was hogging all the warmth. Tears pricked my eyes.
It was amazing. It was a shame I hadn’t trusted the process, so I could have enjoyed the experience more.
My hands shook, yet my mind was steady. When I turned, I found him staring at me like he couldn’t believe I’d actually done it.
Stupid human I was.
“You should come back to the nest. It’s safer for you,” he told me.
I pushed past him to start a fire in the pit. “No.”
He glared when I went back to my hammock. Part of him kicked himself for pushing me away from the nest. His mouth opened to say something, but his jaw snapped together to stop himself. Please.
“As you wish,” he snarled instead, lying on the ground outside the sage patch with a loud huff. It was almost comical to see him belly down there like an enormous guard gator.
The calm silence was awkward and made me squirm.
Where was the conflict?
“I’m going to start calling you Snuggle Bunny.” The words left my lips before even thinking about it. Was I trying to start a fight? I bit my lip once I realized what I’d done. No man or beast worth his salt would let me call him that. Especially not the ferocious Lizardman.
Especially not someone who’d already responded less than favorably when I asked for their real name.
He froze with shock, and searing heat filled my face. It was mortifying.
After a long moment, he chuckled but didn’t open his eyes. I could swear in the crackle of the fire that there was a grin on his face. “Good night, Talia.”
No rage. No insistence that he was a monster, and Rot was a good name for a swamp monster that would kill you from the inside out with one bite. Instead, there was a calm I couldn’t wrap my brain around.
“Good night, Snuggle Bunny.” The words sounded bemused even to my ears, but instead of evaluating what happened, I closed my eyes.
Sleeping was a much better option than whatever nonsense this was.
Would he be there when I woke up?
Why did he come back to me?
The idea that he would stay made my nerves soothe and ache at the same time.
Whether he stayed or left, his hand was wrapped around my throat, ready to choke me the moment I made the wrong move.