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“Agreed,” he says, his expression hard.
Even his mere touch sends a shiver through Nur. How long will he resist before the bond calls him to do something utterly stupid?
Probably not long enough.
Chapter 9
ARSENE
This time,the hollow easily keeps pace with Arsene. He shudders to think of why.A piece of my soul is fuelling him.How strange—disturbing, even.
At least, itshouldbe disturbing. Instead the memory warms him all the way to the base of his spine.
Three days. He has three days to forget what being fed on felt like.
He has to look past his own discomfort to his greater goal. Once he succeeds in his mission this false bond will fade into nothingness. Until then, he’s strong enough to bear the hollow’s presence if it means returning triumphant to New Yden.
And if his foolish primus howls with glee over having claimed a vergis, he only has to suppress it until the mission is done.
It’s the morning of the seventh day since leaving the caravan when he finally spots their dust plume on the horizon. Relief and anticipation pluck at him equally—this could easily go wrong if the humans object to Arsene’s horned companion, but he’s paradoxically glad to be back on familiar ground. Though the humans might not like him much, it’s better than the oppressive silence and the hollow’s piercing gaze on him day and night.
They reach the camp by evening. A human rides out to greet them on one of the mules—a youngster. Typical human, naive to the dangers of the wastes, she’s not even carrying a knife.
“Who’s there?” she calls into the dusk.
“Hello, camp,” he shouts back, lifting his arm in greeting. His voice crackles with cobwebs from two days of silence and breathing in dust.
“Angel? Is that you?”
“No, it’s another big damn celestial being in the wastes,” he mutters, and Nur makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like he’s choking on laughter. “It’s me!”
“Who’s with you?”
“Stay here,” he tells Nur sharply.
“Sure.” The hollow’s eyes glitter in the fading light.
Arsene approaches the girl. “He’s—an ally. He’s here to help me protect the caravan. Ride ahead and tell Myra I need to speak with her.”
Her gaze flicks past him to the hollow, who’s a shadow on shadows. “Is he like you? An angel?”
“He’s not an angel,” Arsene says shortly, hoping her voice doesn’t carry to Nur. The hollow would probably find it hilarious to be called an angel.
When the girl finally looks at him, she gasps, distracted from her line of questioning. “You’re injured! I’ll tell the doctor right away.”
“I don’t need the doctor?—”
But she’s already turning the mule around and trotting away. Arsene groans.
“I understand why you’re eager to get back to them if they’re all like this.” Nur comes up behind him soundlessly. “That one doesn’t have a grain of sense.”
“She’s barely more than a pup.”
“Even more foolhardy to come alone, then.”
He sighs. What does he gain from arguing? “They’re naive, yes. They’re at the mercy of every bandit or Hellbeast who comes sniffing around the camp,” he says pointedly.
“I told you, I wasn’t in my right mind when I killed that human.”
