“Where are you going?” she whispers, her scent screaming the words she’s not saying.
She’s scared.
Of me, the storm, or the wound on her hand, I don’t know. But there’s only one thing that matters now.
That we find a way to veer the course of this brewing tragedy.
“To get our swords. Tell Kai we’ll meet him by the cliff at Lotton Cove. That if he’s not there by sundown, I’ll skin him alive.”
Her eyes widen as I spin on my heel and leave.
Rhordyn charges through the jungle so fast the world is a nauseating smear, forcing me to tuck my face against his flickering tattoos and squeeze my eyes shut, raindrops splatting my fervid skin like icy bolts. A pattered relief to the fire in my veins.
I slip between layers of consciousness.
Dropping away …
… Coming to.
The jungle’s colors have gone from blues and browns and steely shades to a much darker smudge of it all.
Is the sun beginning to set? Are we getting closer?
Nervous bubbles explode in my chest at the thought of seeing my best friend for the first time in over a month; guilt, shame, confusion, and fear a volley of fisted blows to my ribs.
I don’t want him seeing me like this …
I just want to hide. Curl up and sleep. Rhordyn should take me back to the cavern where we can ride out the week together, cloistered away from the world.
Enjoy the time we have.
It always felt stolen, anyway. Like a dream. A precious trinket that was doomed to rust in my chest.
Now I understand why.
The constant bumping wreaks havoc on my bladder, making me groan into Rhordyn’s chest. “Stop, please …”
His feet slam to a halt so fast I almost spontaneously vomit, looking up into his sooty eyes. “I need a bush break.”
That might turn into a spew break.
Not even breathing hard, he sets me on the ground, snatching me around the waist when my legs give way.
“I’m fine,” I tell him. “Just … displacement.” Though I do wonder why the ground is tipping. Bulging, like it doesn’t know which shape it wants to be.
My teeth chatter despite the fact that my blood is lava, my fake skin feeling tighter than ever.
Fingers tangling with my necklace, I yank gently. “Can I take off my—”
“Definitely not.”
Bit rude. He didn’t even take time to consider it.
I sigh, wondering if he would be opposed to me shedding adifferentlayer, like my pants or my to—
“Your clothes stay on.”
Didn’t realize I even said that out loud.
