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Leisurely, she stretched one arm then the other. “Neither do I.”
“Now, Evelian. Or I will carry you myself.”
“You touch me and I’ll finish what your brother started,” Lily growled. “Whatever deadline you have can wait a few hours.”
The agitated curl of Draven’s shadows snapped to a slow suspension around his body. His lips parted before immediately clamping shut. He looked to the ground, and Lily frowned, stunned she weaseled a reaction out of him.
The curiosity didn’t last long. He recovered not two seconds later.
Draven chuckled. Raking a hand through his hair, he began to circle them, shadows calmer but still graying his skin. Lily held firm, but she knew physical confidence couldn’t hide her uncertainty lurking under the surface. The only thing stopping her limbs from shaking was how tightly Luka clung to her.
Draven lifted his palm up in a show of complacency. “You can rest.”
“R-Really?”
“There’s not much I can do without getting too close, unfortunately. Compelling you to happily walk for me is an idea, but I’d be embarrassed returning you to the Argents with feet that are little more than worn bone.” When he disappeared behind her, she was yanked by the foot until her back hit the ground. Lily winced before sitting up onto her elbows, finding a shadow coiled around her ankle and Draven standing over her. “Dragging you isn’t ideal either.”
Lily’s body tensed as she stared up at him. A wicked gleam crossed his eyes before he glanced behind her. She gasped, spinning around to see Luka cowering not far away.
What am I doing? Being reckless with her own life was one thing, but it wasn’t hers she was actually gambling with.
“I will give you three hours.”
Lily’s focus returned to Draven casually walking away. He waved a conceding hand in the air as the shadows receded back into his own.
“There’s food and water in your packs.”
His body was swallowed by the shade of a tree.
Luka scrambled back to Lily. They held each other, staring at the spot where Draven vanished, until the humidity in the air died and the breeze cooled the sweat dripping down her neck.
“Your heart is bumping my ear,” Luka said. A laugh burst from her chest, urging him to laugh too. “That was so scary.”
“It was stupid,” Lily corrected, her fear threatening to bring tears to the surface. “So damn stupid.”
He loosened in her arms enough she was able to relax herself. She pressed her hands to her chest until her pulse slowed.
Take what you can get, but don’t push too far. Three hours had to do.
Lily spared only a moment to properly look through their bags again, finding food in the front pouches. Starfruits in one and some kind of jerky in the other. She sniffed it and was immediately hit with the familiar sensations of Rimore’s musty air and a vague memory of the palace kitchens.
Pride pushed the jerky back to the bottom of the bag as she chose to eat the fruit. Luka munched on his eagerly while Lily did the same. She hoped Draven wasn’t watching while she changed her clothing into something better for travel, making Luka do the same when he was done eating.
Lily finally collapsed on the ground. Luka fell by her side, but she was wide awake now.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” he asked.
“He will.” Luka whined softly, and Lily fixed her answer to something that wasn’t so cryptic. “Get some sleep in the meantime.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll keep watch.”
“Aren’t you tired?”
She smiled at the memories trickling in. “Don’t worry about me.”
Sleep sounded excellent, but she didn’t trust the Serpent not to strike when her back was turned. Lily stared up at the brightening sky, tapping her fingers on her belly and reminiscing about stakeouts and early morning deals, ghosted rifle in hand, Reina and Xavier by her side. The memories, alongside Luka’s rhythmic breathing, brought back peace with exhaustion. She curled onto her side and placed a loose arm over the boy’s shoulder.
