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Was that the manly answer for “get me to the hospital now?”
I lifted my gaze and surveyed the surrounding homes. From my rooftop position, I could see several offshoots to the main road and rooftops extended beyond the first two sets. Good enough to know there was more to this place.
Turning back to Vorx, I said, “Let’s head back and get you and Gyrik looked at by Cassie.”
“Are you sure?” Turik asked. “There are more markings on your map.”
“Ryan said not to take risks. We now have two wounded fey on top of a very close call. That hellhound shouldn’t have come after me in daylight. We need to head back and let the others know.”
Turik grunted and scooped me up.
Nestled in his arms, I watched Vorx’s effort to stand and acknowledged just how much I owed the fey. If he and the others hadn’t stopped the hellhound, I would have been laying among the infected bodies by now.
I tipped my head to look up at Turik’s grim face.
I owed them both.
CHAPTERTEN
After witnessingGyrik and Vorx’s struggles to get home, I tried not to think about my stinging legs as I knocked on the door in front of me. My discomfort seemed so trivial compared to theirs.
The door swung open, and Ryan’s mother took one look at me before ushering us in. Eden and Ghua already stood in the entry. They were dirty but not bloody like Turik and I were.
Aware of my filth, I didn’t move any farther into the house after Julie shut the door behind us.
“What happened?” she asked.
“We had a run-in with a hellhound and a large herd of infected,” I said. “Vorx and Gyrik were hurt. They’re already at Cassie’s, getting stitched by Kerr.” I looked at Eden. “Did your group run into trouble too?”
“No. Just the opposite. I think we found the perfect place. It’s a cluster of at least fifty houses around a large pond with fish. Cattle here. Fish there. It’s a match made in heaven. What about you? Did you find anything?”
“The neighborhood where we ran into the hellhound might be an option. I didn’t count the houses, but it looked like a decent number.” I handed over the map to Julie. “I crossed out the locations that wouldn’t work and marked the one that might. Can you let Ryan know? I want to get back to Vorx.”
“Of course. Tell Vorx we’re thinking of him, and let us know if you need anything.”
I nodded and led the way out of the house.
“He’ll be okay, right?” I asked Turik yet again.
“He will be in much pain for several days, but he will heal.”
The answer didn’t make me feel any better than it had the first time he’d said it.
“If I hadn’t been there, that hellhound wouldn’t have—”
Turik stopped and turned me toward him.
“No. My brothers and I need to kill every last hound to save the humans who remain. Do you understand? Humans are our hope, Shelby. Each of my brothers will risk himself to protect our futures. Vorx’s injuries are not your fault. They are a necessary step in obtaining what he wants most.”
Females. Just like every other fey. And that was why they seemed so chill when I warned them about Nat. Not that they weren’t taking the threat seriously. They were simply chalking up dealing with him as another necessary step.
I slowly nodded, hating that the fey were risking so much when it felt like I’d risked so little. Sure, leaving Nat hadn’t been easy. It continued to terrify me. Yet, the idea of facing a hellhound like they did made the threat of Nat seem laughable in comparison.
We walked the rest of the way to Cassie’s in silence and let ourselves in without knocking, as she’d instructed since it was nap time for the kids.
“How’s it going?” I asked softly, just inside the door, knowing Kerr would hear.
A minute later, Cassie joined us, her expression pinched.
