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"You're going to get in the fucking way," Vayne snarled.
"No I won't," I argued. "I've spent my whole life learning how to blend into the background. No one will ever know I was there. Can any of you say the same thing?"
"I can," Tavian said. "I've had assassin training."
"I can be stealthy," Vayne grumbled.
"Maybe Ryze should stay behind," I suggested, not thinking for a moment anyone would agree to that.
"Hardly." Ryze snorted. "Fine, you can come with us, but both of you follow orders, or I'll open a portal and shove you through it. I may not open it to somewhere pleasant either. I know of a nasty swamp on the southern tip of the Autumn Court. It will take you weeks to get out of it, but you'll never forget the smell." He made a face that said he was remembering it right now.
"All right, let's not stand here and wait for a border patrol to find us." He pushed his pack higher up his shoulders and started towards the hill.
Vayne gave me another dark look and turned to follow him.
Tavian gestured for Zared and I to go next, then stepped in behind us.
"Are you angry at us?" I asked over my shoulder.
"Not really," he said lightly. "I would have been surprised if you didn't do something like this. You seem to act first and think about it later. I like that in my people. Although, I'm going to be pissed off if either of you get killed."
"Me too," Zared said. "I'm not planning on dying or letting Khala die."
"Then you should have stayed in Lysarial," Vayne growled. "You might wish you ended up in a swamp."
We made our way through the grass, skirting around places where it was taller.
"We don't want anyone to step on a serpent," he said. "They tend to be cranky about that kind of thing."
Vayne muttered something that sounded like, "I know how they feel." He gave us both a glance over his shoulder, but his glare was mostly for Zared.
Did I imagine a flash of worry in his eyes when he looked at me? I hoped to the gods it wasn't justified. I knew jumping in on this expedition was dangerous, reckless. But if Tyla was one of the women left in the Summer Court, I owed it to her to try to get her out. It could just as easily have been her who escaped with the three Fae men. It could have been her Ryze pounded into during her heat. It could have been her mouth…
I forced those distracting thoughts away and focused on ducking under a branch. The gods only knew what she was going through, while the worst thing I suffered was being lied to. I was pissed off, but things might have been a lot worse.
"I've never seen a real serpent," I said. "Just drawings and paintings of them. Do they really glitter like jewels?"
"Yes, they do," Tavian said. "They're beautiful. Which is the point, of course. They're meant to attract their prey before they eat them."
"Much like women," Vayne said.
"Fuck off," I told him. I hadn't heard him complaining when his cock was down my throat. Either time.
"I'm starting to understand how Ryze feels about not getting any respect," Vayne remarked.
"Does that mean you're going to start giving me some respect?" Ryze asked.
"Doubtful," Vayne said.
"I thought you might say that." Ryze stopped still. He gestured for us to be quiet and ducked down low.
We quickly followed suit just before a group of border scouts walked into view. Like us, they wore brown and green to fit into their surroundings. It wasn't surprising we didn't see them until the last moment. I was absolutely convinced they saw us until they were past us and out of sight.
Ryze jerked his head to the side and motioned for us to stand and follow him.
We kept close together, moving slowly and quietly.
After a couple of minutes, Tavian tapped my elbow to get my attention and signed, "This is the border."
