Zayden groaned as he put his hand out to help me up. “You know guys, I’m getting a little tired of always having to be the grownup around here. It’s so hard to be me.”
We all looked at him for a second before we started laughing. “What? I’m serious!” He cried out, which just made the three of us laugh even more.
I chanced a glance at Emerald chuckling. She was so beautiful, even with leaves sticking out of her hair and small strands escaping from her face and braid. I shouldn’t have fought with her. I was just so worried about what was going to happen to us all.
It was like she felt me looking at her, and our eyes connected. I tried to tell her with my eyes I was sorry. That I was a fucking idiot and to not hold it against me. Her eyes softened and her mouth tipped up on one side, letting me know she was going to let it go. I didn’t deserve that, but I would appreciate it all the same.
“I’m sorry, Emerald.”
She waved it off. “It’s fine. I would be pissed and not be able to forgive you if I lost that little skirmish, but I didn’t, so it’s water under the bridge.”
She looked around the forest and then took steps closer to us. “I don’t know why they came after us, but I have guesses.” She looked at me, “You are right, they rarely send out Shadow Assassins on patrol duties but last I heard, the fae king called all his guards and people at the border to be more inland, sending out only the best warriors every so often to watch the borders and return home. I just think we were unlucky.”
She looked back out at the forest like she was watching out for them. Rykon got closer to her and whispered, “Then why did it seem like you and that orange haired guy knew each other?”
She crossed her arms, eyes going skyward as she growled, “That was just some male fae bullshit. Nothing more.” That instantly had all three of our backs go straight.
“What the fuck did he say?”
“What do you mean, male bullshit?”
“If he threatened you, we should kill him.”
The last one was from me, but who’s counting?
She looked at us all before she heaved out like it was an inconvenience. “He said something along the lines of being connected, he liked how I fought and wanted to take me home as his wife and put a baby inside me. You know, male shit.”
My pulse quickened as my eye twitched, ears pounding as my hands clenched into fists. I saw Rykon in the corner of my eye and he wasn’t doing any better. His face turned all red as he rolled his neck, his mouth in a thin line as his eyes flooded with rage.
“Where are you going, Zayden?” Emerald called out, and I looked to the other side, Zayden walked at a furious pace towards the camp we just left.
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” He roared out, sounding very much not like himself as his nostrils flared and his eyes had a crazy sort of look to them.
Emerald shook her head and went after him, whispering something to him as Rykon and I stood still, working on trying to calm ourselves down, but it was fucking hard to do when I remembered his smug look and the way his hand beckoned her to him.
I was about to join Zayden when I saw them both coming back, his arms crossed and his face pinched, but the immediate need to take action had left.
I could hear Rykon taking big jagged breaths in and out, trying to settle down the beast inside, and I followed his lead.
“Come on. We need to get close to the mountain and its rocky terrain as quickly as possible,” but I could hear the underlying words she didn’t say,and get away from them as fast as possible.
This time, no one complained as we set a rapid pace, deciding that we needed to get out of here more than sleep. I just hoped that once we got to the shrieking mountains, we had time to recuperate before entering the badlands.
Zayden grumbled as he took out his barely eaten bar and closed his eyes. “Bottoms up.”
Chapter 14
Wewentasfaras we could go without sleep. Zayden, every five minutes, walked into things because his eyes were closing every few seconds. Rykon was noticeably going slower, and while Ajax was trying to keep up with me, I could see the dark circles around his eyes. The guys needed some sleep.
I didn’t feel that way at all. In fact, my body was amped up with all the excitement, buzzing to get rid of the energy it has built up. I wasn’t slowing down, and I kept getting bursts of renewed vigor. I must be feeling the effects of the adrenaline.
I found a decent clearing, about a half day away from the mountains if the map was right, so this was probably far enough. Also, the trees were covering the eastern sky, so they had a few hours of shade before the sun broke over the top. I told the guys that we should stop here and have them take a nap.
Zayden cried out, “Thank the gods!” as he ripped his bag over his head, dropped it on the ground, and curled up next to a rising tree root, mumbling about needing his sleep to be the beautiful prince he was.
Rykon sat down, leaned up against a tree, crossed his legs and closed his eyes. As soon as he did that, he let out these cute little snores that signaled his exhaustion.
Ajax, on the other hand, stood next to me, arms crossed, as he watched the other two. My lip quivered as I held back my smile as I pointed to a good sleeping spot and said, “You know you need some sleep, too.”
