“Why not?”
“Because lives are at stake,” I said.
“Yourlife is at stake if you keep up this ridiculous charade. You’re out of your depth here. If anyone else had caught you reacting this way, or throwing your guts up, you wouldn’t see another sunrise. They don’t tolerate this kind of behavior.” His tone was biting, but he didn’t raise his voice. “One slip up, and you’re done. Is that worth it to you?” He narrowed his eyes, maybe trying to convince me to reconsider.
“I’m not sentencing the people I care about to die by being a coward.” I snapped back, snatching my bow and rising to my feet. He stood at the same time I did, his frame now towering over me. Something flashed across his eyes that I couldn’t read. Still, my scowl did not falter. I would not back down or retreat. My people needed me, so I would bury my self-pity and keep moving forward.
I expected him to yell, or snarl, or argue further. Instead, he relented. “Then that facade you put on better not slip again.”
It was a truce. An understanding. For some reason, he had my back, and the warning reminder was sobering like a bucket ofcold water splashed on a drunk. I couldn’t afford getting sucked into my emotions, not if I wanted to survive this trip.
37
Dae
The urge to tear through the cooling flesh in my mouth persisted. When was the last time I’d eaten a full meal, especially in my tiger form? Droplets of drool hung stickily from my jowls as I fought the urge to satisfy the gnawing hunger in my gut.
If I hadn’t shifted, the tantalizing desire of a fresh kill wouldn’t be drawing me in, but the energy expenditure would be too great. An ache still resided in my thigh, and this boar must have weighed nearly three hundred pounds, a testament to how much a solitary creature can forage when it’s basically the only scavenger.
“Gods I’m so hungry,”I mentally grumbled to myself.
Ro kept pace several yards ahead of me, but halted, her last arrow docked and primed on a target in my direction. I stilled, concentrating my primal senses. She searched the woods behind me, never landing on anything specific. My ear twitched, but even after a few seconds, I hadn’t detected anything.
Whatever she thought she heard, she also decided there was nothing. She lowered her weapon, a wrinkle creasing her brow before she turned and resumed. Occasionally, through the foggy aroma of meat curling around my nostrils, I caught glimpses of her scent.
I couldn’t pinpoint the exact notes, processing smells differently as a feline, but she smelled like dawn. Refreshing, and warm, and new. Dare I say, hopeful. It was like greeting an old friend, reviving the memory of a different time. It had been too long since there’d been any brightness in my life. Consumed with the same daily routines, surrounded by power hungry people more vicious than any animal instinct could ever match, I’d been withering without the light of hope, such as a plant left in a dark room. I’d almost forgotten it existed at all.
Especially being near that gods damned Black Pool, where everything was stripped of its essence and left in oblivion. I didn’t want Ro anywhere near it, didn’t want her light to be smothered by decay and obsession and hatred.
“I need to convince her to leave.”
“Dae?” she spun on her heel, facing me. “Did you say something?”
“Is she losing her mind? I’m a tiger and my mouth is currently stuffed with dead boar.”
“I can’t believe it.”
I spat the carcass from my mouth, letting it tumble to the soft ground. Her voice had carried, but her mouth hadn’t moved. She’d sounded like she was right beside me, speaking into my ear.
“I didn’t know this could work with shifters. I can hear your thoughts,”she said, her eyes alight with discovery.
“Ro?”Was I losingmymind? “How are you doing this?”
“This is my magic.”
“So you do have magic.”
“Are you going to use it against me?”Her hands balled, but not in anger, with worry.
“Never,” I replied into this strange hollow void that usually only contained my own thoughts.“This is kind of incredible. I’ve never communicated with anyone in this form, not even other creatures.”
Ro’s eyes dipped to the carcass at my paws.
“Face forward,”I snapped. “Ignore it.”Her emotions were frayed. Lingering on what she’d done would only strip her defenses, and that would put her at risk once we returned to the others. I bent down, hauling the creature between my teeth again. She didn’t argue, simply listened and continued walking.
After a silent stretch of time, she asked, “Why did you vouch for me last night?”Her gentle voice caressed the walls of my mind without even glancing in my direction. It was a strange intrusion, but not one of discomfort.
“I told you, I don’t think you deserve to die.”
