He stepped toward her with a rope in his hand.
Chapter Eight
***
His fingers tightenedon the leash, snapping the weaker threads in half. The female stiffened but did not flee when he tied it back around her waist. Her expression was unreadable except for the glare of cove in her irises.
Vedikus readied for a fight that never came.
She was growing used to his presence. All he had to do now was not spook her. The press of his bulge was uncomfortable against his loincloth, an unneeded distraction. It had quickened the moment he heard her voice for the first time, like a snake in preparation to strike, but had been denied with venom dripping from its mouth. He denied it now and glanced up at the sky.
The sun is at its zenith.
He pulled on the rope and she jerked forward, keeping her balance. “Your wounds are fading. How are you feeling?”
She looked up from the rope to settle her gaze back on him, mystified. “I feel nothing.”
“Can you walk, or do I need to carry you?” Vedikus tried to read her but found it difficult. She stared at him without expression for another long moment. He would carry her even if it put them at a disadvantage in a surprise attack. To keep her flesh upon his was something his body craved. The more he explored her, the more she gave into him.
“I thought you admired strength.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And the truth,” he warned.
“I can walk.”
He studied her for a second longer, before looking at the burned grass in the center of the copse and the pile of strung-out vines thrown about. The tension that barely held him together burned to be released and he clenched his hand around the rope.
High noon was the safest time of day as the worst of the beasts were night-dwellers. The ghouls and wraiths fled to the shadows even if the light was faint, and those that could not find shelter dug themselves deep into the soil. The orc drums had faded hours past. Only the horsemen would be lingering out in the light. The centaurs moved little at night unless it was deemed necessary.
If they were going to slip out from the barrier paths without notice, it would be now, before the first tendrils of evening.
Vedikus knew the female was unwell, disturbed, possibly in denial, but there was nothing more he could do for her here...
Besides keep her breathing.
He led her from the clearing without another word and back into one of the thousand endless passageways of the labyrinth. He sensed her hovering close to his back, keeping the leash slack but not near enough to touch. Not like how she had leaned on him the night before.
