How stupid could I be? No creature on land’s ever been a friend of mine.
I try to stand, but my legs aren’t listening. A tingling starts at my ankles, spreading fast. Something’s wrong, but by the time I realize it, I’m already losing my balance. The world tilts, and I collapse, hitting the ground with a thud. My vision blurs, and my limbs feel heavy, like they don’t belong to me.
Zayan’s hands are on me in an instant, shaking me. “Gypsy!” His voice sounds distant, like he’s shouting through water. “Hey! What’s happening?”
I blink, trying to focus, but the world’s spinning. His face swims in and out of view, drenched in sweat and worry. “My… ankle,” I manage to mumble, but the words barely leave my lips.
What is happening to me…?
Zayan lifts my leg, and the moment he does, the world goes from bad toworse. The sound of everything—leaves, bugs, water—it’s all too loud, crashing over me like waves. My head’s pounding, every sound feeling like a knife in my skull.
“What’s… on her skin?” Vinicola asks, his voice grating against my ears.
“Don’t shout,” I mutter, but it’s useless. My own voice is too loud, and everything’s too much.
Zayan doesn’t answer right away, but I feel his hands moving, brushing something sticky off my leg. “We need to wash it off. Now.”
They half-carry, half-drag me toward the sound of running water, Zayan hacking through the jungle with his dagger. Each swing feels like a jolt through my body, like the air itself is vibrating with too much intensity. My legs are dead weight, and the numbness is creeping higher, turning everything sluggish and heavy.
The sound of the stream grows louder, like thunder pounding in my head. By the time we reach it, I’m on the verge of throwing up. I hit Zayan’s shoulder weakly, trying to let him know.
He lowers me to my knees carefully, gathering my hair back as I retch, my stomach turning from the overwhelming noise and dizziness.
“It’s always something with you, isn’t it, love?” His voice comes softer than usual, but there’s tension beneath it. Not his usual teasing edge, but something deeper. “Gotta wash your leg off from whatever it is you stepped into.”
If I weren’t feeling like death, I might kick him for calling me “love” again. But all I can manage is a groan, somewhere between a grunt and a sigh. I’m too weak to do anything else.
I hate it—this helplessness, this reliance on him. Being at anyone’s mercy makes my skin crawl. I’m too weak to do anything about it, though, and that only fuels my frustration.
“Okay.” His voice drops lower, more gentle than I’ve ever heard it, and I feel his arms tighten around me as he lifts me again, cradling me like I’m something fragile. The numbness crawling up my legs has me sagging in his grip.
The cold water hits me, sloshing against my leg, and the relief is instant. Not enough, though. It’s just a small comfort, enough to pull me back from the edge but not enough to stop the pain. My head is pounding, my ears buzzing, and even the sharp cold of the stream can’t fully pull me back.
“What’s happening to her?” Vinicola’s voice breaks through, sounding even more shaky than usual. I can’t see him, but I feel the splash as he wades into the water beside us.
“Some kind of plant toxin,” Zayan mutters. “She must’ve stepped into something. I keep trying to wash it but it stained her skin.”
Vinicola’s closer now, and I can hear the tremble in his breath as he fumbles to help. His hands, clumsy and shaking, join Zayan’s in scrubbing at my ankle, trying to rid me of whatever poison is creeping through my veins.
“Will she be okay?” His voice is barely a whisper.
Zayan doesn’t answer immediately. I don’t think he does at all.
My fingers dig into the earth beneath me, nails clawing at the dirt. I need to feel something solid, something that proves I’m still here, still alive. But everything’s slipping. The numbness in my leg is creeping upward, tightening around my chest, and all I can do is hold on.
“Stay with me, love.” Zayan’s voice cuts through the haze, but it sounds distant, like he’s a hundred miles away. “Don’t you dare go anywhere without me. You hear me?”
I hear him, but it’s like he’s speaking from underwater, his words muffled by the roar in my ears. The numbness is spreading fast, crawling up my spine and coiling around my ribs. I try to speak, try to force something out, but it’s like my mouth won’t obey.
“Zayan…” The word slips from my lips, weak, barely audible. “I can’t… feel anything…”
My body is betraying me. Weak. Helpless. Two things I’ve never allowed myself to be, and yet here I am, lying in the dirt with poison stealing the fight from my limbs. The rage burns hot in my chest, but even that’s slipping away as the darkness pushes in.
Then his hand curls around mine—tight. So tight it’s like he’s trying to anchor me to this world, refusing to let me drift. I feel that. I feel him—his strength, his desperation, his refusal to let go.
It’s the only thing I feel. The only thing keeping me tethered as the rest of me fades.
But even that starts to slip as the blackness swallows me whole.
