I wasn’t trained like Jessiah or his soldiers. That was one of the many reasons I avoided physical danger.
Yet, here we were.
Another stick crunched. Yep. There was definitely something out there. And that thing surely wanted to eat me.
I didn’t dare speak. Neither did Jessiah.
Movement caught my eye to the right, but when I spun, I was too late.
I had seen large animals before, but this was entirely different. A massive, short-haired beast darted from the trees. The large horns of a forest oryx came straight at me, knocking me to the ground before I could react.
I hit the forest floor.
Hard.
With a yell, Jessiah brought his sword down on the animal, and the weight of the body fell off me, but I still couldn’t breathe. The air had been sucked from my lungs with the impact, the surprise of it all, the adrenaline.
“Goddess above, Rummy, are you okay?” He dropped to his knees beside me.
I tried to tell him that I was fine, but I couldn’t form the words.
He loomed over me, his figure dark, but even in the night forest, his eyes were visible as he scanned my body. They froze on my torso, beneath my leather jacket.
I followed his gaze.
That’s when I saw the blood.
Shit.
I didn’t stop him as he peeled my jacket back. Even if I wanted to resist, I couldn’t. I lay frozen from the shock of it all, my body unable to respond to any command.
“Rummy,” he breathed. The way he said my name, like he had never said it before in his life, like the word alone encapsulated everything he’d ever wanted to say, terrified me.
I finally pulled in a breath, the cool night air waking up my senses, and said, “I’m fine, it’s a small wound.”
“Thisis not a small wound. You were impaled by that thing.”
Goddess above, why did this shit happen tome? Forest oryx weren’t even predatory!
“It’s fine, really. Help me stand up.”
I half attempted to push myself up to a seated position, but my entire body seized in pain, and I flopped back to the ground. A new pool of blood gushed from the wound near my belly button.
Great. Just great.Eyes closed, I silently cursed.
“Nope, you’re not going anywhere like this. I need to get back to the camp and bandage you up.”
“It’s really not that big of a deal,” I argued through gritted teeth. “No need to pretend you care.”
“It is a big deal. We’re one day into this journey, and we have at least five more days until we reach Pericius. And for those five days, you can either be healing from this, or festering an infection. Come on. I’ll carry you back.”
Inside me, dread mingled with annoyance, because as much as I didn’t want his help, he was right. Even so…
“I do not need you to carry me.”
“Really?” He pulled back, hands on his hips. “Is there someone else here who can help you? Because I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t make it two feet by yourself right now. Stop being stubborn. I’m not going to leave you here to bleed out.”
“Why not?” I joked, though I couldn’t muster a humorous tone. “Seems like that would make your trip a little more enjoyable. You’re the one who didn’t want me coming along, anyway.”
