He nods. “That was always the plan.”
29Sonam
Hunting Log # 391:
She smells of the jungle—of rich earth and petrichor…
Though it’s hardly an important detail.
Wen sacrifices another one ofhis arrows, handing it to Sooah so that she can slowly carve away at the bamboo shaft to make a feather stick—the thin peeled wood perfect for fire kindling. There is little else here in this statue garden for us to use.
“Only seven arrows left,” he mutters to himself as our campfire grows. Wen smirks at Yue, who has yet to sit down. She seems to have taken a particular interest in the dragon statue. “Can’t you find us some sticks? Dogs love to fetch, don’t they?”
“Don’t antagonize her.” My words come out in such a rush that I surprise myself. Wen has always enjoyed a good jest, but for some reason I can’t allow this one to slide. Perhaps it’s because I feel indebted. If not for her, we might have frozen to death or befallen some other horror at the hands of the star goddess.
“It’s fine,” Yue says breezily, flashing a grin at us over her shoulder. “I could, and they do. But I’m not fool enough to do you a kindness for free.”
Sooah huffs a laugh and gestures at Yue to come closer. Once Yue takes a seat across the fire, Sooah demonstrates a short series of hand signs. I can’t help but chuckle. Wen snorts and rolls his eyes. When Yue shoots me with a quizzical glance, I say, “She’s teaching you how to sign.”
“And what did she say?”
“?‘If he ever pisses you off, tell him to go fuck a hungry tiger.’?”
Her lips break into a gleeful smile as she copies Sooah. Once to learn the words, and a second to get a sense of flow. She has the phrase memorized and perfected by the third. Yue giggles when Sooah teaches her another string of insults, the sound so light and giddy that, for a moment, I find myself speechless.
She has no right to look like that. No right to sound so sweet. I remind myself that it’s the magic of her mask and nothing more. Not to mention I’m exhausted and growing more irritable with every passing minute here in Hell. The only reason my palms are clammy and my breaths come thin is because I’m eager to leave this place as soon as possible.
The sound of Yue’s laugh startles me from my thoughts. It’s a cackle from deep in her belly. Orange flickers against the smooth planes of her face, the fire’s light glimmering against the severe cut of her obsidian eyes. What terrible blasphemy makes it possible for a demon to appear so angelic?
“What else can you teach me?” she asks excitedly. “How do I call him an idiot?”
Wen groans. “The first thing you want to learn is how to cuss me out?”
“Of course. That’s where the fun is.”
“Good luck,” he replies dryly. “Took me years to learn—”
Idiot, Yue signs after Sooah demonstrates. “It’s not that hard.”
“Shut up,” Wen grumbles. “Course it’s easier for you. We had the hard job of coming up with it.”
Yue tilts her head to the side. “You made it up?”
“The cap’n did. Hand speak ain’t all that common, and we needed a way to talk to each other, so he helped come up with a lot of it.”
All eyes find me now, but it’s the heat of her stare that I can’t stand. Her usual malice and disgust are nowhere to be found. Instead, I see admiration.
It makes me squirm. Yue has no right to look at me this way. Not after everything I’ve done.
“Hunter, artist, and linguist,” she muses. “So full of surprises.”
I’m the one to avert my gaze, glancing down at my own palm. The line that I cut in order to feed the fox has started to scab, the surrounding skin red and irritated. It takes a great deal to make me uneasy, but the rapid thudding of my heart against my rib cage is enough to see me rise.
“Where are you going?” Yue asks as I move away.
“To see if I can find anything to make arrows out of. Short of that, more fuel for the fire.”
“I’ll come with you,” Wen offers, but I shake my head.
