“Should I be scared?” Pain broke across his features before he smoothed it away.
The scent hit her next. Copper-sweet and heady.
Fresh blood seeped through his palm from an ugly puncture wound in his side. And his chest looked wrong, somewhat caved in.
Still, his mouth curved—taunting.
Holy shit. Rynna blinked.How is this asshole even standing?
Her tongue pressed hard into the roof of her mouth as points slid down behind her gums, watching the crimson drops leak onto the ground.
No.
“Just leave me alone.” She turned, shoulders hunching against the Hunger. “I don’t want any trouble.”
“Oh, good,” he coughed. “Because I don’t think I have any trouble left to give.”
She heard the sharp exhale, then the thud of a body hitting dirt and dead leaves.
The muscles between her shoulders tensed as she half-turned, glaring down at where he’d fallen.
“Stars above…” The words ground out as her fingers flexed into fists at her sides. Of course, she’d get dumped into another world only to be saddled with some wounded idiot who couldn’t even stay on his feet.
“I should just leave you here.” Her hand settled on her hip as she gave him a pointed once-over. “You hardly look worth the effort.”
“I suppose that’s an option,” he grunted, trying to get his feet planted.
The lean cut of muscle beneath loose black layers wasn’t for show. Neither were the dark leather bracers hugging wired forearms.
“Or…” He pushed himself halfway up, finding support from a nearby tree. “Or you can get me out of here. The Ember Warden will be most appreciative, I’m sure.”
Ember Warden?She licked her lips.A leader on this world?
No weapons edged from his form, but the shape of them lingered: the flattening of cloth at the thigh and hip where hilts and blades had once hung.
Her brows drew together as she stared down at him.
Everything about him pointed to precision over force. He wasn’t a typical soldier.
Just where had the Weaving cast her, and why leave this man sprawled at her feet?
“You don’t exactly strike me as one of the good guys.” She chewed the inside of her cheek.
He coughed again in response, dark blood spattering across his chin.
“Oh, pet. Just give me the chance…” His tongue stretched out, impossibly long, skimming over his bottom lip. “And I’ll show you exactly how good I can be.”
Heat crept beneath her skin before she could stop it, and her gaze lingered on the smear of blood glistening at the corner of his mouth.
“Unlikely.” She smothered the reaction, nails digging into her palm. “I—”
The forest behind her groaned, swallowing the rest of the thought.
Vibrating beneath her boots, the ground pulsed through roots and soil as leaves shook loose from the canopy overhead, drifting down in uneasy spirals.
“What is that?” Her eyes narrowed, searching the shadows as something massive pushed through them.
“We should go.” The man shoved against the ground, chin tucked low as he tried to force himself fully upright.
