Tugging at the ripped top of Olivia’s shirt, I tear it wider until I spot her puncture wound, glad that it appears to be more a gash rather than a gaping hole.
“You don’t know?” Olivia asks, her voice barely loud enough to hear. She winces again around her words. “Shouldn’t you know more than us? Aren’t you a soldier?” She eyes my jacket.
I feel Krellix’s own gaze land on my back. At the same time, Quinton hands me a small bundle of clothing from the black pack at his side. I unravel the largest article, a t-shirt, and toss it to Krellix. “Cut this into long, wide strips. I need to suppress her bleeding.” I re-face Olivia. “I am a soldier but I left my squad half a year ago but only after they abandoned me first. I’ve been here, on Earth, since. I’m completely in the dark with what has happened up there in the past six months.”
Olivia’s mouth opens but it’s Benjamin who speaks. “Look, we’ll tell you everything we know but we’re all shook up. Is there any other help coming or not?”
“I—”
“—My brother died in the crash. Shrapnel… My parents, my sisters, we were all split up in the chaos… could be dead too,” Benjamin’s voice trails off as his eyes drop to the ground and it’s then I see how much he’s shaking.
My shoulders sink as I look over the three of them again, and the shock they’re clearly exhibiting.
“Fine,” I relent. “But Krellix is right. We need to leave. It’ll be too dangerous to stay too long. We’ve made a lot of noise.”
“Why is it dangerous? Are the animals here scary?” Olivia asks, her already ashen complexion turning more ashen. “Will they eat us?” Her eyes go wide.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “There are others like Krellix here, who can be bad.” When they all shift their eyes to him, I quickly stammer out, “But they probably wouldn’t hurt us outright. It’s just safer to avoid unnecessary interaction if possible.” Now is not the time to inform them about the complex relationships between humans—especially human females—and the nagas.
“How do we know which way is north?” Benjamin suddenly asks. “To the encampment? That’s where we need to go… to a camp…”
“I…” I begin to start but the rest of the words never leave my mouth. Instead, I shoot Krellix a worried look and after a short stare down, he twists and slips into the darkness between the pines to our left. “I’ll be right back,” I tell Olivia and the others.
Rising, I jog after Krellix where he waits for me within the trees.
“We have to help them,” I say softly before he can argue otherwise, lifting my hand and indicating the shadowy forest around us. “We can’t leave them like this. Here. Not Olivia… she’s lost too much blood.”
“I know.”
“I…”He’s not going to argue with me? He’s just going to help?“You know?”
“We can take them with us but I want something from you first.”
I frown, surprised by how easy it was to convince him. “Okay.” I can only wonder what he could possibly want from me other than for me to go back to Zaku’s.Maybe he regrets taking me with him?Nothing else comes to mind. “If you’re offering to help them if I willingly return with you… I’ll do it,” I grit.
Laura saved me from a bad situation. Without her and Azsote, I would’ve starved to death. Without Krellix or I, Olivia’s life is in just as much danger.She’s too young for all of this…
It would be frustrating, especially after making it this far, but I’d at least get to see the boys again.
Krellix’s fingers slip through the darkness to catch a strand of my hair that’s fallen from my tie. “That is not what I want. Taking you back to Zaku’s helpssss no one and only wastes time.”
Trying to meet his gaze as he rubs my hair between the pads of his fingers, my frown deepens as my body tenses. Heat spreads through the rest of me, forcing my knees to lock. Curling my fingers, I stiffen further, refusing to take a step back and be intimidated by this sudden change in him. “What else is there to ask for?”
A nervous shudder hits me at the idea of him asking somethingmorefrom me. I shift on my feet, wishing he would release my hair. Not much makes me nervous but this… this does.
“Remember what you said when I asked what you would give one of the other male’s for his protection?”
My fingers twitch as my mind catches up. “Yes, I remember.”
“Well?”
“I said ‘whatever he wanted.’”
How could I forget? I watch Krellix’s features for any change of emotion in them. Is that what he wants? Affectionate companionship? Sex with me? But he remains silent, waiting for me to say more.
“What happens once they’re safe?” I ask, wondering why I’m so nervous all of the sudden. Sex is not new to me. Offering affection, especially to him, wouldn’t be hard. He’s attractive. And he’s been a good… friend. Hearing his tail shift, I follow its dark outline with my gaze as the end of it coils in a large arc behind me.
“Once they’re safe, you’ll be safe too.”
