She nods and I squeeze her hands, hopefully reassuring her that everything will be okay. Because I need it to be okay and if I can make her believe it, then maybe I can too.
FOURTEEN
A RISK TO TAKE
Julia
Conversation stallsat the sound of a ship taking off somewhere within the mountains east of us.
When the ship is gone, I turn to Krellix, expecting to see annoyance in his expression. Instead his face is calculating, his entire focus on the forest around us.
“Half a day won’t make much of a difference if it’s as bad as you say over there. Is it really that bad?” I ask, drawing his attention. I hope it’s notthatbad.
His gaze lands on me and I stand straighter. “Though I do not smell them, I sense my kind,” he says. “There are more of them than usual. It has not been like this since the first weeks of the first ship’s arrival. If we are found, you will need to run, and you can not do that easily in the dark. I will not put you or the other female, who cannot run at all, at so much rissssk.”
The heat of his expression burns my skin and I avert my eyes. “I’m not trying to argue with you. I just want to know what we might be up against. Tomorrow morning it is.”
Returning my attention to Olivia, I hear Krellix hiss in agreement before slipping into the forest and leaving. Glancing behind me as he goes, I wonder what’s on his mind.
I’m nervous that if it’s bad across the river he might change his mind and try to take us to Zaku’s instead. He told me himself Zaku’s isn’t the best option for Olivia with resources low, but he might decide to shift course if the only other option becomes worse.
I can bandage and clean a wound, I can sew one up too, the only problem is that we have nothing to sew up Olivia to begin with.
Rounding my arm under her, I help her rise and walk deeper into the forest where the others have moved. I situate her small form beside a berry bush Quinton is already picking from. Shuffling into a spot beside her and between another berry bush, my hair gets tangled in the leaves. Tugging it free, I untie and retie my hair, wondering not for the first time about cutting it off.
Once we’re all settled together in the woods, Quinton hands a palmful of berries to Olivia and me. I plop one in my mouth and immediately cringe from its sweetly sour flavor yet swallow it down anyway. I’m going to need the energy later. Meanwhile I’m watching Olivia’s face scrunch each time she puts one in her mouth. It has Quinton and me smiling, cheering her on when she tentatively picks up another one.
For a few minutes, everything is okay.
Quinton settles on the ground next to the bush and rests his head on his pack. I help Olivia clear out some brush for her to do the same with a bundle of clothes from my pack. Caressing her hair behind her ear as she drifts off, I glance up at Benjamin across from us. Leaning back against a tree, he’s staring at something small in his hand that I can’t see around the branches.
In the peaceful minutes before twilight, everyone eases into their own, private spaces of silence. Soon hearing snores from Quinton, my small smile fades into a yawn that has me arching my back and stretching. Too much has happened too quickly and with far too little sleep. The short nap early this morning barely cut it.
My mind whirls with thoughts that don’t stick, each one fuzzier than the last.
Listening to the chitter of creatures out of sight, I start to wonder where Krellix disappeared to. And as the seconds morph into minutes, and a golden hue fills the sky that is the same color as Krellix’s hair, my thoughts drift back to him and this… increasingly awkward thing between us.
I’m already exhausted by it, whatever it is. Because there’s something there, and if there issomethinglike I’m beginning to think there is, I’m the type who wants to know before making any sort of decision about it. He and I made a deal… and I have yet to learn the terms of it.
With Olivia now dozing beside me, I wave at Benjamin before slowly standing. Trying to be as quiet as possible, I head back towards the river and in the direction Krellix disappeared earlier.
It doesn’t take me long to find him.
Lowering to the ground, I ease behind a tree to watch what he’s doing by the water, paying him back for spying on me earlier since he doesn’t seem to be aware of my approach. Wet again from the river, and with his hair freshly plastered to his skin and scales, I hold my breath as he works his hands over his tail to rinse dirt and… blood off. Looking around, I spy a flat stone to his left with several raw slabs of pig meat.
River stones shift and scatter as he coils his tail over and under, cleaning his long limb. His small, sharp claws graze his scales, lifting some of them away from his skin, being extrathorough. His tailtip slides into the river and splashes water back up and over his body, sending more mesmerizing rivulets down his sculpted form.
It’s not fair that all the nagas have toned, honed, beautiful bodies, many in an array of vibrant colors. It’s not fair how it seems so easy for them to be gorgeous. Because they all are, and cursing under my breath, I happen to be stuck with the most attractive naga of them all.
Enraptured by the way the evening sun’s rays play off of his shimmering scales, I can do nothing else except stare.
Bending his head to the side, he raises his hand to his hair. Sliding it up and down his neck, he pauses to thread his fingers through his thick, wet strands at the base while briefly looking up.
Stilling, I wait for him to turn in my direction or call me out.
Instead, he peers down at the front of his body with an annoyed hiss.
Unable to see what it is he’s hissing at, I frown, uncertain if he’s been hurt and I hadn’t noticed, or if it’s something else. The hand on his neck drops down the front of his body to drift toward his waist.
