The longer I’m upside down, the more light-headed I become, until blackness comes for me once more.
When I wake next, we’re no longer by the river but I can still hear it somewhere nearby. I force my eyes open, crusty and just as achy as before but clearer, and less filled with tears. It’s also no longer nighttime. Tensing, I quickly take stock of my body and its other pains, relieved to discover my mouth, throat, nose, and eyes are the only parts of me that are hurt. I haven’t sustained any new injuries.
Blinking back the grit in my eyes, I look around me, my gaze immediately landing on the Boa and his long tail draped on either side of me. Going still and hoping my wakefulness hasn’t garnered his notice yet, I determine I’m leaning up against a tree within a thicket of large berry bushes. They enclose me from every side.
I return my attention to the Boa. He’s bent low to the ground in front of me, picking the berries and gathering them in the fist of his left hand. Along his side and towards his back are the bullet wounds I inflicted on him days ago. They’re red but appear like they’re already in the process of healing.
I’m torn between wanting to attack him and wanting to immediately try escaping, but I do neither. I’m not going to get far with either course of action. My gun is gone. My pack is missing. And my lungs are shot to shit. The moment I take my first deep breath, it’s all going to be over.
So instead I watch him, trying to figure out what I’m going to do—and realizing after a few minutes that I’m not wearing a mask.
My breath hitches and the Boa stiffens, glancing over at me.
Caught, I slowly bring my knees up to my chest and sit upright. I stare at him, knowing, if he wanted to, he could hurt me.Reallyhurt me. I’m enclosed from every side by unknown forest; I’m trapped with him and I can’t even scream, not without pain.
“I am not going to hurt you,” he says like he’s reading my mind, while mine goes wild with the inevitability that, for now, I’m stuck. Turning fully to face me, he reaches out and I jerk back, watching him stop just before touching me. He opens his fingers, unveiling the berries he has clutched in his palm.
“No thanks,” I croak. I shouldn’t be saying no to food but I don’t think I could eat if I tried.
He moves his hand slightly closer. “You should eat.”
I nearly sigh, narrowing my eyes on him instead.
I’ve seen him from afar, obscured by branches and brush, but I’ve never seen him so up close and with so much light before. It’s souring… how handsome the nagas can be… because the Boa, despite my wariness of him, is a looker. And it isn’t just his nice facial features or his soft-looking muscles that make him alluring, it’s his coloring. I can’t get over it. Like Vagan with his blue and orange, the Boa is just as striking with his pale yellow and cream hues.
I must seem entirely boring in comparison. Scratch that, I probably appear terrible. My hair is tangled and my filthy clothes are stiff around me. I’m in desperate need of an outfit change, conditioner, soap, and a brush.
But the Boa… With his vibrant blue eyes and his yellow patterning making white-ringed designs all up and down his tail, he’s almost mesmerizing to gaze at. Especially when it all comes together with his softly serpentine facial features and short, tousled blond hair. He’s packed with muscle but isn’t as toned as most of the other nagas I’ve seen. There’s a cushiness to him. My gaze trails back to his face and my lips flatten when theamusement in his bright gazes gives away that I’ve been caught staring.
I look away and swallow. He leans back and slowly sets the berries on the ground by my feet.
I shake my head and touch my throat, croaking once more, “I can’t.” The words are brittle and taste like sour ash. I cringe and swallow again, wincing once more. “Water,” I manage. “I need water.” Whether or not I can drink it will have to wait to be seen. But if he’s willing to feed me and get me water, he can’t be all bad. Right?
Until he breeds you to make babies…
He reaches for me and I recoil, bringing up my hands and knees, but he gathers me in his arms anyway. I thrash against him and push him off. “I can walk! I can…hearthe… river. My… legs are fine.”
He hauls me over his shoulder nevertheless and once again I’m beating his backside with my fists. After a ways, he gently drops me at the edge of the river onto a dry patch of grass, pebbles, and moss.
At least I think it’s the river he’s taken me to. The water is wide and deep here, but clearly flowing.
That’s a good thing. If it’s the same one, I can follow it back to the lake and figure out where I am.
First, I have to escape him.
I eye the water wearily, positioning onto my knees when the Boa fully releases me. I crawl through the grassy bank a few feet to the river’s edge and until the water moistens the dirt under me. When I’m close enough, I reach my hands out and submerge them, shifting some high grasses aside as I do.
The Boa positions his long tail in a half-circle around me, blocking off every path to escape.
Bringing my cupped hands to my lips, I try not to pay him any mind as I lean my head back and take my first swallow. Buthe watches me all the same. Over the next several minutes, I drink my fill, nearly moaning from the cool water sliding down my raw throat. I also wash my hands and face and wrangle my hair back, combing my fingers through the knots that have formed. At some point, I lost my hair tie.
Without my mask, I try to take most of my heavier breaths facing away.
When I’m done fixing myself until I feel almost human again, I slowly straighten and peer back at the Boa I’ve only been half ignoring. His eyes collide with mine and he tilts his head in the direction of the berry thicket. “Now it is time for you to eat.”
I don’t thinkI canbut I follow him away from the water all the same.
Back at my spot by the berries, I settle against the tree while the Boa repositions himself to collect more of them. “You sssshould eat,” he warns again, adding more to the pile we previously left behind. “We will be leaving soon and we will not stop again unless it is necessary.”
