I swallowed a scream as I slid down a small ravine and hit the bottom with a grunt. Jasim slammed into the earth beside me but was up again in the next breath, dragging me after him.
A thicket of dry branches. Jasim shoved me under it and then squeezed in beside me. My nose curled against the stench of what I prayed was a foul-smelling flower and not left over from an animal, especially as Jasim smeared it all over my body and then his to conceal our scents.
Jasim put a finger to his lips. I covered my mouth to quiet my erratic breaths and stared into his dark eyes just as I had when the chimera had approached. But there was none of that false calm this time. Both of our eyes were wide, our chests rising and falling rapidly.
Thundering footsteps neared us and paused. I imagined they were scenting the air. I clamped my eyes shut. Jasim took my hand and I clutched his.
After several breathless minutes, their steps started moving again.
In the opposite direction.
My eyes opened. Jasim gestured for me to wait. We didn’t move until the strange stillness of the forest settled back over us. Finally, Jasim nodded.
My breath streamed out through my teeth.
Jasim flopped against the earth, not caring that he was lying in shit. “What is wrong with you?” he demanded. Blood trickled down his arm from where one of his wounds had reopened.
“I didn’t know a tribe lived in here. Or that they relied on a gods-damn jinni for water.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” He lurched upright again. Eyes nearly black with his rage. “You’re getting your power in a few days, Amunet! You didn’t need it now.”
“But I wanted it.” I crawled out of the thicket and stood. My eyes landed on a stick. I grabbed it and used it to scrape the shit off. Pointless. The pungent filth clung to me. It would take a proper bath to rid myself of it. Ugh.
Jasim’s gaze followed me, lips parted in bewilderment. After a moment, he stood. “It was reckless. You’re smarter than that. We could have both been killed—”
My temper flared, nerves shot by two near-death experiences. “I am Gods-Chosen,” I snapped, whirling on him. “But I have spent the past month and a half unsure if that was still the case, unable to connect to Shaya, hardly able tothinkpast this awful itch and all the voices in my head. I needed to know that I was still chosen and that my power still waited for me. I am and it is. That is more important than a random Shifter tribe in Dead Man’s Forest.”
Jasim stared at me, stunned silent.
My power wrapped protective tentacles around me, bracing me.Residual adrenaline burned through my veins, welcoming the fight. Reckless, he’d called me. I anticipated what worse names must be on the tip of his tongue.
Finally, he said, “I didn’t know about the voices.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I knew about the itching, obviously, but you never said anything about voices. Is that why you did it? Because the voices told you to?”
An incredulous laugh welled inside me. “I just said it was my decision.”
“This is what you tried to tell me that night, before you were taken. When you said you were losing your mind, I didn’t realize…” He cupped my face. “Listen to me, Amunet, that wasn’t you. You didn’t mean it. I’m going to get us out of here and then find you a healer. It’s going to be okay.”
I tried to push him away, but he held his ground. “Itwasme.”
“You’re a good person. It was a mistake. We’ll find a way to make it up to the tribe so their people survive.”
“Jasim, you’re not listening. I made this choice because it was what I wanted—”
“You are agood person—”
“Stop saying that. It’s not a catch-all for every—”
“It is what I believe. What I have to believe. The Gods-Chosen isgoodandholy—”
“I was going to kill you!”
Jasim jerked as if I’d struck him.
And just like that, the illusion shattered. For both of us.
