Page 110 of Wraithwound

“I—um, a friend,” he answered, his voice going up in pitch at the end of the word, making it sound more like a question than an answer.

“Then help us across,” she commanded.

“Laney—” Cross began, but she cut him off.

“No. The entrance to the temple is just shy of a hundred meters behind our friend there. We don’t have time to turn around and work our way back up. He’s already over there, and he’s going to help us.” She said the last part of the sentence loudly so Taryk could hear.

Stunned, the others just watched; Taya’s mouth slightly parted while Riley lips curved into a smirk.

Pulling out a length of rope, Taryk inspected the mountain side for a moment and then secured the end around a large boulder after testing it for stability. Then, he tossed the rope over the gap to Cross, who caught it easily. Cross held the end of the rope for a moment, unmoving. It wasn’t until Laney walked over to block his view of Taryk with hands on her hips that he moved. After securing the rope on their side, Laney pulled on it to make sure it was taut and began to traverse the side of mountain. They all gaped at her as she moved, testing out stones and small boulders to see if they were secure before continuing.

She made it all the way to the other side and then called to Taryk, “Come help me, please.”

And he did.

For a tall, fearsome warrior, he seemed completely thrown by Laney. That was confirmed when he cast an incredulous glance toward Lena, who shrugged in response. Lena had no idea what Laney was doing, but whatever it was, it seemed to be working.

“Can—may I?” he asked, fumbling over his words as he held out his hands near Laney’s waist.

Laney nodded and he pulled her off the mountain as if she were nothing more than a feather on the wind. Once her feet were on the ground, she squared up to him and tilted her head up to look into his face.

“What’s the deal between you two?” she asked, shoving a thumb in Cross’s direction. “Did he do that to your face?”

Lena’s eyesight was better in the strange dim light, but she hadn’t noticed the bruising on his face. Even so, she could have sworn a flush crept up his neck. After a moment, he straightened and nodded.

“Why?” she asked him curtly.

“I . . . lured him into a fight that resulted in an injury.”

The look on Laney’s face demanded further explanation.

“I was working on completing a task and thought Cross might be able to help me,” he added, turning to look at Cross.

Cross was working something out. There was something about what Taryk had said, the words he’d enunciated, that caught his attention. And then, he nodded at Taryk. Just nodded. The muscles of his jaw relaxed, and his expression changed from one of anger to neutral disinterest.

“All right. Well, now that we’re friends, you can’t lure any of us into danger, okay? Friends don’t do that. We help each other, like we did before, agreed?”

Taryk took in each of their faces before turning back to Laney and nodding his agreement.

“Yes,” he said simply. And that was that.

Laney turned to the group as if surprised they were all still astride their horses. “Don’t just sit there. Come.”

They all spurred into action, dismounting their horses. Riley went as far as to murmur an apology.

After ensuring the horses were secured, Taya and Riley made their way across. Taryk offered to help the women after they’d crossed but neither accepted. Then it was Lena’s turn. Her hand ached at the mere thought of gripping the rope, but she sucked in a breath and began the traverse. Cross watched silently as she worked her way across. The tendons in his neck were on full display, and the set of his jaw tensed once more. Lena tested her weight on each step before committing, lest she trigger another land slide. A screech from Wyn set her nerves on edge.

“Lena, it’s one of the Aurynn. It’s headed in this direction; you have to move,” Cross said from behind her.

Her heart rate kicked up remembering the creatures she’d seen in those death fields. At the thought, something inside her seemed to stir.

No.

Darkness began to creep in at the edges of her field of vision.

No, no, no.

“Lena!” Cross’s voice was full of panic, but she couldn’t seem to turn her head to look at him.