Page 56 of The Queen's Serpent

My mind wants to call up all my weaknesses, but I shove them away. There is no time for self-pity, and I will not allow anything to derail the opportunity to escape. I promised myself that I’d leave Isabella Stratford in this jungle to die, and that is what I intend to do.

My thoughts travel back to the compound and Diego, and my chest tightens with worry for him. Is he safe? Were they able to fend off the attack from my grandmother’s men? Has he been captured? So many thoughts circle inside my mind, until nausea starts to rise again in my stomach. I stop eating, wrap what is left of the berries back up, and place them in my pack.

“He doesn’t need your worries,chica, he will survive. Even the devil doesn’t want to go toe to toe with him. Focus on leaving this jungle and the freedom that awaits you.“ Francisco lifts his pack out of the thick bushes and places it back on his back, motioning for me to do the same, as he makes his way back down to the river.

“We need to cross here; this is the shallowest part of the river. I hope you can keep your balance,chica, and swim, otherwise, the currents will drag you further downstream.”Fuck, I hope so too.

We make our way into the river, the cold water rising quickly past my knees until I’m chest-deep inside of it, and my teeth begin to chatter.Fuck, it’s so cold and moving so quickly.I step forward on the sandy bottom, slide across a rock or some smooth debris, and almost lose my balance. Francisco reaches back and steadies me, until I find my footing again.Keep going, Issy. We are almost on the other side.

It feels like it takes forever to make it through the river and across to the other side, fighting the currents the whole way. Myentire body is frigid once we reach the muddy riverbank, my hair is plastered to my back, and my breath leaves me in heaving pants. We did it, though; we made it. We are that much closer to getting out of this jungle.

“What… what will happen… to you once we get to the… village?” I question as my teeth chatter, and I wring the water out of my hair and dress, which now clings to every inch of me. Thank fuck I wasn’t wearing white; at least the dark green isn’t see-through.

“I will return to Columbia, and myTiaAlisa. Santiago has made arrangements to hide her from Diego and Manuel.“ He says it so nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t implying that Manuel and Diego would harm a sweet old lady, in order to punish Santiago for helping me escape.

“You think they would harm Alisa?” I ask with worry.

“You are a multimillion-dollar prize to the Cabanos. A way to further their reach with your name and your womb.” He nods toward my stomach. “They would kill anyone who helped you escape from their grip.”

Jesus fucking Christ, I hope he’s not right. I know that Diego is ruthless, but even he has to have a conscience and empathy, and understand that Alisa was not part of this. That she doesn’t deserve to be harmed just because I got away.He might be dead, and you are worrying about nothing,the thought appears in my head, but I slam a door shut in my mind, and refuse to engage with the self-destruction that is beckoning me.

We travel for hours through the thick jungle. The sounds of insects and wildlife are all around us. More than once, I see eyes glowing from deep within the jungle, watching us. When I motion to Francisco, he tells me in a hushed whisper to keep moving, but he grips his machete tighter and picks up the pace, until we are almost at a jog.

Just as we are about to leave a thick treed area, something huge and black lunges from one of the trees at us, and lands on Francisco’s back with a snarl. He tries to fight it off, but the jungle cat is too large and growls, biting into the side of his abdomen, and taking him to the jungle floor with a wretched scream.

A cry leaves my lips as I race for the machete that Francisco dropped, and raise it above my head, slamming it down on the giant predator’s back. The jaguar momentarily releases Francisco, looking back over its enormous, sleek, muscled back at me before snarling, all its sharp, bloody teeth on display.Oh my God, I am going to die!

“HIT IT AGAIN, ISABELLA! AGAIN! NOW!” Francisco shouts frantically, as he tries to fight off the cat and get it to release its claws, which are digging deep into his shoulders.

I raise the machete, my hands slipping on the handle, and force it back down on the large cat, getting one of his hind legs and then raising it again to hit his lower back, the blade slicing his fur, and exposing the tissue and bone. The cat makes a few more snarling sounds, but they are softer and muffled before he stops moving on top of Francisco, and he can finally push it off and to the side.

Francisco tries to scramble back to his knees, but he buckles almost instantly back down to the ground with a pained groan, as he clenches one of his hands on his side. There is so much blood covering him, both his and the jaguar’s, that it’s hard to tell how badly he’s hurt.

“Francisco! Oh my God!” I drop the machete with a clang on the ground and rush to his side, bracing him and pulling him farther away from the cat. He groans with my grasp on his body, and his legs give in under him, taking us both down to the ground.

“You… make sure it’s dead, now!” He pants, and I scurry back to my feet and grab the machete again as I approach the animal. Its whole body is still, its massive mouth open with its fangs exposed. Its luminous yellow-green eyes stare back at me without moving, and I finally release my pent-up breath.

“Dead. It’s… dead.” I rush back to Francisco’s side as he lifts the side of his shredded shirt, and I can see a part of the wound. The big cat has managed to bite deep, ripping through the skin and leaving horrific damage in its wake. Muscles and bones are visible through all of the carnage and blood. I gag at the sight, and have to swallow the bile that rises up the back of my throat.

Fuck, I need to stop the bleeding, or he’s going to die.I crawl to his discarded backpack, and rifle through until I find a long-sleeved shirt, racing back to him, and wrapping it tightly around his chest. I tie it as tight as I can, while he releases a guttural scream. My hands are covered in so much blood that they drip and shake. “It’s going to be okay, we will get you help.”

Panic seizes me as tears cascade down my face. Do jaguars hunt alone? Was that even a jaguar? Should I be worried that it has a pack that will be coming to hunt and kill us? My eyes search through the trees surrounding us, looking for any sign of more predators. What am I going to do if there are more?

“Isabella, you need to take… the compass and keep moving. I’m not… going to be able to make it like this. You… need to reach the village and… send help back,” Francisco pants the words, each breath sounding more strained.

“No! No, I can’t leave you here. I don’t know how to navigate through the jungle.” How could he even suggest that? There is no way that I could make it through the jungle alone. I would die trying.You’ll die here if you don’t, especially when other predators smell the blood.

“Go… to the river. Wash the blood off, or it will call… to other animals. Hurry, girl!”

I rush back into the river and throw myself under the water, submerging every part of me. I grab fistfuls of sand and scrub frantically at my skin and dress to get all the blood off. Once I’m clean, I race back to Francisco and grab one of the canteens, raising it to give him some water.

He takes a deep swallow, pain laced across his features. “Listen to me,chica, you are my only hope of survival. You need to take the compass and listen to my directions. Get to the village and send someone back.“ I grab the compass and hold it in my trembling fingers before him.

“The course is set on the compass; you just need to follow it. You see this?” He points to a part of the compass. “It must always be pointing in the same direction to ensure you are getting closer to the village. Don’t deviate, just stay the course, and you will make it, but you have to go now. Take the machete with you, girl.”

“What about you? How will you defend yourself? What if more predators come?”

“Open the pack, hurry, Isabella. Two guns… are inside; take one, leave… me with the other. You must go now.” I stumble back to my feet, grab the other gun, throw it into the pocket of my bag, and heft my backpack, throwing it over my shoulders while I hold tightly to the compass in one hand, and the machete in the other. “Go now, Isabella.”

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