Page 82 of The Cursed Kingdom

Let them be the ones who are cold and uncomfortable. They sure deserve it.

Mud sticks to my cheeks and is probably smeared up my legs and back from when I tried to run through it earlier. I’ve even got some in my mouth, the grits crunching between my teeth. The few sips of water I’ve managed to collect haven’t cleared it out.

I hope my nut container is full by the time the rain stops.

The moment it grows light enough to see, I’m going to get up and continue moving. Rain or shine, I need to keep forward. I need to find my way out of Redstall Forest, and then I need to get the fuck out of this realm.

It’s a heartbreaking realization, but I don’t think I will get my hands on delysum. It’s clearly not accessible, and I’m afraid I’ll be found if I linger in the forest any longer than necessary.

Kie’s a prince, and I’m sure he’s got ample resources. He’ll probably send his people to look for me the moment he returns to the capital.

I’ve failed Lill, and I bite back a sob as I curl into a tight ball and stare into the woods surrounding me.

I’m too cold.

I’m going to die tonight.

I’m at least seventy percent sure of that, and when a large, dark creature stalks toward me, its wolf-like shape blocking out the very little light I’m getting from the moon, I find I don’t have enough energy to care.

Chapter Thirty-Two

MASON

I CAN COUNT on one hand the number of humans I’ve met in my life, but I can confidently say this human is one of the dumbest. She’s laid up underneath a tree, her body curled into a small, tight ball. I shift my weight between my paws, annoyed with the sight. Is she trying to kill herself?

She looks up as I approach, and her heart rate kicks up a bit, but not by much. I’m not a fan, and I resist the urge to nudge her with my nose and encourage her to do something more. If anybody’s going to kill her, it will be me. She doesn’t get to run off and do it to herself.

This is all Kie’s fault.

He thought letting her run off for a while and burn steam would be best. She’s easy to track and was moving in the right direction, so we hung back and let her do her thing.

Then it started to rain, and suddenly, her tracks were gone.

I had to shift into my animal form to track her, which I hate doing when it’s raining. The water soaks my fur, and I don’t like the feeling of it sticking to my skin. Plus, the wound on my side isn’t entirely healed, and shifting has exasperated it.

The puncture wounds on my bicep are gone, the skin as good as new, but my side is a different story. It was getting better. I was only hours away from pulling off my shirt and witnessing the human’s horror when she saw my healed skin.

Transforming into my animal form tore the sutures, though, and I can feel blood trickling down my side. The last of my stitches popped with all my movement. I’ve been trotting quickly these past several miles, an anxious jitter working up my spine and urging me to speed up my pace.

Abby—no.The humantucks her head under her arms, hiding herself from my view. Her knife, and Kie’s, are resting beside her, and she makes no moves for them. She should.

I step closer, hovering over her shivering form, before turning toward Kie. I stopped waiting for him a while ago, but he managed to keep up with my breakneck pace.

He’s several steps behind me, his lips curled into a deep frown as he does his own evaluation of the human. We expected to find her cold and wet, but not whatever the fuck this is.

In front of her knees is her package of nuts, but it looks like she ate the remainder and is using the container to collect water. It’s a surprisingly intelligent idea, but she shouldn’t have finished her nuts so quickly.

She didn’t pack enough food for this trip, and now it’s guaranteed we’ll have to share ours.

A low grumble pours from my chest as she sucks in a slow, raggedy breath.

I don’t like this woman—in fact, I’d go as far as to say I hate her—but seeing her like this makes me unnaturally anxious. My pulse is racing, and I’m annoyed she’s in this position. I’m also angry with Kie for convincing me not to go after her when we heard her running away.

He’s been doing his best to get on my nerves these past few days, and I’m glad I broke his nose earlier. It healed within the hour, but I still hope it hurt.

“Abby,” Kie says, stopping alongside me.

She doesn’t respond to her name, and Kie pushes his hair out of his face before digging into his bag and pulling out my pants. They’re soaked through, but we need to cover the exposed skin of her legs.

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