Page 108 of Reckless
Kai attempts to reach for me again, but I jump away with a laugh. “Come on, that’s enough laying around.” I scoop my pack off the ground, watching it drip like the rest of me. “We need to dry off, and so does everything else.”
He sits up, blinking in the rain. “Yeah, you’re shaking the chain with each shiver.”
At the mention of it, I shiver again. I turn, picking up the bow before backing into the strong body suddenly standing behind me. “I’ll take that,” he says against my ear. “My life has been threatened enough for today.”
I begrudgingly let him pull the weapon from my hands as I pour the water out of my boots, just to slip them back onto wet feet. Throwing my soaked shirt over my shoulder, I walk toward the wall of stone and trees separating us from the road beyond.
Climbing the slippery slope is a humbling endeavor. It takes several tries to pull myself over the top of the stone before I can attempt to reach the tree beside it. Kai follows behind as I slowly make my way to the ground, sighing in relief when my feet sink into the damp dirt.
I squint through the steady stream of rain. “Where’s the horse?”
Kai steps beside me, bow slung across his back. “The thunder must have spooked him. He’s probably long gone by now.”
I sigh. “I was just getting the hang of riding.”
“Oh, is that what you call it?” Kai asks, lips pulled into a smirk.
I put a hand to his cheek, pushing it as I walk by. The action feels comfortable in a way I wish it wouldn’t. So I keep my hands to myselfas we walk down the flooded road, searching for shelter to wait out the storm.
We don’t make it far before a cluster of rocks catch my eye. A large, flat stone stretches across the ones beneath it, creating a makeshift canopy high enough for us to sit comfortably under. “This way!” I shout over the storm, turning us toward shelter.
When we duck under the rock, I sling the pack from my shoulders, breathing heavy. I’m about to plop down on the patch of dry ground when Kai says, “I need to go get firewood.”
Both our heads drop to the chain tethering us together. “All right.” He sighs, “We need to go get firewood.”
Forcing myself back into the rain is an effort of will. I drag my feet while Kai collects wood for our fire, breaking branches from trees and piling them into my arms.
My teeth are chattering by the time we make it back to our camp. “This wood won’t be easy to light,” Kai murmurs, arranging the wet branches for the fire we are about to attempt.
“We have two matches left,” I say, digging around in my soaked pack. My fingers find the metal box and pull it out, relieved to find the matches still dry.
“This wood won’t light on its own,” Kai says, looking up at me. “We need something to help start it. Do we have any paper?”
I’m about to shake my head when my eyes snag on the journal tucked between damp bedrolls. I swallow, slowly reaching a hand toward it. I can feel Kai’s eyes on me as I pull the leather book out and flip through the pages, finding them surprisingly dry.
“Here’s some paper,” I say quietly.
“No.” Kai’s voice is firm. “No, we aren’t using that.”
“It’s fine.” I nod, trying to convince myself. “I’m sure most of this is just research and notes. And I’d rather not freeze tonight so… it’sfine.” His eyes narrow, expression skeptical. “I’m fine.”
That seems to persuade him enough to nod slightly. I turn back to the book in hand, taking a breath before skimming the first few pages. His familiar handwriting makes me smile, makes me struggle to swallow. I squint in the dim light, urging my eyes to adjust to the growing darkness.
The first page tears easily. It talked of recipes for various remedies Elites can use when they are unable to get to a Healer. The second page was more of the same, consisting of measurements and herbs for common illnesses. The third page was filled with ink, swirling with scribbled notes describing a difficult patient.
Every piece of parchment burns easier than it tears. I hand each shred of my father to him, watching his life’s work go up in flames. It takes several pages to light the wood, and nothing but a weak flame to show for it. Kai tends to the fire, forcing it to grow despite the difficulty.
I ring out our shirts, laying them near the fire beside every other damp belonging. Then I lean against the stone to read over the remaining pages crinkled between the journal’s leather covers. I thumb through it, stopping to read entries about the many people he helped heal in the slums.
My fingers fumble on a thick piece of parchment near the back and my curiosity has me flipping to what lies behind it. A journal entry stares back at me, slanted letters staining the page. But this one is different from the rest. This one is personal and dated, deep thoughts spilled onto parchment.
I sit up slightly, my spine stiffening in shock.
The action doesn’t go unnoticed. “What?” Kai asks, fire forgotten.
“My father…” I shake my head at the page. “He kept a journal.”
Silence. “Yes, I gathered that.”
