Page 41 of Whispers of the Void

“The purple ones?” I look over my shoulder at him. How he got down here without me hearing him is unsettling. “They’re so small.”

“Their jaws extend?—”

“Ouch,” I cry out before he can even finish his sentence.

“Told you.” He holds a hand out to help me out of the water and crouches down to look at my leg. His hand wraps around my calf as he inspects the bite with a troubled look on his face. “This is bad. They inject a parasite into your veins, and it works its way up to your brain.”

“What do you mean?” Panic surges within me. “Get it out. Can Hyva get it out?”

He runs his thumb over the wound, wiping my blood away. When his eyes meet mine, they sparkle with mischief as he licks my blood off his skin. “Just kidding.”

“Uh! You jerk,” I say as I push his shoulders and knock him over onto the sand.

His chest shakes with laughter, a full, rich sound that makes my stomach flutter. It’s unfair how handsome he is, even rolling around undignified in sand laughing at my expense. The smile that takes residence on his face softens him, making him look younger.

“I wasn’t aware that you had a sense of humor,” I say dryly.

“Stars.” He pulls himself together and stands. “Your face was hilarious.”

“I don’t think it’sthatfunny. I mean, I don’t know what could kill me on your planet.”

He sobers. “I’d never let you be in danger. I hope you know that.”

“You let me get bitten.” Now that he’s standing again, I have to tilt my head back to look him in the eye.

“You’re right.”

I cry out when he bends and scoops me into his arms. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you inside to clean it.”

“I can walk.” Why does he smell so good? I have the biggest urge to run my nose along his neck and inhale his scent.

“Your short human legs are too slow.”

He is walking faster than I could be able to keep up, so I go completely limp in his arms. Let him carry my dead weight then. One of the corners of his lips lifts in an irritating smirk at my petulance. He carries me up the stone stairs and into the library. Uzold stops in the hall and watches as Raiz walks right past him.

“Is Sister Neev okay?” he calls out once the surprise is gone.

“I’m fine,” I tell him. “Some sort of fish bit me.”

“Syplits,” Raiz calls over his shoulder.

“Is that the name of those fish?”

“Yes.”

“They’re pretty.”

“You should see them fully grown. Gorgeous but deadly. The school you saw had probably just hatched within the past day.”

I lift my leg and look at the bite which is still bleeding at a moderate pace. “A baby did that? How big do they get?”

“Up to twice my size.”

Stars.

“That’s big.”

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