Page 32 of Courting the Fae Captain
With the herbs in tow, we’d need to grind them into a poultice. I didn’t think my wound was infected, so we likely wouldn’t need to worry about adding clay or charcoal to draw out the infection. But we’d need to make sure whatever leaves we used to cover and keep it in place wouldn’t cause my woundto turn toxic. Lucky for me, I had a friend who had studied all manner of subjects and therefore knew a great many things about survival and hopefully, what plants were safe to use.
As I stepped over her trap and into the cave, Sherai took one look at me before demanding I sit and eat something, then headed out while the day was still young. I ate my portion of mushrooms in silence while I stared at the cracks and veins webbing the stone walls. I could still hear their screams … still hear the flesh ripping and tearing as exhaustion finally took me and I fell asleep before Sherai returned.
I jerked awake some time later, my hand instantly lunging for my blade.
“It’s just me,” Sherai said quietly, leaning toward me. “Hush. You’re safe.”
I blinked back at her as she gently took my hands. The touch grounded me, settling the racing of my pulse. “Sorry,” I whispered. “It was a long night. How long have I been out?”
“It’s late afternoon. You’ve been asleep for a while, but I managed to dress your wound while you rested.”
Gratitude, warm and bright, flooded through me. I looked at my side and saw the three large leaves held to my skin by a sticky poultice. I took her hands. “Thank you, Sherai. Really. You’re a good friend.” She had been since the moment we’d met. “I hope I can repay the favour.”
Akira settled on a palm frond beside me. “What happened last night? We were going to look for you, but we heard the screaming echo in the distance and couldn’t risk searching for you in the dark without knowing what was out there.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “There are creatures out there. Things that are worse than any female on this island.” Sherai’s grip tightened on mine, but I squeezed back reassuringly. “They killed and ate three females with the kind of coordination I never would think possible for an animal. But Isuspect they only hunt at night and rest during the day. They left before dawn.”
Akira scrutinised me from head to toe. “You seem relatively unscathed. Did you fight them off?”
“Fighting is a death sentence. They’re fast. So fucking fast. The three females only managed to take down one before the creatures reevaluated and adjusted their attack. I only got away unscathed because I was hiding up a tree. The females had chased me and cornered me…” A flash of limbs being ripped off assaulted my vision, and I focused on Akira’s face to block it out. “They were waiting for me to come back down the tree when the creatures found them.”
Sherai frowned. “This … complicates things. We need a plan. A way to keep them at bay should they come.”
“Fire,” I said simply. “They didn’t like the fire. I think their eyes are made to see in the dark, and the fire is too bright for them. Honestly, I don’t know what drew the creatures to the females; it could have been the smoke or the light or something else. But the fire at close range at least gave them pause. We can use that. It might put us at risk of other females finding us, but honestly, I’d rather take my chances with a group of them than even one of those things.”
“I’m just happy you got away,” Sherai said. “Sleep more. We’ll keep things covered.”
“I’ll take the first watch,” Akira added.
“But—” I started to say.
“Sleep,” Sherai demanded, her tone leaving no room to argue.
I raised a surprised brow at her, then looked at Akira, who simply shrugged and tapped the side of her head. “I’d listen to her. The walking survival guide knows things.”
A soft chortle escaped me, but I did as ordered and lay down on the makeshift bed. My eyes drifted shut immediately, and then I, too, drifted off not long after.
Three days passed, and we’d managed to survive without coming in contact with those creatures I’d seen the first night. We’d fallen into a kind of routine that kept us alive and relatively fed, all things considered. We also hadn’t seen any other females, which either meant they’d all found a safe place to bunk down, too, or there were even fewer of us left than I thought.
On the fourth night, the island was silent and still when several horns blared in the twilight. Akira, Sherai, and I perked up immediately, our instincts on high alert as the long, sombre sounds echoed through the cave.
“What do you suppose that means?” I asked.
Long, piercing shrieks cut off whatever Sherai was going to say, causing us to block our ears. When the creatures were finished, she winced and then tried again.
“Our salvation. Or our end. It sounds like the horns are coming from the beach, which likely means that our ticket off this sand bucket is coming.”
“We’d have to get past the monsters first,” I said bluntly. “Goodie.”
“The alternative is that it’s a trap and one of the participants is trying to lure us all there,” Akira said with a scowl.
“I’m not sure anyone would risk it with those things lurking about,” I countered.
Another shriek sounded, closer this time. Sherai frowned. “I’m inclined to agree.”
I sucked in a breath. In the flickering light of the small fire we’d made, Akira’s lips had thinned, but Sherai’s brown eyes were wide. The last thing I wanted to do was see those creatures again, not to mention what they could do to people, but if the boats were back … if this was our only chance to leave this place… We had to risk it. Judging by the looks on my friends’ faces, they’d come to that conclusion too.
“My vote is we go, trap or not. If there’s even the slightest chance we can get out of here, I want to take it.”
