Page 57 of Rok's Captive
For a moment, nothing happens. Then his throat works, and the water disappears. Encouraged, I pour a little more, and then a little more.
Suddenly, his whole body convulses. His eyes fly open, golden irises blazing in the dim light, and he chokes, water spraying from his mouth as he gasps and heaves.
“No!” I cry, but it’s too late. In one violent movement, his arm lashes out, knocking the water sachet from my hand. It flies across the cave, its precious contents spilling onto the stone floor, soaking into the cracks, disappearing forever.
“Noooo!” I scramble after it, hands scraping at the stone, as if I can somehow take it back, force it back into the sachet. But there’s nothing to salvage. Not a drop left.
“Shit,” I whisper, pressing my hands against my face, trying to keep my panic in check. That was it. The last of the water.
And now it’s gone. My chest rises and falls in uneven gasps. No water. No way forward.
I should be angry. Furious, even. But all I feel is fear.
I turn back to Rok, just in time to see him collapse back onto the floor, his brief moment of consciousness already gone. His breathing is still labored, but now there’s a wet, rattling quality to it that terrifies me.
I crawl back to his side, tears streaming down my face. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, brushing my fingertips across his forehead. “I was trying to help. I didn’t think…”
Gone. Our only water, gone. And for what? For a few seconds of consciousness that seemed to hurt him more than help?
Hopelessness crashes over me like a wave, dragging me under. I’ve done everything I can think of, and none of it seems to be working. I have no more supplies, no more ideas, no more hope to offer.
I curl up beside him, pressing my forehead against his shoulder, feeling the faint warmth of his skin against mine.
“Please,” I whisper, the word barely audible even to my own ears. “Please don’t leave me alone here. Please live.”
But there’s no response. Just the shallow rise and fall of his chest, the soft, pained sound of his breathing, and the crushing weight of my own helplessness.
Chapter17
THE DESERT GIVES. THE DESERT TAKES. I KEEP
ROK
Iwake to a weight against my side and the scent of her in my nose.
Sweet. Strange. Unfamiliar and yet, somehow, more familiar to me than my own breath.
For a moment, I do not move, letting my senses catalog my surroundings. The cool stone beneath me. The faint rustling of the fire bloom plants that grow in the cracks of the stone.
And her. Jus-teen. Curled against me like a young hunter during his first stormy season, seeking warmth.
She stayed.
The realization settles into me slowly, like dust after the winds. She could have left when I collapsed. Could have fled into the dust. She had no obligation to remain at my side.
Yet here she is. Her small, strange body pressed against mine, her breath soft and even in sleep.
I test my strength, flexing my arm, and wince at the sharp pain that lances through me. The shadowmaws took their toll. More than they should have. But I am alive, and so is she, and that is what matters.
The shadowmaws. They should not have been hunting in the open dust while Ain still shone. They are creatures of darkness, of shadow, emerging from their dens only when Ain sleeps and the three moons rise. To find them stalking the dust while there is light…
It is not right. It is not the way of things.
If I had known they were skulking about the open sands, I would not have taken the female that way. Would have risked the Ridge of Shrieking Winds as she wished, despite the dangers there. Better the known peril than the unexpected ambush.
Instead, I almost lost her. This female, first of her kind, sent by Ain herself. Mine that I found. Mine to protect. Mine to keep safe.
I stretch carefully, assessing the damage. The worst of the wounds have already begun to heal, my body doing what it has always done—mending itself, erasing weakness, returning to strength. I have not been unconscious for long. Ain has yet to reach her zenith in the sky. It is still early in the sol, which is good. We have time and many solmarks of light.
