Page 95 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
The air whooshed out of his lungs in an exaggerated puff as I collided with his chest. Rather than catching me gracefully, he staggered backward, our combined momentum carrying us both down.
“Ow,” he grunted, pain coloring the single syllable.
“Sorry!” I cried out, but my attention was still half on the snake, which had vanished into the underbrush. “Did you see it?”
“What, my life flashing before my eyes?” he asked dryly, rubbing the back of his head.
“There was a snake!” I gestured wildly to the area, even as I climbed off him, brushing dirt and leaves from my body. “You didn’t see the snake?”
“Nope,” he said, still seated as he eyed me with a mixture of amusement and wariness. “Just saw you run into me like a damsel in distress.”
“Take it back,” I said, feigning my offense. “I am no damsel.” I bent at the waist, offering him my hand.
He looked at it, then pushed himself up without taking it. “And risk falling again? Nah.”
I rolled my eyes, muttering a few creative curses under my breath. “Whatever. Let’s just keep going.”
I turned back toward where the snake had disappeared, only to find the forest still and silent again. Dark green foliage and twisted roots carpeted the ground, dotted with the trailing vines of little blue flowers we’d been following for weeks.
“Ah, shit,” Damon muttered, stepping closer.
“What now?” I asked warily.
His hand caught my wrist, lifting it gently. That’s when I saw it; my right palm, scraped raw from our fall, blood welling at the edge of the wound.
“It’s fine,” I said with a shrug, tugging it back. “Just a scratch.”
He gave me a look that said I was full of it. “We need to get supplies from Corvo. I don’t want it getting infected?—”
He broke off as I rubbed at the wound with the edge of my shirt, staining it red. When I pulled my hand away, there wasn’t a mark to be seen. Only a smudge of blood on otherwise unblemished skin.
“Okay, wow,” Damon muttered. “You heal really fast. Even faster than Vareck.”
“That’s ...” I wasn’t sure what words I was looking for, only that I was having a hard time finding them. “I’ve never healed that fast before.”
He narrowed his eyes, watching me like I was some kind of puzzle he was determined to solve. “Do you think it has something to do with Evorsus?”
I snorted. “You’re crazy.”
“I’m serious. You’ve been here for over a month now by our estimation, and weird things keep happening. The land responds to you.” His gaze flicked to my hands again. “You’re notjustfae. What if something inside you is ... waking up?”
“This again? You say that like I’m housing some sort of monster.” I laughed at a borderline hysterical pitch, waving the comment off. “Nothing is waking up. I probably just ...” My voice faltered. I didn’t have a good explanation. And worse, part of me thought he might actually be right.
We kept walking, the silence stretching between us for several long strides.
The path narrowed, brush pulling at my legs until the trees opened into a moonlight-dappled clearing. A wide river cut through the middle, its current fast and foaming where it hit submerged rocks.
“Well, that’s inconvenient,” I muttered.
Damon stepped up beside me, squinting downstream. “We’ll need to find a shallow crossing. Or a fallen tree.”
“I should probably mention I’m not exactly the strongest swimmer.”
“You did okay after you jumped off a cliff,” he teased.
“Okay, that’s fair. I am a decent swimmer, but I don’t like dark water.”
His lips curved. “Afraid of snakesandwater? You’re just full of surprises.” He smirked, stepping toward the bank. “Come on. Let’s find a way across.”
