Page 29 of Sons of Sorrow
“Just why are you helping us, anyway?” Evander cocked his hip, a suspicious sneer on his lips. “How do we know you haven’t led us into a trap?”
“Again,” Ember said, “you don’t. But I’m the first thing you’ve met that hasn’t tried to kill you. Consider for a moment that maybe you’re also a few of the only things I’ve met that haven’t tried to kill me in turn. Maybe it’s possible that I’m only trying to be decent and help out a mob of witless outlanders who would have walked into the Core to shake hands with a firefly.”
My forehead wrinkled as I studied this strange, slightly angry little man. Did he basically say he was in the market for friends, or was his help coming from a place of burning curiosity, pun intended?
Luna played with her earring and shook her head. “I still say we shouldn’t trust him.”
The tips of Ember’s flaming hair took on a brighter quality, even as his expression darkened. “I’m going to scout our surroundings and make sure nothing deadly has followed us. Or hungry. You can make up your minds about whether or not you trust me. I don’t really care either way.”
A trail of cinders followed where Ember flew, which was the hell out of there. I didn’t blame him. Not the friendliest crowd. Bruna, Sylvain, Satchel, and I could be nice all we wanted. One or two snide remarks from Luna or Evander would still sting enough to rile him up.
“Well, I like him,” Satchel said, nodding in approval. “He’s got a smart mouth. Very relatable.”
I bit back my laughter, but teasing Satchel was too much fun to resist. “You sure that’s why you like him?”
Satchel stuck his fists and his legs out, as if stamping his feet in midair. “Whatever, Locke. At least he’s being honest. I can tell you that he’s helped us more than you know. He probably doesn’t even realize he’s brought us exactly where we want to be.”
“Oh, yeah?” Luna placed her hands on her hips, a challenge. “And what makes you say that?”
His chest thrust out, his lips turned up smugly, Satchel answered. “Because we’ve got a guardian right here.”
We all turned to survey the clearing, reaching for our weapons, preparing our spells — but nothing. Satchel sucked on his teeth, then let out an exaggerated sigh.
“That thing over there,” he said, pointing at a blasted scattering of rocks, a weird little creature standing among them. “I wish I could tell you why, but my guardian sense is pinging.”
I frowned, squinting at the reptilian something or other. I should have noticed it myself, but its mottled hide helped it blend in with the rocks. “That guy? The one that looks like a snake standing on its tail?”
Bit of an exaggeration. It did have itty-bitty legs, the trunk of its body more ovoid than the rest, providing a center of balance. Its neck stuck straight up, its snakelike head darting here and there as it looked around, vacant eyes staring, tongue flicking at the air.
The beast resembled a tiny, goofy lizard, in short. If it noticed us, it didn’t acknowledge that we were a threat. And not to be mean or anything, but it certainly didn’t look smart enough to make that determination for itself. Poor little guy.
“Stand clear, everybody,” I said, holding my arms out. “At least until we figure out what it is.”
Evander flipped his hair. “Oh, for the love of — it’s a single, solitary creature, Locke. Where’s your sense of adventure? This is why it took you so long to contract more eidolons and grow your power. You never take any risks.”
“Are you serious?” I smacked myself in the forehead. “Evander, all we’ve done since we walked into this place has been risky. Hey, don’t you approach that thing. I’m telling you. Don’t you dare.”
I flung my finger out at him, jabbing at the air as I went on, not that Evander was even looking at me. He was acting like he’d forgotten every single lesson Dr. Fang had bashed into our craniums about meeting new monsters.
He kept pressing on, approaching the creature like a tourist on safari. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if Evander ended up as an entrée for a weird lizard. The problem was that the rest of us were fair game as well. I didn’t like being so exposed and vulnerable.
Satchel clucked his tongue, hovering close by, because he knew well enough to keep his distance. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”
My hand went to my dagger, still in its sheath. What was I going to do, throw it at Evander’s back? If that would stop him, sure. And what was he going to do, walking up to this monster? Poke it with a stick?
“Oh, Locke?” Evander sang, one hand on his waist as he lingered dangerously close to the strange, wobbly lizard. It cocked its head to the left, then to the right, appraising Evander Skink. “Is your familiar entirely sure that this is supposed to be a guardian? It doesn’t look very imposing, now, does it?”
“He has a name,” I said. “Satchel, I mean, not the lizard. Come back here so we can strategize. Gods above and below, why are you still approaching it? Get back here right this instant.”
Evander sniffed, taking his sweet time as he kept plunging forward. “Please, and give you the pleasure of victory? I’ll take out this guardian myself, allow the rest of you to bask in my glory. My butterflies will eviscerate it in no time flat. Come to me, my pretties. Come to — ”
The wobbly lizard decided it had had enough. It darted forth, clamping sharp fangs around Evander’s wrist. He screamed. Fucking served him right. I lurched forward, no plan in mind apart from ripping the lizard thing’s fangs from Evander’s arm, but it had already relinquished its hold, springing back and away. Evander fell to his knees, screaming louder.
“Oh gods, it burns. Oh fuck, oh gods.”
“Venom,” Bruna shouted, hands shaking as she inspected her many pouches and potions for something to help. “I don’t walk around with anti-venom for every serpent in existence, Evander, oh, gods, you stupid, poor, stupid thing.”
Sylvain rushed past me in a blur, scooping Evander up and tossing him over his shoulder before I could react. He ran back to our group, then laid Evander out on the ground. Evander’s lashes fluttered as his eyes tried to focus on Sylvain’s face, the brim of Bruna’s hat, the dark of the smoky sky.
