Page 54 of Bound By Blood
"What are you trying to do?" she demanded.
"You will see. Make your peace and become friends. Your time is soon." Ilvan tapped the base of his spear on the ground, then turned and strode away.
She turned her gaze back to Traelan. "What's all this about?"
"They're trying to force open a stable portal at the top of a forest staircase."
"A portal to where?"
"They haven't told me that part. It's not necessary. For now, I am their 'honored guest.'" He scoffed and then dropped his head back against the stone wall. "Good to be honored. Would hate to see what they do with people they really dislike."
"Are you really a kytobar?"
If so, that meant that wasn't his real face. Or his real name. Really, nothing was real about him except his presence and voice.
He tried to smile, but she noticed then how much more reptilian his eyes looked and how his features were almost too symmetrical.
"Like your blood fae's family, I have taken a different path from most of my kind. And I won't harm you. Not that that will keep them from trying to make this work on their own. The fools."
Dozens of questions pressed up in her mind. Some connected, some not. Where Ryul was and whether he was safe. He had to be. But what he must think of her, running off like that.
Her cheeks burned. And Buttons. Poor Buttons.
"Have you seen my dog here?"
His brow tweaked. "That's your next question?"
"I saw him run off," she said. "But I don't know if they caught him."
He paused as if considering this, then shook his head. "To the best of my knowledge, no dogs were brought here."
That was good at least.
She tested the strength of the ropes on her hands. "Do you know what this supposed sacrificial process looks like?"
"Yes. Soon, they're going to take us both out. They'll ask me to share my blood to open the gateway. I'll refuse. There will be some unpleasant threats. That won't work. They'll do their thing. I suggest you look away at that point. Then they'll cut my wrists open and take my blood by force. That will make the portal far weaker than it should be, but it will open a door at the top of the staircase. Then, they will force you to walk through and see whether the portal stays open or collapses or just kills you."
"Oh." She frowned. "I thought those stairways were temporary. How do they know it will be there?"
"They've found a way to hold it in place. But that has its own consequences. They won't stop until it stops them, and that won't be good for anyone. I don't suppose there's any chance anyone would know you're here and in trouble?"
"Not exactly. Ryul might come looking for me but not until after dark."
"Be careful if you try stalling," Traelan said. "Ilvan's temper is short, and Disa sounds friendly, but she gets impatient too. You wouldn't be the first to try to drag this out."
"Who all is here? Can you tell me anything about them that will help?"
Traelan filled her in on what he knew. The camp was made up of five members. Ilvan, the leader. Alrik with the turquoise beads woven in his hair and the silver charms in his beard. Disa, Alrik's sister and Ilvan's cousin, who always wore blue and had a fish hook scar along the back of her hand. Nendri the thin quiet one who kept his beard trimmed and neat but never decorated. And Thurra with the bright-red hair who only spoke when angry or annoyed. They'd caught him two days after he had spoken with Erryn, but he suspected they had been at this since before he had arrived.
"How is it they caught you then?" he asked. "I wouldn't think they'd dare to snatch someone on the right side of the boundary markers."
Heat flared through her, shame tightening in her chest as all the memories of the previous morning flooded back. She shook her head. Poor Ryul. Quinn had been right. She didn't deserve him. She closed her eyes as tears started to run down her cheeks. Would he understand why she'd run?
"Hey, what's this?" Traelan scowled.
"It's nothing," she said, sniffling. "I just—" She shook her head. "I got scared, and I ran again."
"Sometimes, running is the only answer."
