Page 41 of The Lost Princess

“I know,” I soothed to myself. I worked my fingers around his jaw and cheeks, gently massaging his face.

“Nasi, wake up. Please. I need you.”

My fear and anxiety only doubled. The farmers would come back eventually, or more humans could come. We had to move. Nasihadto wake up.

“Nasi. Please. I’m sorry about this morning. You’re right. I tried to do something without your permission. I knew you didn’t want my blood, and I tried manipulating you anyway. It was wrong even if I was just trying to help. I’msorry.”

His eyes fluttered, and a spark of hope went straight to my chest.

“Nasi! Wake up!”

I was firmer and meaner, shaking his shoulders but mindful of his wings. The blood loss was concerning. I knew from my father that if a man lost too much blood, he could die. Surely it was the same for any other creature, as well.

Nasi went still under me.

“NASI!” I screamed at him, my voice modulating into a high, piercing shriek. His eyes shot open, pupils dilated wide as they frantically scanned for me.

Then he threw up again.

I managed to dodge it, helping him roll safely on his side as he emptied his stomach on the red sand again. We had not had breakfast before he’d stormed out, so it was mostly bile.

“Kaida …” he moaned.

“Don’t ‘Kaida’ me now,” I lectured. “Listen. You’re badly injured. I can’t move you, and you can’t move yourself. Please,pleasedrink my blood. I am sorry about earlier. I’ll never do it again. I didn’t realize you felt so strongly. I’ll never do anything again like that without your permission. You can even hate me for the rest of my life and never speak to me again if you want.” Tears ran down my cheeks, unchecked. “Just please, please drink my blood so we can get out of here.”

He blinked heavily, as if struggling to stay awake. I gripped his hand in mine, uncaring of how my claws dug into the back of his hand. His lips parted slightly, his head lifting minutely.

“Alright,” he breathed.

I couldn’t move fast enough, slitting the underside of my arm open and pressing it eagerly to his lips. Perhaps too eagerly. I winced at the sudden onslaught of pain, slightly alarmed at how quickly the blood flowed. I must have cut too deep.

Nonetheless, Nasi drank greedily, his head falling back on my lap. Pleasure shot through my body but was numbed by the tug I felt in my heart. It was as if my very lifeforce were being pulled and yanked through my body. Blinking a few times, I fought off a wave of dizziness. I needed to be strong for both of us.

Nasi stopped bleeding so terribly, and the gaping wounds in his wings knitted closed. Slowly. Too slowly. With great effort he tore himself off me and pushed my arm away.

“Can you stand?” I asked, not giving him a chance to refuse as I urged him to his feet. We leaned on each other, swaying a bit before we started walking.

“Southeast,” Nasi grunted, pushing me slightly in a different direction.

Pink rose to tint my cheeks. “Of course,” I muttered.

I didn’t ask how far it was. I didn’t ask how he got caught. We simply walked, one foot at a time in front of the other. We headed straight for the shelter of the mountains, hopeful that the rocks would shield us from any other humans in the area and their wandering eyes.

“There is a mountain path. We can hike that,” Nasi offered, still breathing too heavily for my liking, yet I could feel I wasn’t ready to give him anything else. My head ached, throbbing in time with each step I took. I allowed him to point out the path, a tiny trail that started at the base of a mammoth rock and winded up through the mountain.

“There is water…. And plants at least,” he muttered, pausing to collect his breath. I offered him my shoulder again, and up we trudged. One literal step at a time.

It was steep. Red dirt swirled behind us as we both moved on our bare feet. The scales on my soles were tougher than human skin, and I realized the reason that Nasi didn’t wear shoes was because he didn’t need them—not in this form.

The sun beat down overhead, and I quickly overheated. Yet I didn’t sweat. Not really. Was this a draken thing as well? I couldn’t tell if I was nauseated from the lack of blood, the sun, or both. Either way, I needed to rest. I glanced around, finding a large boulder propped up halfway by another. There was a generous amount of shade underneath, and I tugged Nasi toward it.

“I need to cool down. Come on.”

He didn’t resist or otherwise say anything, which told me how badly he must have needed it. His hand was hot to the touch; mine probably was as well.

We roughly sat down in the shade, leaning against each other. The vegetation around us was sparse but green at least. I wondered if any was edible. I was hungry, but it wasn’t urgent yet. I was still too nauseated to consider it. We both likely needed water.

Nasi pointed at a prickly green plant. “Cactus.”

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