This was by far the worst hike I had ever been on. Most would think a trek through Africa would be like an exotic safari, with giraffes, and elephants, and herds of gazelles to awe at. All we had found was heat, scratchy grass, and some rather annoying birds that had taken up the habit of screeching at us every few minutes.
I had no idea how long we had been walking, but it seemed like hours. My collar was sticky with sweat from the midday sun glaring on us. The landscape hadn’t changed in a while. There was nothing but the brown grass and the occasional sprinkling of acacia trees. Surely, we should have found the person we were seeking out by now? Yet we’d seen no sign of civilization since we’d fled the town from the demons.
Kael paused and squinted back in the direction we’d come. He’d been doing so at regular intervals, I assumed trying to catch the sounds, or even scents, of any demons that may still be pursuing us. He seemed convinced they wouldn’t have given up so easily.
“Anything?” I asked.
“No.” He turned and continued.
We had found a narrow path cutting through the grass, though whether it was made by people or animals, I didn’t know. It made the walking a bit easier, but if we wanted to avoid being followed, we wouldn’t be able to stay on the trail for long. I pulled in a deep breath and winced slightly at the stinging pain in my side at the movement.
The scratch had not lessoned in pain with the growing of the day. It had worsened. I told myself it was likely from the chafing of my shirt, and next time we took a break I was going to put some ointment and a bandage on it. It seemed silly, worrying about such a small scratch, but something at the back of my mind told me the stinging was a cause to be anxious.
I shook my head. Fretting over such a tiny scratch. Kael would probably laugh at me if I told him. I frowned. No, he likely wouldn’t. If anything, he’d probably berate me for not telling him about it in the first place.
My pace had slowed, I realized, and I picked up the pace to get back into step with Kael. He glanced behind us again, and his brow furrowed.
“I think it’s time we get off this path,” he said. “I don’t think we’re being followed, but something is nagging at me.”
“Sure, let’s go.” I wasn’t going to argue with him, even though trekking through the itchy grass was the last thing I wanted to do. He could have some sort of shifter instincts warning him for all I knew, and it would be smart not to argue with them. After all, I’d never prided myself to be someone who argued for argument’s sake. I was more of a “choose your battles” kind of woman.
We veered from the path, and quickly left it behind. My breath was beginning to labor. I hadn’t realized I’d gotten so out of shape. I used to be able to hike, climb, and trek all day without becoming winded. Perhaps it was the glaring heat.
The burbling of water caught my attention, and we soon came up on a small stream. There was a rocky outcrop nearby that cast a small shadow at its base. Kael led us to it, and I was never so happy to sink down to the ground beneath some shade. My partner folded to the ground beside me, and though he appeared to be the picture of ease, I knew he was still listening and watching for danger.
I settled back against the rock. It was cool after the heat. As we sat, a herd of water buffalo made their way to the opposite bank. Their dark coats were peppered with little birds picking bugs from their hides. Kael watched the herd as we rested, and I pulled my pack from my shoulder. I rifled through it until I found my ointment and some Band-Aids.
The cut was red and stung as I smeared antibacterial ointment across it. Kael didn’t notice what I was doing until I had finished pressing the bandage to my skin.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Just a little scratch, but out in this wilderness and in this heat, I don’t want to risk an infection.” I pulled my shirt down and gave him a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Kael nodded, and I was thankful he was as unworried about it as myself. He pulled out the water and some trail mix. We spent several minutes taking careful sips and munching on the mix of nuts and dried fruit.
“Which way from here?” I hadn’t wanted to ask him before, but I had a suspicion we were lost. Either that, or the woman had already traveled to a different location and we had missed her.
Kael stood and studied the wild landscape. “Let’s continue the way we’ve been going.” He jerked his head in a westerly direction. He held a hand down to help me up. “We’ll find her.”
I hoped he was right, and I hoped he trusted in the advice of his friend. After Alastor had pointed us to a false key, I was suspicious about directions from sources I didn’t know.
Time stretched on, and I was beginning to think we’d never find the woman, and never stop walking. The day seemed to grow warmer by the minute. I was down to a tank top, and was seriously considering cutting off the bottom half of my pants, even if it did further expose me to bugs and scratchy weeds. My head had been throbbing for the past hour, despite the water I’d been drinking.
My energy was quickly sapping, and I tripped a few times with feet that had grown heavy. The third time I stumbled, I hit my knees. I leaned over and braced my hands on the grass. A shadow fell over the grass in front of my face.
“Livvie?”
I glanced up to find Kael’s face pinched with concern. “Hey.”
He grabbed me under my shoulders and settled me back on my butt. I didn’t even have the energy to protest being handled like a child. His hand paused on my arm, and he frowned.
“You’re really hot,” he said.
Really hot? I stared at him. If he was going to compliment me, did he have to do it with such an uneasy look on his face?
“Now isn’t the time for that,” I said.
It was beyond me why Kael thought being lost in the African wilderness would be a good time for flirting. Wait. Was he flirting?
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. It felt like someone was tapping my skull with a tiny hammer.
“No,” he said slowly. I opened my eyes, and he gave me a tight smile, and though a tiny spark of amusement lit in his eyes, his brow remained furrowed. “I mean you feel hot, like feverish.”
I pushed him away from me and blinked. Kael was a sturdy guy, but it had been like trying to push a truck out of my way. “It’s impossible not to be hot in this climate, Kael.”
He let out a sharp breath and stood. He bent down to help me up. As I climbed to my feet, a sudden pain licked my side. I grabbed it with a gasp.
Before I could say anything, Kael grabbed the bottom of my tank and lifted it. His nostrils flared. I glanced down to see what he was staring at. The skin around the scratch was red and inflamed. It was starting to burn a little. Still, I pulled my shirt from Kael’s fingers and yanked it down.
“I’ll be fine,” I said. Judging by his silent stare, he obviously wasn’t convinced.
Kael’s lips pressed into a thin line. After a moment, he said, “Perhaps we should find a place to rest. Tomorrow we can continue our search.”
I couldn’t help but scoff. “Where are we supposed to rest?”
Aside from the grass and scattered trees, there was nowhere we could hunker down where we wouldn’t be exposed to the elements, wild beasts, or worse, demons.
Kael squinted as he peered around. Then, he paused and pointed. “There.”
I followed his gaze to a slight rise in the horizon that looked to be a forest.
“We can go for that,” he said.
So, the pair of us continued through the endless sea of grass, the silence broken occasionally by the indignant, territorial birds. After a while, the sky turned from blue to gray, followed by a blush of pink and orange. Kael’s steps were quick, obviously in a hurry to get to the forest before nightfall.
The pain at my ribs had worsened. It burned, growing hotter with each step, as if someone were teasing me with a red-hot poker. I gritted my teeth and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
Left. Right. Left. Left.
I stumbled, and only quick footwork kept my face from meeting the ground.
Kael glanced back at me, and I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. He frowned, but continued on his way.
Minutes dragged on. A strange fuzziness flickered in my mind. I shook my head and tried to clear it, but the sensation persisted. I glanced up from my boots shuffling through the grass to find Kael had gotten quite a bit ahead of me.
“Kael,” I called. My voice sounded strange, as if my mouth were full of cotton.
Something hard hit my back end, and I realized after a moment it was the ground.
Grass and sky spun around me, and I closed my eyes against the dizziness. A warmth pressed against my face, and I wished it would stop. I was so hot.
“Livvie.”
I opened my eyes. Kael had his hand pressed to my face. Why did he look so worried?
“Kael?” The word was hardly more than a whisper from my dry lips.
He dropped his hand from my face and lifted my shirt. His breath hissed in, and I flinched as he yanked off the bandage. The wound at my ribs was an angry red, with bluish-green tendrils spreading across my skin like spiderwebs. I peered up at Kael, and wondered if I had the same panic in my eyes that stared from his.
“Where did this wound come from?” he asked. His voice was tight, and I couldn’t tell if he was angry or scared. Maybe both.
Strangely, it took me a minute to recall where I had gotten the scratch in the first place.
“One of the demons,” I said.
A muscle ticked at his jaw, and I wondered if he was trying not to yell at me. He put his arm around my back. “We’ll find some help, but we need to get to the forest so you can rest.”
Kael glanced up. When had night fallen? He started to help me to my feet, when his head snapped to peer behind me. A low growl rumbled through his chest. I didn’t have to ask to know what he had seen or heard.
Demons.
Without a word, he hauled me to my feet. The forest was ahead of us. If we hurried, we could reach the trees and maybe find shelter. Kael kept his arm around me, but even with his support, I was having difficulty. Every step and breath I took brought more pain. I couldn’t get my feet to work right, and my vision faded in and out. Hairs rose on the back of my neck.
The demons were drawing closer. We weren’t going to make it into the forest in time.
Magic. I could use my magic.
I glanced behind me into the darkness, expecting a group of demons to race toward us at any second. I pulled at my magic, but the more I tried to summon the power that could save us, the more my stomach churned. It wasn’t working.
Pain lashed at me, and tears pricked my eyes. The agony ripped through me, and my muscles gave out as we neared the forest. My legs bent. I tried to clutch at Kael. He caught me before I fell and, tightening his grip, he swung me up into his arms.
My head bounced against Kael’s shoulder as he ran. He glanced back and swore. We reached the trees, and he bent to ease me onto the ground. Grass and twigs tickled at my cheek as I lay wishing I had a softer place to put my head.
I twisted as best I could to stare up at Kael. His face was pale, but determined, as he stared forward. I tilted my head just enough to be able to see a dozen pairs of eyes, burning like coals in the dark.
I pulled the necklaces from beneath my shirt and closed the keys in my fingers. I tried to tell Kael we would be all right, but a moan came from my lips instead at the pain that sliced at my side. If I could reach for him, get his attention, maybe he would understand. My muscles wouldn’t hardly work, however, and my vision started to fade.
A sudden deep rumbling carried from the trees and reverberated in my chest. Something heavy thumped from somewhere behind me, like the footsteps of a giant. Shrieking came from in front of us, and I winced at the horrid sound. The indignant cries faded.
Were the demons fleeing? Why?
Kael crouched and hovered over me protectively. Had another demon come? A bigger, more terrible demon?
“What is this that has stumbled into my home, and brought demons to my doorstep?”
I tried to crane my neck to see who had spoken, but the pain enveloped me, and dragged me down with relentless claws.