Page 84 of Sinful Curses
“We have to do something about the poison,” she said.
He released the shadows obscuring them. They were far enough away from the spiders not to need them anymore, but he’d like to get a lot farther… soon.
“I don’t think we can do anything,” he told her.
When her jaw set and her eyes narrowed, he inwardly groaned. They didn’t have time for this fight, and it was one he wouldn’t win if she decided to refuse to move… which she did five seconds later when she planted her feet on the ground like a recalcitrant horse.
Jerked to a halt, Zeth hung awkwardly between them. Orin considered pulling him like a wishbone to see if Sahira would cave, but he hadn’t risked his ass for the demon to rip him in two now.
He glowered at Sahira as he released Zeth and helped the demon sag to the ground. When he stretched out his wounded arm, the skin around it pulled a little, but the gash was already healing, and it had stopped bleeding.
“If you can’t do anything by the time I’m back, we’re leaving,” he stated.
Sahira chose to ignore him as she knelt at Zeth’s side. The demon wouldn’t make it, but she wasn’t ready to hear the truth.
And when the demon died, which was likely coming soon, they’d have to stop again to get rid of the body. He’d discovered a bit of a conscience but wasn’t about to carry a dead body with them.
She’d fight it, and she would lose. No way was he letting the dead get in his way.
Orin turned to study the terrain they’d covered since fleeing the spiders. The area between the mountains remained much wider here than before they encountered the spiders’ giant web.
The mountains faded as their black rock became interspersed with more flat land and dirt. Trees and grass were also sprouting up more often.
The trees were small and sparse, but unlike the ones in Belda’s town with their barren limbs, these had red leaves on them. Orin didn’t take this sign of life as a good one; he’d been here too long to believe anything good about this place, but he appreciated not having to climb mountains or being squished between them anymore.
What little remained of the mountains wasn’t big enough to hide the spiders that could be stalking them, but he didn’t trust the monsters to have given up the hunt. They’d torched their home and slaughtered some of their kin, friends, or whatever they were.
That big bitch had been pissed, but it didn’t seem they were following. Perhaps fear, and the need to repair their home, had kept them at bay; he wasn’t taking the chance it hadn’t.
Those things could be back there somewhere, waiting for their chance to attack again.
“I’ll be back.” He nudged Pip with his finger. “You should get down.”
She yawned as she scrambled from his shoulder and settled on the ground. Before anyone could ask where he was going, he encased himself in shadows and ran down the path.
As he sprinted, the mountains rose to surround him again. They weren’t anywhere near as thick or obstructive as they were before they encountered the spiders, but they blocked his view more.
He kept his breathing steady while running so he could hear the slightest hint of claws or legs scraping against rock. His gaze ran over the stones rising from the earth to tower over him, but no shadows shifted or stirred up there.
He traversed a mile before slowing to a stop. If the spiders had decided to track them, they would be at this point by now.
He searched the rocks while straining to hear anything to indicate the spiders had pursued them. He didn’t know if that bitch’s need for vengeance would propel the spiders to follow or if the fire would keep them away.
Those monsters had probably never encountered an adversary who caused them any damage before. He doubted they knew how to handle it.
Those spiders were apex predators, but even apex predators hesitated when encountering something bigger and worse. And he would do much worse if those things followed.
But, for now, the spiders had decided to stay away. And if they did regroup and hunt them, they now had trees and more kindling to make the bastards regret their piss-poor choice.
Satisfied they would have a break from the spiders, he turned and raced back toward the others. They had some time, but not much; he’d learned this realm didn’t give much of a reprieve when it came to the things that could kill them.
They had to get movingnow.It would take some doing to get Sahira and the others to leave Zeth behind, but he’d make it happen.
When he was only a hundred feet away, he rounded a bend in the path, and the others came back into view. They all remained at Zeth’s side as Sahira leaned over him.
It wasn’t until he was nearly on top of them that he realized Sahira had her mouth against Zeth’s neck. The white-hot poker of fury stabbing into his stomach and twisting deeper made him forget all about the discomforts of his body as he focused solely onthem.
CHAPTERSEVENTY-FOUR
