Page 49 of Whispers of Ruin
“I know.”
She may say she knew it, but she’d been going out of her way to avoid him and didn’t seem willing to change it any time soon. Frustration mounting, he stared at the top of her head as he willed her to look at him.
He didn’t know what to say or do to change this, but that was because, even though she was avoiding him, it wasn’t abouthim. This was because of her emotions about her dead fiancé.
Brokk shifted his gaze away from her as he took in the dense jungle while all around them animals screamed in pain and skirted through the foliage. Something was probably hunting them, but they wouldn’t know until it was on them.
One of the snake symbols was etched into a trunk the size of a giant’s calf. After their time in the mirror realm, he’d forgotten about them, but here was another.
Now that he was finally close enough to smell her earthy aroma again, he didn’t want to move away, but he sought answers and she required time—not too much time because he suspected she’d use it to run. He wouldn’t get anywhere pushing her, especially not when surrounded by others.
Striding over to the tree, he rested his fingers against the mark of a snake eating its tail. “What is this?” he asked. “And why is it carved into different things throughout the jungle?”
Ryker came to stand beside him. “It’s the mark of the ophidians. They use it to delineate their territory.”
“But we’ve seen it ever since we arrived here.”
“As far as I can tell, they considerallof Doomed Valley their territory.”
“Of course they do.”
Brokk resisted looking at Kaylia. Instead, he shifted his pack, wiped the sweat from his brow, and followed Ryker into the dense jungle.
Brokk swatted away a few bugs buzzing in his ears as his lip curved into a sneer. “Do you plan to return home at some point?” he asked to distract himself from the annoying insects while carving through the jungle.
“I swore to protect my king, and while I failed in my oath, Iwillremain here until he is free.”
Brokk suspected that meant Ryker had no family he cared about at home. Even a man who’d sworn an oath of loyalty to his king would return to see his wife, children, parents, or siblings. Or at least most of them would… if they had strong bonds with him.
Hell, he’d return to see Orin, and he was still pissed at the self-centered asshole. While he knew the Lord’s command killed his father, he also placed some of that blame on Orin’s shoulders. Orin loved his family, Brokk was certain of it, but he was reckless, selfish, and never thought about anyone other than himself.
Still, Brokk loved his older brother, even if he’d prefer to shove a sock in his mouth and beat him senseless most of the time. Thinking about it made him smile.
The day crept onward as he hacked through branches, vines, and other obstacles. He was sure things sprang up between him and Ryker that hadn’t been there before or shifted to block his way. The jungle had a way of changing around them.
He often lost sight of Kaylia as they moved through, but not for long as she stayed to his right and at the same pace. Though he sensed creatures creeping through the trees, nothing attacked them.
Maybe the larger numbers of Ryker’s men kept them at bay, or they would wait until nightfall to pounce. Either way, Brokk was ready for them.
The sun was setting when they emerged from the woods to stand at the edge of a clearing full of stone ruins.
CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN
Some stones remainedpositioned across two or three others to offer shelter and protection, but most of the massive rocks were scattered across the ground or tilted haphazardly against each other and trees.
All the stones were long and flat and had to weigh at least a thousand pounds. It had taken a lot of work to get the rocks positioned on one another, and he suspected many of the fallen ones were also once built up in such a way.
A hundred-foot circle of cleared land surrounded all the stones, and while it didn’t look like anyone had been here in years, as none of the ground was disturbed, the jungle hadn’t crept in to reclaim the stolen land. He wasn’t as connected to the earth as a witch, but power thrummed beneath his feet.
“What is this?” he asked.
“I have no idea,” Ryker answered. “We’ve never seen it before.”
“Are we going in the right direction still?”
“Yes, but there are many paths to take to the crudue vine, and don’t forget, the jungle has a way of changing.”
“That it does,” Brokk murmured.
