Page 48 of Heart of the Hunted
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Taredd
It seemed that no matter how hard he tried not to, he was continuously putting his foot in it with Natalia. He would understand if he did actually keep forgetting that she was a Human, but he didn't, so he couldn't use it as an excuse. He just didn't appear to be able to think before he spoke while he was around her.
Taredd was coming to the conclusion that it was Natalia herself. She was the reason he wasn’t himself at the moment. Maybe she was part Witch and had cast a spell on him.
That could explain why she didn't act anything at all like the other Humans he had come across so far. It was the only explanation he could come up with as to why he was acting so out of sorts.
The sooner they reach the others, the better. If she had such a strong effect on him in the short amount of time they have been together, then Taredd dreaded to think what it would be like if he spent an extended period of time with her.
It was a shame she needed to sleep every night, because if they didn't have to stop so often, then they could have caught up with Arun and Dain a hell of a lot sooner. As it was, they were going to be lucky if they caught up with them within a week.
At this rate, it was going to be closer to two weeks, if not more. To top it all, she wasn't the fastest at walking either, which really wasn't helping. Even now he had to slow his pace so she could keep up with him.
Taredd hoped that when she was finally asleep, he could put some space between them physically. If whatever it was that was wrong with him had anything to do with being in close proximity to her, then putting some space between them might be all that was needed for him to pull himself back together.
But first, he needed to be certain that she was fast asleep, otherwise she might take his absence as the perfect opportunity to escape. Hopefully he could at least get his shit together enough for them to reach Arun and Dain.
Taredd didn't know what was going to happen after that. He promised Natalia that she wouldn’t die, but if he let her go, someone else might come along and finish her off. If that happened, he would have broken his promise.
The thought of someone killing her angered Taredd more than he expected, and definitely more than it should have. Not willing to look too deeply at why he had that reaction towards the thought of her death just yet, so he filed it away to look at later.
Mentally he shook his head to clear his thoughts and knelt down next to the trap to untangle the rabbit it caught.
"Have we caught something?" Natalia asked as she walked up behind him.
Even though Taredd told her to follow him, he’d completely forgotten to check if she actually was or not. To be honest, he was surprised to see she hadn't taken the opportunity to do a runner on him, but not as surprised as he was in the fact that she was actually taking an interest in what he was doing.
"Yes, we caught a rabbit," he told her.
"Wow, that was a lot quicker and easier than I thought it would be," she said. "I thought it might take all night before anything was caught."
"It depends where you set the traps. If you look..." he said, pointing at the ground around the trap. "... you can see the tracks are well worn, which indicates that it's used often, so it's the best place to set the trap."
He didn't know if Natalia could see what he was talking about. It was probably too dark for her to see the tracks, but she nodded her head all the same.
"I'll remember that for the future if..." she trailed off.
Taredd could tell she was about to say 'if I live long enough' at the end, but she didn't. So, for once, he managed to keep his mouth shut, instead of putting his foot in it like he was prone to do with her.
It amazed Taredd how he had gone from wanting to hunt down and kill every last Human being, to wanting one of them to live in the space of a few hours. And not just any one, but this one... Natalia. He didn't want to think what he was going to be like after spending a couple of days alone with her.
Once the rabbit was untangled and the trap cleared away, he picked the animal up by the ears and carried it back to the camp. Taredd collected large sticks and logs along the way, while Natalia picked up twigs.
Dumping the sticks and logs in a pile in the middle of the clearing, Taredd hung the rabbit from a tree while he set about starting the fire. As soon as it was going, Taredd grabbed the rabbit again to skin and gut it before placing it over the fire. Before long, the animal was roasting nicely over the open flames.
Taredd sat back and relaxed, watching the flames dance as he waited for the meat to cook. The entire time he had been working, Natalia hadn't once taken her eyes off him. She watched intently as he prepared the animal and got the fire going.
Taredd assumed this was the first time she’d seen an animal be skinned, especially since she admitted she normally scavenged for food instead of catching her own. It didn't bother him that she watched him so closely. In fact, he rather liked the idea that he was teaching her something useful, something she could do for herself in the future.
He wanted to ask her more about how she scavenged food, but he didn't think she would appreciate more questions thrown her way. Not that she hadn't thrown her fair share of questions his way, but still, she didn't keep putting her foot in it like he did. Not only that, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer anyway.
Natalia hadn't spoken a word since they collected the animal from the trap. Every time he had peeked back at her while they were walking, to see if she was still with him, she had looked deep in thought. Even when she watched him work, she was deep in thought. He could tell that she had a lot on her mind, and it had nothing to do with what he had been doing.
So, instead of disturbing her with unnecessary questions, he sat quietly watching the flames. Consumed by a myriad of thoughts and feelings all of his own, he tried to make sense of them as they swirled around inside him.
