Aros fell into step behind him. “I wasn’t talking about that. She might have bruised ribs or something. She might get sick. We have no idea what he hit her with.”
Coen didn’t reply, but I wasn’t even listening anymore. I was facing Aros, my chin tucked against his shoulder, my hands looped behind his neck. The knuckle-imprinted rock was banging lightly between his shoulder blades with every step. I didn’t want to let it go for some reason. He was holding me with one arm, his hand settling into my waist as he stuck me against his front, a little off to the side so that he could walk easily. My legs were just kind of dangling. I considered wrapping them around his waist, just to be a little more comfortable, but decided against it. I was too numb to do anything. Too numb to ask questions. Not that it stopped them from springing up inside my head.
What the hell was that ball of light and smoke?
I ran into it, didn’t I?
It hit me in the chest, didn’t it?
Am I going to die now?
“No, you’re not going to die,” Yael growled.
My eyes flew open, connecting with his. He was walking behind Aros, his expression as dark as everyone else’s seemed to be.
Shit, was I asking those questions out loud?
“Yeah,” Siret answered.
I frowned, moving to clap a hand over my mouth. Only problem was, the knuckle-imprinted stone was still in my hand. Yael jumped forward, plucking the stone out of my hand when it was less than an inch away from smashing into my nose.
“Try not to make it worse,” he begged.
“That’s mine.” I pointed to the stone.
He looked down at the stone, his eyebrows arching. “Sure, Rocks. I won’t steal your rock. I’ll just keep it safe until it no longer presents a danger to your face.”
I nodded, once, satisfied. Aros’s chest rumbled a little, a laugh barely audible as we walked. I rested my chin against his shoulder again, snuggling closer. Blame the exhaustion. His free hand landed on the back of my thigh, holding me a little more securely. I fought the urge to wrap my legs around him yet again, but then decided that there wasn’t much point in fighting it. I was already growing attached to these sols. Maybe it was because I secretly wanted to be one of them. I wanted to be badass and superior too. I wanted to take on the gods and have a super-power. I wanted them to give me a nickname based on my super-power, instead of based on the fact that I was always falling over.
Or …
Or maybe it was all the near-death experiences. I supposed that could form an attachment of sorts. Whatever it was, I was giving up fighting it. They could kick me out of the group if they wanted to. They could push me onto my ass and leave me behind. But maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe they would keep me and teach me how to be badass while saving me from getting killed by all the other sols out there who definitely wouldn’t appreciate my newfound badass persona.
I locked my arms tighter around Aros’s neck, pulling my legs up around his waist. The hand on my thigh helped automatically, slipping further down, near my ass, to hold me up. He stopped walking, his chest rumbling again. This time, it wasn’t a laugh. It was a growl.
I was wrenched away from him suddenly, passed into another set of arms. I wasn’t even sure if I had been stolen, or if Aros had handed me off.
“Not a good idea, Rocks, pushing a guy with a seduction gift.” Coen’s voice shot through me, pooling heat into places that heat had no right pooling into. Okay, what the hell was going on?
“He’s a big boy,” I grumbled. “He can handle it.”
That was probably the truth, but it wasn’t really the issue in that moment. The issue was … could I handle it?
Ten
I was trying to ignore a very big problem. It took us another sun-cycle to get back to Blesswood, and in that time, there was always one of the Abcurse brothers by my side. Usually it was because they were carrying me, since it was faster to travel that way and they wouldn’t need to stop for too many breaks. I had ventured off on my own for a few clicks, though. We had stopped for a few rotations to rest, and I had been busting for the bathroom again. Since all hell had broken loose the last time I had been busting for the bathroom, I was understandably wary as I made my way through the trees, trying to find a private spot. The problem was, the further I travelled, the more my chest began to throb. Very soon, it was too painful for me to go any further. The pain wasn’t as bad as it had been the previous sun-cycle, but as soon as I finished my business and made my way back to the others, it lessened.