"You two must be acting to make fun of me, right?" Nivi stressed, her words finally registering in my ears. "I’m not buying it."
I looked around the clearing, the unnatural stillness raising my guard. A knot formed in my stomach, tightening with each passing moment. Nobody else seemed to have noticed it. Not even Kurus.
As I focused on the anomaly, a flicker of something coiled toward my blind spot. I drove the meat skewer into Kurus’s throat before he could react.
A choked, wet gasp escaped him, his eyes bulging in disbelief. His hands flew to his neck, pulling out the wood lodged deep within his flesh. Causing him to choke and spurt blood.
Only then did I realize: he was going for the water jar behind me, not my throat.
I released my hold on the skewer. "Looks like we got busted, huh?"
My reply to Nivi came a bit late, which made her whimper at Kurus’s state.
I knelt, but Noodle had other plans. The serpent’s eyes burned with hate as he hissed, baring his fangs before disappearing into the shadows.
When I looked up, Hale was already staring at me. His mouth hung open, shock flooding his eyes.
"What?" I asked.
His lips stayed parted. Words failed him. He looked shaken.
"Breathe, or you’re going to choke, just like Kurus." I grabbed my backpack from my side and tossed it on my shoulder. "Thank you for the lovely feast, Nivi. I’ll be taking my leave for the rest of the season."
"Where are you going?" Nivi asked, snapping out of her stupor. She stood up, her face pale. "It’s not safe to be alone in the forest, Yaya."
"I’ll be fine," I assured her. I didn’t wait for their response and walked away, letting my boots crunch on the leaves. I knew I had just ruined their peaceful gathering and probably made them question my sanity.
As I passed the trees, I could hear Nivi trying to convince Kurus that I was not a threat, that I was just overprotective and had trust issues, all while Hale tried to help him heal. Their voices faded as I got further away.
I was not worried about leaving Nivi with Hale. I believe that she would be able to sweet-talk herself out of every situation. She knew this world from A to Z. If my girl couldn’t survive with such a cheat, she deserved to die, honestly.
The slithering sound of scales on grass grew closer behind me. Noodle had followed me, hissing and glaring at me like I had just ruined his life. Which I kind of did.
"What was that for?" Noodle hissed again, his red eyes glowing in the darkness of the forest as he slithered closer.
"You made Nivi uncomfortable with your words; she made you uncomfortable with hers," I replied, dodging a low branch without breaking my tempo. She wouldn’t be bothering Kurus about getting more males for me now, and Kurus... he’d just keep on hating me. "I simply solved the problem."
He lunged, his hands reaching for my throat, but I sidestepped and caught his wrists in a firm grip. His momentum carried him forward, and I twisted his arms, forcing them behind his back. A pained hiss escaped his lips as I drove him against a tree trunk, his face pressed against the rough bark.
"Still not afraid? You should be." My voice was low as I leaned in, my forearm pressing against the back of his neck. "You should fear me more than you desire me. Or you will get hurt. Again."
His eyes flashed with defiance, and he attempted to bite my hand. I tightened my grip on his jaw, making him hiss in pain.
"Hand over a miracle core," I demanded. "Or I’ll break your jaw and leave you here for the eagles."
He refused with a low hiss, his tail coiling about my waist. Then the world shifted. One moment I was parrying his serpentine form, the next a solid wall of human pressed against my chest.
His elongated body condensed as he rose to his full height, standing before me. His fast movements were a blur, matching that of an attacking snake, his muscular thighs clamping in between mine.
His palms came up to frame my face, fingers tangling in my hair, and his mouth claimed mine. He was weaker, this truth etched in the way his muscles strained against mine, and he knew it. So he abandoned the brute force that had failed him before, reaching for other tactics.
His hands clenched in my hair, pulling me closer. There were many misunderstandings caused by our words, and now they were being resolved by our lips. The position of the mate mark was fitting, very fitting.
Against my lips, he breathed the words, "Not... afraid... of you."
He was not afraid and wanted to prove that he could take me on. He was saying, go ahead, bite my tongue off if you can, but you can’t escape being mine.
"You’ll die, Noodle. A gruesome death awaits." I breathed against his lips, my heart stuttering as his fingers tightened in my hair. The world dissolved into a cage I suddenly had no desire to escape.
But I had to. Before it got too serious.
Every person who drew near became another potential corpse, another ghost to haunt my nights. This kiss, this warmth, it was a dream I couldn’t allow myself to drown in, not when the truth was carved into every scar on my body.
He deserved death, I thought at first, but then... he didn’t. He was more than his past, more than the shadows that clung to him. He was trying, struggling to be more. And that... that was something I couldn’t bear to destroy.
Every moment was a countdown, every embrace a step closer to a cold, lonely end. I had nothing to offer, no future to promise, just a blood-stained road that only led to a grave. If I let myself want, I’d be dragging him to hell with me.
So I bit his tongue.
It was a reminder that he didn’t want any of this. Not the pain, neither the despair, nor me.