Page 39 of A Hunt So Wicked
"Wish I knew, brother. It's madness, all of it," Kael replied.”And it’s not like the guards of the Isle were exactly forthcoming with information.”
Rion scoffed. “You can say that again. Do you think they’re offended that some of us will be stationed here after The Hunt?”
Kael shrugged. “Or that none of them were trusted to protect the women out here? I didn’t see a single one, did any of you?”
The other three guards shook their heads.
"I'm sure if we're patient and just sit tight, the royals will be here to rescue us soon."
I cringed. I knew that voice. Of all the people, why did I have to be stuck out here with her?
I turned slowly, my eyes landing on Belinda. Her normally perfectly powdered face was smeared with dirt, and her cheeks were bright red. She was still trying to act better than us, but her back wasn’t as straight as usual, her shoulders sagged, and when she straightened her skirt, I saw the way her hands shook. A pang of sympathy struck me, and I felt no joy in seeinganyonein this situation.
"And what if they don't come?" another girl, whose name I believed was Tiona, challenged. She wiped sweat from her forehead, not realizing she’d just smeared mud across her light brown skin. Nobody bothered pointing it out because we were all filthy. "This entire situation is bullshit and stinks like it, too."
Before anyone could respond, Riv and her two helpers returned and eagerly handed Isla the herbs. She got to work, ripping the plants into little bits and pieces. "Spit in my hand," she demanded, holding her hand up to Ayla.
"W-what?" she stammered as if she'd misheard.
"I need some moisture to make this work, and I'd rather use your spit instead of mine. You already have your own germs, so no need to add to it." She moved her palm closer. "Now, spit."
Ayla leaned forward and cupped her hand around her mouth, trying to shield the rest of us from actually seeing her spit, though the others who were watching still looked horrified. Isla didn't so much as bat an eye as she mixed up a dark green paste and began gently pressing it into the wound.
"What do you mean by that, Tiona? You don't think they're going to come to rescue us? That's preposterous!" Annabelle, a very striking woman from the Ekpen Kingdom, demanded, clutching her hands against her chest.
Arguing broke out between the group, which had now multiplied from four to nearly twenty. Not only that, the majority of the people here were horrified by the act of spitting. What the hell were we going to do now? It was going to be substantially more difficult to hide our tracks now—not to mention they'd been leaving a blood trail right to us. My eyes widened.Shit.
Kael seemed to have come to the same conclusion I had because we both looked at each other with urgency at the exact same moment. He marched over to me, and we stepped away from the group, not that they would’ve noticed with all of the bickering going on.
"Are you thinking what I am?" he demanded, the blue of his eyes becoming harder.
"The blood trail?" I guessed, and he nodded solemnly. "We need to move away from here as soon as possible."
He ran his hands through his hair which was now thoroughly out of control. None of it was tied back at this point, and a long blond curl hung over his right eye. "Idiots. We're out here, surrounded by apex predators, and they didn't think they should wrap that shit up?"
I shrugged. "What's done is done, but if those animals follow that trail..."
"No, no, you're right. Time is of the essence."
We hurriedly returned to the group just as Isla finished wrapping up the leg.
"It will be good enough until we get back to the castle,” she said as she stood up and brushed her hands on her skirt. “I also wrapped the ankle as best I could to limit mobility, which should at least help with the pain a bit.”
Ayla did seem to be more relaxed now, which I hoped was from the pain relief and not from going into shock.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we need to move out. As fast as possible," Kael said, getting a mixture of looks ranging from determined, to confused and scared.
"The blood," I said, pointing at the puddle at Ayla's feet. "If she was bleeding like that the entire way here, there's a blood trail leading right to us. Those animals can track us without fresh blood, but factor that in, and we may as well have a rope that attaches us right to them."
Several girls hopped up, understanding the urgency.
"I just really think we should wait for hel—"
A howl sliced through the forest, cutting off Belinda's absurd idea.
Riv grabbed a handful of the herbs and stuffed them into her pockets. "Right then, we're getting the fuck out of here. Anyone who wants to stay with her and wait for help, be my guest. Those who want to live, let's go."
Tiro scooped Ayla into his arms, and we were on the run once again. Belinda whined about it but didn’t hesitate to stay with the group. She was a horrible person, but I was glad she'd decided to come. Anyone who stayed behind would end up dead, of that I was sure.
