Page 14 of Fires of the Forsaken
“You’re sure?”
“—so what the heck was with theV for Vendettaact? Poor horse—”
“Answer the question. Are you sure it didn’t bite you?”
“Yes,”I growled. “Why are you making such a big deal outta this?”
Viking Viktor stared at me, his eyes unnervingly calm, even as his fingers shuddered restlessly over his knife. “That was a venomous horse,” he said.
Was he being serious?
“Their venom is a paralytic. One bite can leave you immobile for days.You’ll be lucky to regain full use of your limbs afterward. So I hope, for your sake, you’re telling the truth. Venom can sometimes be extracted from the wound, but only if it’s done quickly. And you’ve wasted time arguing with me.”
He said this so casually. Like he was talking about the weather.
Meanwhile, my head spun. Truthfully, I didn’t think my head hadstoppedspinning since I woke up, but now it whirled around and around and around at a hundred miles an hour. Ready to fling right off the tracks. So, could I be blamed for what I blurted out next?
“What in ever lovingfuckare you smoking?”
5
Viking Viktor
Instead of answering my question, Viking Viktor walked into the tree line.
“We can’t stay here,” he called over his shoulder. “It’s not safe.”
“What do you—hey!Wait!” I sprinted after him, hissing when low-hanging branches whacked me in the face. Walking through the thick-ass underbrush was like trudging through quicksand. There were no paths or walkways to follow. Just bushes, tree stumps, roots, and random plants that may or may not have been poisonous—if I got poison ivy from this shithole place, I was going to bepissed.
And Viking Viktor moved way faster than me. Within seconds, I lost sight of him.
“Wait!” I barreled through another bush, sputtering as the evergreen thistles stabbed my tongue, and cried out when I collided face-first into something solid.
Viking Viktor’s back.
To his credit, he’d at least stopped and waited. I mean, he could’ve stopped out in the open, or called out to let me know where he was. But…small mercies, right?
And—whew, he stunk to high heaven. Like a sweaty gym bag that had been sitting in a hot car. Had he never heard of deodorant? Or soap?
“Please.” I grabbed him when he started walking again. He had a cut on his forearm, above his wrist. The wound was red hot beneath my fingers, and it still seeped blood. But he didn’t flinch when I touched it. He stopped and stared at me with those inscrutable eyes.
“Please,” I whispered. “I’m, like, three seconds away from having a meltdown. I… where am I? How did I get here?”
He sighed. “This place is called Sakar.”
Ummmmm…was that a real place?
“We’re in Bafrus, one of our…” He trailed off, watching a drop of blood ooze from his wrist wound. “Bafruswasone of our countries.”
Not helping…
“A Celestial sent you here.”
Oh dear God…
“You’re trapped here now, I’m afraid. As the rest of us are.”
…this dude was definitely smoking something good.
