Page 16 of Fires of the Forsaken
“I’m aware,” Viking Viktor said brusquely.
The kid kept rambling. “And…anadult?Has an adult ever been—”
“We need to keep moving. Help her. Please.” Viking Viktor waved his arm dismissively in my direction and disappeared into the trees.
“Not much of a talker, is he?” I grumbled. And then I flipped him off. Because…why not? I’d just been abducted. I was pissed. Flashing the finger wouldn’t solve my problems, but it made me feel better. At least for a few seconds.
The kid stood beside me, still a little tense. But a bemused smile played across his lips as he watched my (immature) display. He bounced a few times on the balls of his feet, cast a nervous glance at the shrubbery Viking Viktor had vanished into, and said, “I’m Kaelan.” He stretched his hand toward me. Mud and blood had dried in cakey patches around his fingers, but I shook his hand anyway.
“Addie,” I mumbled. “Hey, do you have a cell phone I could borrow? Your friend didn’t. Or, he didn’t want me to borrow it. But I’ll be quick, I swear.”
Kaelan’s brow furrowed in confusion. His head tilted sideways.
My blood ran cold. “Oh, God. Please tell me you know what a cell phone is?”
“I’m sorry.” And his blue eyes were downright doleful.
My insides bubbled with nerves. “How about a landline? A radio? Walkie-talkie?”
He gave me the same blank expression.
“Have you at least heard of America? The USA?” My pulse roared in my ears.
“These are things from your world?” he asked.
And either he was the greatest actor in the world—because his befuddlement seemed genuine—or…
My knees buckled as a violent tremor shot through my body. Sweat dripped down my back—a cold, clammy kinda sweat. My ears made awhomp-whomp-whompnoise.
I didn’t even feel pain when my ass hit the ground.Oh God. Ohgodohgodohgod.I racked my fingers through my (now messy) braid. Did these people not know…anything?
“Easy.” The boy, Kaelan, knelt beside me, his hands grasping my shoulders. Dried blood matted sections of his hair.Hisblood?
He had some cuts on his arms, and a large gash on his left thigh, but I didn't see any big wounds around his face or neck.
So was it someone else’s blood?
That thought was somehow more disturbing.
“It’s alright,” Kaelan said. His words were soothing, but he kept staring at me like I had five heads.
I mean, it was warranted. I probably had mascara streaks on my cheeks and eyeliner smudges under my eyes. The droopy raccoon style didn’t look good on anyone.
“It’s alright,” he murmured again.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “It’salright?” I scoffed.
“You’re not the first hybrid to arrive here.”
“What?” My chest was ready to burst. And the forest twirled around me.
I grunted and pressed my brow against my knees.Don’t pass out. Don’t—
I whipped my head up with a yelp when fingers brushed against my right ear.
“Apologies.” Kaelan drew his hand back and held it in front of him, palm open, as if to show me he was unarmed. “Only…you appear to have a barb stuck in your ear. It must be painful.”
“A—what?” My hand flew to my ear. There was nothing there, except my—“Wait, do you mean this?” I traced my fingers over my barbell earring. Which was, indeed, a little silver arrow.
