Page 17 of Fires of the Forsaken
“Yes,” Kaelan said.
“It's a piercing. Which hurt like abitchwhen I had it done, but I've had it for years and it hasn't bothered me since.”
His eyes widened. “You stabbed your earvoluntarily?”
“Oh, c’mon. You’ve never heard of piercings? I thought…I mean, it’s a thing in a lot of cultures. Right?” I had a cottony feeling in my mouth. No matter how many times I swallowed, it wouldn’t go away.
“And those markings on your arm…” Kaelan murmured.
I glanced at my right arm. At some point during my trek through the forest, I’d taken my jacket off and tied it around my waist. Which was disturbing because I didn’t remember doing that…
Anyway, the fabric of my dress only covered my shoulder, leaving my full sleeve tattoo visible.
I was damn proud of this sleeve. It had taken me years to piece it all together, and it featured almost every nerdy, pop culture icon known to man:The Goonies, Ghost Busters, The Iron Giant, Die Hard, Jaws,andThe Nightmare Before Christmas…to name a few. Multiple characters, from different decades and genres. I wasn't just a nerd; I was a badass nerd.
Kaelan tilted his head, still studying my arm.
“It's a tattoo,” I said. “And yes, I did this to myself.Voluntarily.Paid hundreds of dollars to have people jab needles into my arm because I wanted to stare at this image for the rest of my life.” Okay, well, that came out way harsher than I’d intended. I blew out a long breath. “Look, I’m—”
“Kaelan!” Viking Viktor’s distant voice tore through the forest, cutting me off.
Kaelan sighed. “Can you walk?” he asked.
I nodded and allowed him to pull me to my feet. “I just wanted a fucking pizza,” I whispered.
Kaelan held me steady when I swayed. “Pardon?”
“I had a pizza craving. That’s the only reason I’m here. Because I stopped atDoughy Delightson my way home.” A salty tear dribbled down my cheek. “And now my mushroom olive deluxe is getting cold on the roof of my car and—” I sucked in a breath that burned on the way down. Like a shot of whiskey.Cheapwhiskey. “There are easier ways to get someone to start a diet, y’know?”
6
The Toad
Ireached the forest as the sun dipped below the horizon and all traces of spring warmth vanished. The air turned bitterly cold. My clothes were still damp. Whether from the remnants of sweat, bile, or urine, I didn’t know.
Above me, branches groaned and whined as the trees swayed in the wind. Animals yowled and slithered through the undergrowth.
My skin prickled as I wandered through the dense wood. A cold, heavy sensation settled into my gut, as though my bowels were cramping. Sweat dripped in a steady rhythm down my back, even as the frigid air cut through my tunic.
I’d never been outside in the dark before. Most humans in Detha weren’t permitted to wander outside after sunset. As the Wraiths preferred to spend their evenings indoors (usually feasting on human flesh), only a scant number of guards patrolled our streets in the evenings. And they were less merciful than their daytime counterparts. ‘Twas a death sentence for a human to be found outside their dwelling at night without just cause. And few causes were considered“just”in the eyes of the Wraiths.
So it was a peculiar thing, being outside at night. In the woods. Alone.
And, when secured in fear’s iron grasp, the mind tends toeaggerate—exaggerate. The hoot of an owl morphed into the braying shouts of a Wraith. The creaking of bushes becameominious—ominous whispering.
I quickened my pace, desperate to find…something. A safe place to hide. A path out of the wretched wood.Anything.
The trees swayed again. Flutters of moonlight pierced the deep pools of blackness that had gathered beneath the trunks.
Rustle, rustle,went the branches.
I stopped, my belly suddenly feeling as though it were struggling to digest a rather large rock.
Rustle, rustle.
The noise seemed eerily similar to the flapping of wings.
Dim gleams of silver flitted across the dark ground before me. A scream rose in my throat, but I clasped a hand over my mouth before I vocalized it.
