Page 49 of The Demon's Fire
“I don’t need a prince.” She released Kole, realizing she was clinging to him.
“So true. You have me.”
Skyler stifled a laugh. “You are definitely not prince material.”
Kole slapped a hand over his heart. “I’m hurt. How about your fiancé?”
“My fiancé? Um. Sure. Of course he’s fit for the job.”
Kole drew his long blade. “This way. We’ll walk to drier ground.”
Skyler followed the commander, who hacked through thick brush. Something slithered onto her boot. “Kole.”
He didn’t answer. She raised her voice. “Commander! Something’s on my foot.”
He pivoted, propped his sunglasses on his head, and grimaced. “Don’t move. Amphista. Nasty critter.”
Skyler stood as still as the swamp water, her breath caught in her throat. But the two-headed snake slithered around her ankle, preparing to climb her leg. “No way.” She kicked out a boot, muffling a scream. A certain amount of dignity was necessary. The creature landed hard. Hissing, it faced Skyler, both mouths open, each with a forked tongue flicking outward. It glided toward her. All four eyes zeroed in on her.
“Do you want the honors, or should I fight for your honor, m’lady?”
Skyler lifted her chin, glaring down her nose at Kole.
In what seemed like a single motion, he scooped Skyler up in one arm and, with the hand of the other, touched the wilding on its closest head. It sizzled, turned black, died. Its charred remains floated atop the swamp water until a creature from beneath gobbled it up.
Kole slid Skyler onto her feet.
Shuddering, she swiped at her pant leg to brush off all imagined remnants of the amphista. “I dislike snakes! Even those with a single head.” Skyler inched forward, again behind Kole, looking everywhere while he cleared the trail.
“You weren’t in much danger. They prefer to snack on rotting corpses.”
Skyler stifled anugh.
Picking up his dropped blade from the murky waters, Kole resumed his hack through the dense undergrowth, clearing a wider path. “Oh, and don’t bother to thank me. I know you were about to do that, Chief. Tell me, why would you come to a such a dangerous realm just to follow in your father’s footsteps? Did you admire him so much?” He paused mid-swing, twisted around, and cocked his chin to one side. “No. You don’t. It’s a competition. You need to prove to yourself you’re equal to or better than him. Hell of a way to establish your worth.”
Skyler answered Kole with a frosty glare, upset when he read her too well. “You have an unhealthy interest in my motives.”
They slogged on for half an hour before Kole stopped. When he turned to Skyler, his sexy, playful one-sided smile revealed amusement, but his fire-gold eyes blazed hotter than the swamp.
She glanced down at her shirt. Soaked with sweat, it clung to her breasts as if she were a contestant in a wet T-shirt contest. Arching her brows, she pulled the damp fabric away from her skin.
Kole shrugged, giving her his back along with a chuckle while he resumed slashing through obstacles.
“If you’re tired, I’ll take a turn,” Skyler offered.
“I can keep going all day and night. I’m told I have amazing stamina.”
“Your double entendres do not go unnoticed, Commander.”
On harder ground with the swamp behind them, Skyler breathed in the fragrant aroma of colorful flowers. Ferns of varied hues surrounded them—greens, reds, yellows, blues. Drizzling rain wept from leaves while purple vines wrapped their arms around the lush trees. She angled her neck to look overhead. Small furry animals swooshed through branches. Flamboyant, musical neon-colored birds with long, golden beaks nested high in the limbs.
Before Skyler stretched out a hand to touch an exotic orchid, Kole grabbed her elbow. He pointed toward a tree. A spider the size of a two-year-old crawled down its trunk. Its lisping sounds were not a friendly greeting.
“A rainforest tanasi. Time to jump.” Kole urged her to the gateway.
Snakes were scary. Giant spiders were worse. Skyler punched her handheld portal jumper synced with Kole’s D-chip.
****
