Page 88 of A Hunt Bound in Blood

She blinked a few times and swallowed before sliding her gaze to mine. “I just need a bit of rest. Wake me up when you think it’s time to move, all right?”

I assured her I would, then watched her stretch out on her bedroll and almost immediately fall asleep. She hadn’t even taken the time to eat. Alarms sounded in my head, but there was nothing to do except leave her in peace. She knew herself better than I did, so I trusted her judgement.

While she rested, I ate my portion of our tiny meal, then made myself comfortable against a nearby tree and closed my eyes. I needed to stay alert in case the drakes tracked us down, but I had faith that their stench would warn me before they got too close.

I drifted along the edges of sleep, allowing my muscles to relax and recover after our flight from the dragon. My thoughts swirled around the size and strength of that creature. Already the pain of my burns had subsided, and I considered how badly things might have ended if I’d been anything other than what I was. Not just a demon, but a prince of Karhasan, gifted with rare advantages that made it possible for me to go on these adventures without too many fears of not making it home.

Never before had I worried either way, because it had never mattered. Now? Now…

My mind turned hazy as I veered away from that line of thinking and dropped a little deeper into unconsciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, the moon was past its apex and the woods around me were quiet. The shadows were deep, and for a moment, I swore Glory’s bedroll was empty. My heart leapt in my throat until I realized she’d bundled herself around it, no doubt missing the warmth of her tent.

I should have sat beside her and kept her warm.

The visual jumped out at me before I could stop it. This whole protecting my heart thing was going to be more challenging than I’d believed. But I wouldn’t give in. Get the amulet, get home, never see her again. Just a hunt like any other.

And to achieve it, we had to find the next signpost. We couldn’t have too many left with the harbour only a week away, and they would only get more challenging from here. I wished we had a better idea of what we might face tonight, but as it was, we had to rely on Glory’s memory and Tersey’s map. With a squeeze of my fists to steel myself, I shook Glory awake. Her eyes flew open, sharp and clear.

“It’s time?”

I nodded, and she sprang out of bed like she’d had a three-day rest. In no time, she was on her feet, tucking her shirt into the waistband of her breeches. Apparently being thrown over a waterfall and needing to run from fire had made her realize more form-fitting clothes were better suited to this sort of endeavour. I hoped it would make a difference. The drakes would no doubt see us coming, and our best bet would be to move quickly enough to stay out of their reach.

“Do you have the map?” I asked, and Glory nodded and patted her waistband. We debated bringing our things with us in case we needed to make a quick getaway, but in the end opted to leave everything here. We’d move faster if we weren’t encumbered, and our chances were higher of keeping everything intact. We couldn’t afford to lose anything else.

We packed everything up so we could grab and go when we were finished, and I flew to a sturdy tree to leave our effects aboveground, far from curious drakes or anything else that survived around here.

Then, finally, we started down the trail towards where Tersey had flagged the next signpost. Glory moved steadily and silently beside me, all signs of her earlier exhaustion gone, and I was more than a little relieved. She’d been correct that all she’d needed was sleep. I’d worried over nothing, another habit I’d need to break.

We passed under the trees and around a bend in the road. We were almost there. Another turn and we would be—

—on the edge of a roost of sleeping drakes.

We both froze, terrified of taking another step and waking the sheer number of scaled beasts that had chosen to make this glade their home. I lost count at a dozen, but there had to be at least fifteen if not twenty scattered across the grass.

Would we have to go around them? Find another way? I was just about to creep along the edge of the treeline to find out where the trail picked up on the other side when Glory grabbed my arm and pointed into the centre of the scaled masses.

A large, vertical-shaped boulder sat right in the middle of the glade. Faint sigils glowed under the moonlight, undeniably magical in nature.

The fucking signpost.

“The son of a bitch. I swear to all that is infernal, I’m going to go to the afterlife, track down his soul, and throttle the fucker.”

My words came out in a low growl barely loud enough to stir the breeze in front of my mouth, but Glory rested her fingers over my lips to silence me. Her brow furrowed in concentration, and I leaned into her hand, giving her space to think. While she analyzed the possible courses of action in that magnificent brain of hers, I surveyed the area wondering if we might charge through it.

Would it be better to wait until morning? If the drakes went off to hunt, we might have a chance to slip in undetected and solve the puzzle then.

But as I stared at that ridiculous pedestal, I suspected waiting would be futile. It wasn’t a coincidence the drakes had staked this place out as their home. Something about the spells etched into the surface of the stone must have compelled them to swarm it. If we came back when they were awake, it would make our task that much harder. Even at our strongest, we couldn’t kill them all.

Glory stood up straighter and met my eye, then looked over her shoulder at the pedestal, then turned back to me. Her teeth caught her lower lip in that dangerously beautiful way of hers.

“You’ll have to fly me in.”

I arched an eyebrow. “That’s your best plan?”

“It’s the best we’ve got. There’s no way we can walk through without waking them. You’ll have to carry me over and hold me while I decipher the clue.” Again with the lip bite. “I hope this one requires only one person. If you have to put me down, I don’t think either of us will escape. Not whole, anyway.”

“I hate it.”