My shoulders slump as I blow out a breath, and I walk back to where the mishua is being surprisingly patient as she waits.
“Korzyn?”
I keep my voice low, but I shake the commander. He groans, and I poke him until he manages to crack open one eye.
I gasp.
The white surrounding his silver eyes has turned bright red. He lifts his head slightly, and I curse.
His nose is bleeding.
It’s just a little blood, but from his condition, it’s evident that whatever poison he was given is fast acting.
I’ve lost too many people. I refuse to lose any more. Even the commander who drives me insane.
“Get off the mishua,” I order.
“Leave me.”
“I can’t until you’re in the cave.”
His movements are painstakingly slow, but I manage to get him off the mishua, where he collapses to the ground. Anxiety makes my voice sharp.
“Get up.”
“I thought there would be peace in death.”
“You thought wrong. Let’s go. I don’t have all day.”
I urge him to his feet, although I’m almost carrying him as we move into the cave.
“You know, this is the second time I’m saving your dumb ass.”
He lets out a weak laugh at the reminder of the way I saved his life in the marketplace. I brought him the head of the Zinta that stabbed him, and my cousin almost threw up at the sight. Next, I’d love to get my hands on whoever decided to poison our food.
But revenge plans are for later.
“I saved you too, vicious female. You were wandering alone and bleeding through the forest when Arix and Vivian were attacked.” He lets out a low growl at the thought.
“That’s different. I’d already taken care of the asshole who thought he could hold me hostage, and I was making my way back to the castle. Duck,” I say as we get to the cave entrance.
He lowers his head, falling to his knees as soon as we’re in the cave. I’d prefer for him to be further inside, but he’s once again unconscious.
If I don’t find that plant, he’s dead.
I leave the mishua tied to a tree. I’ll need to find water for her later. Actually, since we can’t trust our own rations, I’ll need to find water for all of us.
I stalk through the forest. After Zoey taught me about ortar—a plant used as an antiseptic—I pointed to a plant sitting by the sun in her poison kradi. “What’s that?” I asked, and Zoey smiled.
“That’s the only hope for anyone who happens to ingest one of my poisons.”
Which means it’s the only hope for Korzyn as well.
I crouch, examining a group of plants pressed up against the trunk of a tree. I’m looking for a plant with leaves so dark they’re almost black. The underside of the leaves are distinctive—with light- and dark-green stripes.
I can do this. I just have to go to the empty place inside myself where there’s nothing except logic.
That empty place is why it’s likely I seemed cold and unfeeling when everyone else was falling apart on that ship. I wasn’t unaffected by our circumstances. I was just already attempting to figure out how the fuck we were going to survive. I didn’t have time to fall apart.
And you don’t have time now, so get moving.
My hands are shaking as I lean down and check under the leaves of a plant that’s similar to the one I need. Zoey told me the name in Braxian, and it’s almost unpronounceable, but I’ve mentally dubbed it the zebra plant.
An animal rustles nearby, and I take out my knife again. I’m a city girl through and through, and the sounds of the forest put me on edge. There are all kinds of critters out here, many of them with sharp teeth, scary claws, and/or deadly poison.
I bend again, using my knife to push up the leaf of a plant so I can check beneath it. Zoey taught me not to touch anything I don’t recognize. God, I wish she were here now.
I wish anyone were here now. If the commander dies…
Head. In. The. Game.
The forest floor is beginning to rise in an incline, and I peer through some of the trees at a large hill. If I can climb up the hill, I can try to get the lay of the land. Hopefully, I can use it to figure out where the Dokhalls are.
But first, the plant.
Zoey said it tends to grow near the base of the white trees, so I begin focusing my attention there. I don’t know how long it’s been when I finally find what I’m looking for, but triumph floods my body.
I dig up the plant, brushing off the roots. I need to boil the roots in water and then make Korzyn drink the water, or he’s toast.
Water. I can hear the bubbling of a stream close by, but I’ll need to find something to boil the water in first.
I clutch the zebra plant in my hand. The poison struck so fast…
I walk as quickly—and as quietly—as I can through the forest and back toward the cave.
The sun is already going down, and I’m panting when I get back. I give the mishua a pat on the head as I find a small pot for cooking in one of Korzyn’s saddlebags. I spin around and head back toward the area where I heard the water before crouching on the side of the stream and filling the pot.
I carry it back to the cave and almost drop it as I stare down the commander.
At some point, he stripped off his shirt, displaying smooth muscle and golden, tan skin. I can’t help but examine the scales across his chest and shoulders. The blue-green marks him as a descendent of dragons, reminding me how different we are.
And yet my hands itch to stroke those scales.
Whoa. Obviously, stress and exhaustion are getting the best of me.
I force my gaze back up to his pale face, letting out a rough
