It burns to admit it, but… “You saved my life. Thank you.”
Her eyes widen slightly at that. “Well.” She clears her throat, her gaze darting awkwardly. Then she leans over and picks up a cup, bringing it to my mouth. I reach for it myself, but my hand is shaking too much to hold it.
“Just let me do it,” she says, and I clench my teeth but allow it.
Fear winds through me. What if I don’t recover? I would prefer death to this weakness and lethargy.
“Your eyes are looking better.”
I must look confused because Sarissa smiles slightly. “The whites of your eyes were completely red, and you were bleeding from your nose. I thought you were a goner when you passed out that last time.”
The knowledge of how close I came to death doesn’t sit well with me. If I am to die, it should be in battle with a sword in my hand or while protecting my king.
“Whoever did this will pay.”
Sarissa nods. “We need to get a message back to Arix. And we also need to get out of here. But…there’s an issue.” She chews on her lower lip, and I force my gaze away from her mouth.
“What issue?”
Her eyes turn stark, and I realize she’s no longer cool and collected. She’s afraid. Protective instincts I thought were long dead begin to rise, and I reach for her hand. She freezes, and I move to pull my own hand away, but she turns it over, pressing her fingers to the pulse of my wrist.
“Dokhalls. They’ve set up some kind of camp to the northeast. We always knew they were around somewhere, but it explains why Rakiz’s guards haven’t located them yet—it’s further from Rakiz’s camp than we thought.”
“You went without me?”
She pulls her hand away. “Oh, I’m sorry, should I have dragged your limp body with me?”
Don’t strangle the hellion.
She snorts at me as if reading my mind and moves away before returning with a handful of berries, which she offers to me.
I’m not hungry, but I force myself to eat. I must regain some strength if we are to get out of this cave.
“Anyway,” she says. “I need to get closer so we can figure out what they’re doing and just how many of them there are.”
I begin to nod but freeze as the thought of her going alone makes my gut clench. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s not safe.”
“Let me be very clear. I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. We can’t do shit until we can get you back on your feet, but if we stay in this cave, we’re sitting ducks. We need to gather intelligence.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I can’t fully express to you how little I care.”
I stare at her. “What exactly did you do on your planet?”
“I told you. I worked for an organization—”
I snort. “It’s just you and me now, hellion. And I may not make it. Why not be honest?”
Her eyes sharpen at that, but she nods. “Fine. I was a spy.”
I knew it. The way she bartered for information in the castle, the contacts she made, the people she became close with…
She grins. “Are you okay? Your eye is twitching. Are you about to have a stroke?”
“I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”
She rolls her eyes again. “I haven’t used anything I learned against Arix, and I have no plans to. After all, he’s on our side.”
I grind my teeth, and she shrugs at my silence.
“Anyway, you stay here and rest up while I go check it out.”
“We need to talk about this.”
“Someone has to do the legwork while you get your strength back, princess.”
I don’t know whether to strangle her or kiss her.
I blink at that thought, and I must look horrified because Sarissa frowns. Is that…concern in her eyes?
“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
She reaches for more of her disgusting water, and I wave it away.
The hellion is going to go without me, regardless of my thoughts on the matter. I would be wise to remember she can likely take care of herself.
“If they catch you, death would be a mercy.”
She grins. “They won’t catch me.”
Chapter Six
Sarissa
Despite my tough talk, my hands are clammy as I creep closer to where I saw the smoke. There’s no smoke at all today, but I’ve already memorized where I need to go.
Korzyn’s right about one thing: if they catch me, I’ll soon be wishing for death.
Behind me, a bird suddenly shrieks, and I jolt, cursing my jumpiness. As soon as I get close enough to the Dokhalls that I can hear voices, I shimmy up a tree. It’s hard work—the bark is smooth beneath my fingers, and by the time I manage to find a secure branch to sit in, I’m panting.
I peer between the leaves, wishing I had binoculars. From here, I can see small structures, like kradis only made out of tree branches. They look like they’d blow away at the first storm, and I snort. The Dokhalls obviously aren’t used to living rough.
I need to get closer.
I slide back down the tree, slowly make my way toward their camp. I stop every few feet, huddling behind trees and bushes, my ears straining to pick up any sound that doesn’t belong.
Eventually, I find a large tree, similar to an oak on Earth. Finally, something is going right. I haul myself onto the lowest branch and then climb steadily until I’m high enough to see over the Dokhalls’ camp but low enough to still be hidden by the leaves and branches.
There are more Dokhalls than I could have imagined. The structures I saw were just the start—likely a guard post. There must be several hundred Dokhalls swarming around the area, many of them carrying the long sticks they used to murder Kelly.
Without the ship, those sticks gradually begin to lose power. In our last battle with the Dokhalls, most of their weapons only had enough power to stun us.
That doesn’t mean they’re not
