Taste of Darkness
Page 102

After a few hours, the toxin wore off and my mind re-connected with my body. I’d planned to hide that fact, but I stumbled and fell forward, striking my head on the ground. Pain stabbed above my right eye. My arm muscles complained about the tight bindings that dug into my wrists and my legs ached with fatigue.
Who knew being disembodied had its perks?
“We’ll rest here,” Wynn said. She crouched down next to me. “We can do this one of two ways, Baby Face.”
“Go on, I’m all aquiver.”
“Cute.” She stood and kicked me in the stomach.
All my other pains disappeared in a hurry as fire blazed inside my guts. I curled into a ball, enduring the wave of agony.
When I’d recovered, Wynn returned to her position. “Are you paying attention?”
“Yes.”
“What, no sarcastic reply? I’d hoped to crack a few ribs this time.”
I wisely kept my mouth shut.
“All right, here’s the deal,” she said. “You give me your word not to run off or harm me or my soldiers, and I’ll untie your hands and won’t drug you with Death Lily toxin.”
“No deal, Wynn. I can’t trust you.” Plus I planned to bolt at the first opportunity.
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. And just so you know, I’m not feeding you.”
Oh, joy. I struggled into a sitting position. Wynn’s squad passed around chunks of bread and cheese and drank from their canteens. Thanks to her kick, I wasn’t hungry at all. But then my stomach grumbled. So much for denial.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
She pressed her lips together as if debating what she should tell me. “To meet up with reinforcements near the border.”
“Of Tobory Realm?”
“Yes.”
I put a few clues together. Tipping my head in the direction of her soldiers, I said, “Are they defectors from Tohon’s army?”
“Some are.”
“And the rest?”
Wynn refused to answer.
“What happens if I kill Tohon? Who will take charge of his troops?” I asked.
Wynn ignored my question.
I answered instead. “Let’s see. Cellina? No. She had her chance to step up and didn’t take it. You?” Cocking my head, I studied her.
She glared at me.
“No, not you. You’re a backstabbing traitor. No one will follow you. Uh...present company excluded, I guess. Perhaps they’re here only because Tohon is scarier than you.”
A few of the soldiers behind Wynn suppressed smiles. Ah, I’d hit close to the target.
“Careful, Baby Face. I hear cracked ribs are very painful even for healers.”
“All that’s left is Sepp. I always thought he had a superiority complex.” I considered. “Sepp’s not smart enough.” And then all the little clues clicked together. The “we” she’d referred to wasn’t just her and Sepp. “You joined the Skeleton King’s army and you brought him a present, didn’t you?”
“Shut up.”
“That’s how the Skeleton King got the new plague virus. You turned a dangerous man into a deadly force. You do know he’ll just chew you up and spit you out, right?”
“I said shut up.” Wynn aimed her boot at my head.
Pain exploded and I spun into darkness.
KERRICK
Hundreds of bodies intruded, irritating the living green. Kerrick dug his fingers into the soil, seeking one particular life force among them. Avry didn’t cause the same nuisance as the others, but since he’d been saved by the forest, he could sense her cool vanilla presence.
Except this time. She’d been there, to the east of him, then...poof, gone. It also appeared that the bulk of the soldiers headed south, away from Grzebien.
Instead of resting for the night, they had raced to the infirmary, Kerrick stopping only to check the location of the army and to care for the horses. He wiped the dirt off his hands.
“You don’t think...” Belen shook his head as if unable to voice his fears.
“It’s a guessing game at this point,” Flea said. “Better to just get there and worry later.”
Belen studied the boy. “I haven’t been around, so how’d you get so smart without me?”
“I’ve been learning from the best.” Flea flashed his lopsided grin.
“And he is...?” Belen prompted.
“Quain. That man’s a fountain of wisdom.”
Belen’s deep laugh rumbled right through Kerrick. He soaked it in, relishing the moment.
“A fountain!” Belen sputtered. “Oh, he’s a fountain all right. A fountain of bull—”
“Mr. Belen, mind your language around the young man,” Mom admonished.
“Sorry, Mom.” But he sounded far from contrite. Instead, he frowned at Kerrick. “Don’t you know better than to let Flea spend unsupervised time with the monkeys?”
“He’d pulled his own disappearing act,” Flea said.
“Oh, right, that forest thing.” Belen ran his fingers over his scar. He gestured to Flea and Kerrick. “Between us and Avry, we could form a special squad. The Presumed Dead unit.”
At another time and place—like when they were all relaxing around a campfire safe and warm—that comment would have been funny. Not now. Not when he’d no idea what had happened to Avry, if anything.
“And we’ve all had a taste of death,” Flea said in a quiet voice. “On both sides. We’ve been the griever and the grieve-ee.”