The Life Siphon by Kathryn Sommerlot

Author:Kathryn Sommerlot
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: new adult, male protagonist, poc hero, poc main characters, bisexual protagonist
Publisher: Kathryn Sommerlot

Eleven

Tatsu awoke with a start, heart pounding hard and sudden as the situation rushed back to him. He didn’t know how long he’d slept, and he hadn’t dreamt at all. For some reason, the absence of time felt worse than a nightmare would have. It took him a moment to place where he was, even with straw poking through the fabric of his shirt. The shabby bed was warm with three bodies in it. Tatsu could hear Ral’s rhythmic breathing, lilting up at the end in a half-snore, and he turned over to find the third person already awake.

The man’s eyes were open and staring at him, tilted up at the corners beneath dark lashes.

“Sorry,” Tatsu said, without really knowing why. There seemed to be little else he could say for the night before, and he still wasn’t sure what they were going to do. He’d expected to leave with something he could hold in his hand or stash in his pack. And as his mind caught up with the reality, his heart sank. Alesh and Leil were gone, and he had no idea if they were still alive.

They had to get out of Runon.

The man didn’t respond to his apology, and the hard distrust in his dark eyes didn’t waver.

“It’s almost night,” Tatsu said after a quick glance out the shuttered windows. “It will be easier to sneak out in the gloom.”

“Are you going to kill me?” the other man asked. He sounded better, as if the rest had helped his throat, but his voice was still rusty with disuse.

“I’m going to take you to Chayd,” Tatsu replied, surprised. “I’m not going to kill you.”

Even if Alesh was… gone, Tatsu needed the bounty to be granted his freedom. If he was the only one left, he needed to take care of Ral. The truth was, it didn’t matter that the siphon was a person. He still needed to deliver it to the queen.

He received no response to his statement and wasn’t sure if the silence meant that the man believed him or not. Either way, it didn’t change the facts. Tatsu sat up, wincing as his sore muscles protested. It would be painful to use them as much as he needed to without another day or two of rest. He pressed his fingers against his calves and thighs, breathing through the dull throbs his actions produced. His knee, though still smarting, seemed to be a twist rather than a dislocation, and he was thankful for small favors.

“I assume you can’t walk on your own,” Tatsu said to the Runonian man.

“I’d like to see you try after that torture,” was the growled reply. The man’s fingers twitched, which Tatsu took as a good sign. If he could at least move those, the rest of his control would likely come back in time.

“You told me to go to the Shyreld,” Tatsu changed the topic. “How do you know that’s the best way out?”

The man’s face darkened. “Because I know Runon.”

“How?”

There was no answer, only a glare.

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