Unnatural: Dream Walker Book 1 by DuVal H M

Author:DuVal, H M
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: H M DuVal
Published: 2023-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

We walked in silence for hours, each stewing in our own thoughts. Or maybe I was the only one stewing and Abel was unaffected because he was a complete ass and had no need for other people and their inconvenient habit of existing.

Except, he did need me. At least to fetch a message for him. And risk my life while doing it. Was it so much to ask for a little civility?

Right; stewing.

I heaved a heavy sigh and readjusted the straps of my pack. The pace we maintained was sedate out of consideration for my recovering lungs. Though breathing still felt raw and I fatigued quickly, there didn’t seem to be any other complications. I hadn’t developed a wet cough or heart palpitations. I wasn't sure what rashes or nausea had to do with near-drowning, but Abel asked after any of those symptoms incessantly. He informed me that if I seemed fine after 24 hours, I was probably in the clear. The comfort that statement brought was dubious at best, though I felt better after my strange dream than I had before I’d gone to sleep. It was something about my Mother’s pitcher back home and how water was soothing…I grasped for the tatters of the dream, but nothing else was there.

There was less light to see by as the moon continued to wane, and a light cloud cover drifted over its face periodically. Still, my eyes had grown accustomed to darkness and I could see shapes well enough.

Thickets and brambles grew sparser and more sporadic until we left them behind us altogether. Gently undulating hills of completely overgrown blade-grasses and shrubs stretched out in all directions, broken up by islands of granite or some other veined stone surging up from the ground. My legs cramped from the awkward crouch we used to shuffle across the spaces between these rocky protrusions, thankful every time we came to a stop for Abel to scour the distance.

I set my pack down quietly at one of these formations, leaning back until I felt my spine crack. Relief had me groaning, and I dug my fists into my hips, shifting from side to side to try and relieve the tension there. I stretched my neck and shook out my hands before grabbing my pack and hauling it onto my shoulders again.

When I turned, Abel was only inches away. We both froze, startled. He must have leaned closer to say something, just as I had been about to, but all thoughts scattered from my mind. How was it that I could travel beside him for days, but still get caught off guard when I really looked at him? Stubble darkened his jaw, a narrow scar bisected the corner of his lip. His eyes, cataloging my face just like I was searching his, held flecks of umber and smoke.

He licked his lip, the tip of his tongue brushing against that narrow scar I’d noticed, and I fought the attraction that twitched under my ribs.

"Are you ready?"

I sucked in a breath.

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