Locke moved closer to my back, making quick work of the insects around him, but as he dispatched an insect that had been about to sting me on my hip, he grunted in pain and flicked away an insect that had stung the back of his neck.
“Asher, watch out!” Raine yelled, but it was too late. Three insects flew at his back, one of them managing to avoid his swinging arms and sting him on his ass.
He cursed as he sliced through the insect’s body a second later.
My body grew sluggish, limbs shaking, but I kept moving forward. Kept stumbling toward the edge of the water. The tree line ended, and we burst out onto a stretch of grass that led down into the valley toward the river.
An insect hovered near my face, but Raine batted it away, the worn leather of the book only just missing my nose and thudding against the creature’s body. “Kade, let me down!” she screeched at me, but my gaze remained fixed on the river as the insects closed in. Dozens of them curled their bodies, ready to sting us again and again.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Raine snapped.
I felt her magic before anything happened. Power crackled through the air, making my senses tingle, and a slight metallic taste coated my tongue. Raine’s face scrunched in concentration, her hands lifting upward, and then the wind rushed past my cheeks, tugging at my clothes as it swept up the insects and carried them away from us. Sweat beaded on Raine’s brow, her body taut and attention fixed on something behind me, and the buzzing receded until it grew faint.
“Stop, Raine,” Locke commanded, and she listened, her body sagging against me. I didn’t turn around to see what she’d done. I staggered forward a few more steps until I made it to the water’s edge.
Darian took her from my arms and stepped into the water, and I fell in after them.
CHAPTER 5
~ Asher ~
Iswamthroughthesheet of water, my arm tight around Prince Azaren’s chest as I pulled him along behind me, and I scanned the dimly lit cavern hidden behind the waterfall. Raine, Darian, and Kade were already pulling themselves onto a wide rock shelf at the back of the space, dragging themselves away from the water and dripping all over the stone.
Locke emerged beside me, and the pair of us swam to join the others. Fucking Halced my ass ached. My right ass cheek throbbed with pain from where one of the giant buzzing pests had jabbed its stinger into my flesh.
How I hated insects. Monsters I could handle. For the most part, monsters were often predictable and usually ran their mouths more than anything else. But bugs, spiders, and other creepers…the tiny devils could crawl up your nose while you slept, and you wouldn’t have a fucking clue.
I tried to forget about the pain spreading down the back of my right thigh as I reached the edge of the rock shelf and Darian helped pull the fae’s soaked body onto the slab. Bracing my hands on the edge of the rock, I lifted myself out of the water and frowned as I noticed the way my muscles pulled with the effort. The movement wasn’t painful or difficult, but it took more strength than usual. Whatever poison the giant insect had squirted into me, it was making me weak, and from the pins and needles that had started in my leg, I was guessing it wasn’t done with me yet.
Forcing myself to stand, I moved to where the others had collapsed. Kade was busy running his fingers over Raine’s body and inspecting her for wounds. His hand paused on a spot on her left ankle, and he swore.
In a few swift movements, he pulled off her boots and tore the fabric of her pants up to her shin. He glared at the two angry red welts that had formed on her lightly tanned skin. “Why didn’t you tell us you were stung?”
I moved closer, falling to my knees next to them and eyeing the wound. The red swelling wrapped around her entire ankle. Lifting her leg, I stretched it out, getting a better look.
“We’ve all been stung,” Raine responded, grimacing against the pain. “I don’t see you stripping Asher’s pants to get a good look at his ass.”
Kade scowled. “The rest of us are monsters, but you’re still human. You’re more vulnerable.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” she quipped back.
I was glad to see she still had her fire, but it didn’t stop the worry that was making my chest squeeze. Or was my racing heartbeat due to the venom polluting my system? I couldn’t tell. Pushing her soaked hair away from her neck, I inspected her skin for any more marks. “You get stung anywhere else, sweetheart?”
Raine stopped to think for a moment before she shook her head. “Only twice on my ankle, I think.”
Darian crouched on my other side and started his own inspection of her. Kade passed him the blue paste from his satchel, and Darian started smearing the substance over Raine’s sting marks.
“You can all attend to your own wounds too, you know,” she said when Darian had finished. “I’m not going to die from a bee sting.”
I exchanged an uncertain look with Darian.
She sat up higher. “Wait, you don’t think we’re actually dying, do you?”
Honestly, I had no idea. The pain in my ass sure made it feel like I was dying, but I wasn’t so sure I could rely on that assessment.
“No one’s dying,” Locke said calmly as he stepped beside us.
“You don’t know that,” Kade growled. “I can feel myself growing weaker. I can feelRainegrowing weaker. She was stungtwice.”
