“Thank you,” I tell him softly.
He just grunts before handing over another one I didn’t even see him cook. My eyes widen as I start to protest, but he just shoves it into my hand. Sliding half the meat off, I hand it back and we eat in silence, sharing the last skewer. Once he’s eaten, he gets up and storms off without a word. I stare, open-mouthed and terrified. My eyes dart around the suddenly dark, scary area, but just as I’m about to call out, he comes back. A horn of some kind is in his hand. Without looking at me, he thrusts it my way and turns to grab his weapon, sitting heavily as he begins to clean it.
I almost cry once more when I see the clear water in the horn. Sipping it carefully, I watch him. I wonder why he’s helping me when he made it clear he didn’t want to.
“Thank you for the food, for the water. Just…thank you. This is the kindest anyone has ever been to me,” I admit.
“Anyone?” he asks, his hand stilling on his weapon.
“Anyone,” I confirm. “My people aren’t exactly… Never mind. Just thank you.”
He doesn’t reply, and I find myself slumping to my side, curling up around the horn. I watch the flames dance as the heat seeps through my chilled body. When his voice comes again, it’s softer, but his words make me flinch.
“You’ll be dead soon, human. I won’t get attached to you. In the morning, you will go.”
“But what if I survive?” I ask, watching him as he starts to clean his weapon again. It’s scarred, used, and stained. Unlike the pretty swords of the king’s men, this is a real weapon forged to kill, to cleave. He clearly takes good care of it.
“No one survives here but monsters,” he responds.
I push myself up on an elbow, watching him pleadingly. I hate myself for the weakness, but I need him. I know that. I’m not stupid or overconfident enough to think I’ll survive here without protection. It’s a land filled with monsters and death. If I want to make it back to my sister, I’ll make as many deals with the devil as it takes. “Then help me.”
This time he doesn’t outright deny it. Instead, he stills, his gaze going to the small fire. “And what’s in it for me?”
“What do you want?” I reply automatically, sitting up excitedly and crossing my legs. He glances over at me, running his eyes across my body, and I gulp. I hope he won’t ask for that, even as a dirty, traitorous part of my body clenches at the idea.
“Magic. I want a taste of that wild magic inside you,” he finally grits out, as if he can’t believe he’s making the deal to begin with.
“My magic… I mean, sure.” I nod rapidly, lying to him. I have no magic, so he’ll be disappointed, but if I fulfill my end, he has to his, even if he’s wrong about me.
“I see you don’t believe me, but I can feel it,” he purrs. “All the hunt women have it, but never as strong as you. Never this wild and this untamed. It’s like a beacon.”
“Magic doesn’t exist where I live anymore,” I reply, confused.
“It does. It’s just hidden and locked away, but coming through the barrier unlocked it, and now it flows through you so strongly, it almost hurts to be this close.”
“If it unlocked coming through the barrier, you must have some here,” I say, my confusion only growing.
“Once.” He nods. “Now, it’s corrupt and rotting our land. The more we go without the pure, uncompromised magic, the more our minds degrade and the eviler we become. We’ll become nothing but the monsters your people named us. Most have given into the madness, which is why they kill the women of the hunt to get to their magic.”
I blink in shock. “I didn’t know any of that,” I admit honestly. “The only thing I know about magic is that we used to have it across the lands, and then the barrier came and it disappeared.”
“Along with the truth it seems.” He snorts. “But tonight is not a night for a history lesson. So fine, little human, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll help you. I’ll escort you to safety, and keep you fed and warm until we make it to the old palace of kings, across the shores of the Dread Sea, through the mountains, and to where the old king lived. In return, you will let me taste your magic when I need to stop my mind from deteriorating further. Deal?”
I have no idea what this palace is or who the old king is, or why he thinks I’ll be safe there, but I’m not about to annoy the only monster willing not to eat me.
“Deal.” I grin, sticking out my hand.
He eyes it warily before putting his heavy, huge one in mine. I shake his rapidly, and he snorts as he pulls away. “Now get some rest. You look half dead. I’ll keep watch. Sleep, human, you’re safe from the monsters.”
I nod, curling back up, and as I’m drifting off, I swear I hear him speak once more…
“Just not safe from me.”
ChapterTen
BRACKEN
The little human sleeps soundly with her new minotaur bodyguard. Grimus the Grumpy Bastard is hard to hide from, but I manage because I’m that good. I watch from the shadows as she wakes up, and he feeds and waters her like a little pet. I never knew the minotaur had it in him to make a deal with the human.
