Serpent's Touch (Serpent's Touch 1)

“The brack?”

“You said it as an insult,” she reprimanded.

He shook his head, even if she couldn’t see it. “Not insulting, just stating the fact, Amira. Radax is a brack, Ghata’s monk. He’s given his life, his mind, and his conscience to her in exchange for immortality. A brack is just a mindless slave, a husk of a man. There’s really nothing left to save there.”

Her fingers tightened on his.

“Don’t say that about him. Radax… He’s not like the rest of them. He raised me. He taught me everything I know. He’s my family, the only one I have. He can no longer cross dimensions. Madame stopped sending him to Nerifir long ago. I can’t bring him with me. And I just can’t… I can’t leave him behind.”

That was a serious obstacle. As weak and fragile as this woman appeared, she possessed some strong, enduring qualities. Loyalty, apparently, was one of them.

“You deserve so much better than this life, Amira.” This was a line meant to flatter and entice her, but he genuinely believed what he said. Unlike bracks, she wasn’t a slave. She deserved better than slaving away her short human life for an ungrateful creature like Ghata. “Radax can’t leave. He’s connected to Ghata for an eternity. But it doesn’t mean that you have to stay and suffer here with him. He can’t leave, but you can.”

“No.” She tugged at her hand in an attempt to free it, but he held tight. He was no longer willing to release her. What if she ran away, and he would never see her again? He couldn’t allow that.

“I care about you, my friend.” He employed the sweet, coaxing voice again. “I want you to be free, to see the world—whichever world it may be—to enjoy the short life you were given.”

“I really can’t, Kyllen. If I leave, Madame will kill him.”

He was right about the challenge of combating her fear. But it wasn’t the fear for herself that was the problem. It was her fear for another—an undeserving brack of all people.

“If I leave, Madame would think Radax helped me,” she said.

“Then make it so that she knows he has nothing to do with your escape.”

“I—”

He couldn’t allow any arguments or any doubts to stand in her way. “Think about it, my little friend. If Ghata punishes him for the things you do, wouldn’t it be best for both of you if you were no longer here?”

She went still. He appeared to have stumbled on the right thing to say.

He had to keep pushing. “She’d have no more reasons to punish him, would she? And if she tortures him to teach you a lesson, then there’d be no more audience for her to perform the torture for.”

She remained silent, her breathing fast and shallow. Her fingers in his hand grew colder.

“I’ll see what I can find out about the portal,” she finally said. “But I won’t be coming with you, Kyllen.”

It shouldn’t matter whether or not she came with him to Nerifir, as long as she helped him get back home. Yet the thought of leaving Amira behind tinted his excitement with a bitter streak of disappointment. He wished to take her along.

Maybe he could still make it happen? He just needed to work harder at convincing her to join him. He wasn’t good at waiting, but he’d muster patience.

Her fingers slipped from his hand. She stepped away from the crate.

“Don’t go,” he pleaded. “No one is around. Stay with me tonight. I still haven’t told you the story about my ill-fated eel fishing, remember?” He didn’t even try to keep the desperation out of his voice. Now that he had tasted the pleasure of her company once again, going back to thirst and loneliness felt unbearable.

“Is it the story when you didn’t fall in the water?” she teased.

He loved to hear humor and curiosity in her voice again. The teasing was new for her, and it thrilled him.

“Oh, I did fall. Later.” He chuckled. “But it was just one part of my misadventures that day. The eels snuck into my pants—”

She gasped. “Oh no! What happened then? Do eels bite?”

“Take a seat, Amira, make yourself comfortable. I better start from the very beginning.”

She obeyed, and he released a breath in relief. He heard her snuggle in her usual spot against the crate. He leaned with his shoulder against the same side from the inside. If the crate weren’t there, they’d be cuddling, he realized. The thought made him snort. Normally, he had so many better things to do with a woman than cuddle. But the shortage of water had made arousal difficult for him. He felt no lust and for now, he didn’t even miss it.

His current pleasures didn’t come from sexual desire. Having Amira near eased the tension in his chest. It almost made the world right again, even though he was still in this abhorrent crate.

He yanked his hood off, spreading his senties over his shoulders, and drew in a cleansing breath. The clear tube dangled from the roof of the crate. He caught it and took a long drink of water, soothing his throat. He’d have to find the orange she’d brought. It must be on the floor of the crate somewhere.

But first, he owed her a story.

“I was not supposed to go eel fishing on my own,” he started. “But as you know, I was a rather unruly child.”

“I've learned that by now,” she retorted lightly.

This promised to be a good night. One of the best ones he’d had in this world.