Spectator

Chapter Thirty-Three: Now

"Well," Jae said, quickly drawing his hands back to his side. "This isn't an ideal situation."

"Being surrounded by the clan you're trying to avoid? No, not really," Kali agreed, her heart racing. The fury in Sh'an's gaze was unmistakable, and she had a feeling she would have to be very careful in the next couple of minutes if she was to keep Jae alive.

And they were surrounded, no doubt about that. Water clan members bled from the trees around them, armed and draconic. Another guttural cry from where they had been pursued drew half of the tribe's members away before Kali could scarcely blink, but still Sh'an remained, even if he was no longer looking at her. In fact, he seemed to be looking anywhere else.

Kali's attention wandered too. There was Nari, warily staring up as Alisa approached her, weapons in hand. Don't fight, Kali pleaded internally. They'd lost too many today already. Augus and Kadent, burning to embers. Kali's head felt heavy, and she began to sway.

"You need to sit down," Jae murmured. "Before you fall down." It was little more than the sound of a falling leaf, but Sh'an heard it. He snapped to attention, and in a second, the edge of his bladed spear was at Jae's neck. Jae, to his credit, didn't flinch, but Kali did.

"Sh'an, no, please," she said in a mixture of standard and Hazan. She turned into them, trying to get in the middle. Jae flicked his eyes to her in warning, his hands reaching out as if to touch her, but a jerk against his jugular stilled him.

"Friend/ally," she said. Sh'an's dark gaze flickered to her but only briefly. Kali cast a quick look for Zakariah, but he was elsewhere, rapidly speaking to three other warriors. Probably distancing himself as much as possible.

Jae spoke in slow, careful Hazan. "I am not stealing. We are friends." Gone was the jaunty speech and amusement. He was going for authenticity over charm.

"Sh'an," Kali said, and realised her mistake. She had her back close enough for Jae to reach as if shielding him, but it was the man wielding a weapon she needed to focus on. She could hear Jae's sharp exhale of air as she peeled away from him, walking carefully down the haft. Sh'an didn't relinquish his blade from Jae's neck but he didn't pull away from her either. He merely stiffened, as rigid as a boulder.

Cautiously, and very, very slowly, she covered his hands with her own, running them up his forearms, his shoulder. She could feel the sheen of sweat and the tension in his muscles. He grew rigid as her hand slid up onto his neck, his jaw, but still he did not stop her approach even when her chest brushed his own.

"Only a friend," she whispered.

His lips tightened into a line, but finally, finally he tugged his spear away. In that same movement, he curled his arm around her waist instead, and lifted her up as easily as if she was one of the sacks of herbs they carried around. Kali's protests died in her throat. It wasn't the time to argue, even as her worry intensified as Sh'an moved to separate her from the others. The last look she had was Alisa bending before a pale, shaking Nari, and Jae looking after her with a somber expression. Then the leaves swallowed them up, and there was only the swishing of undergrowth and crunching of dirt as Sh'an moved them through the jungle at swift speeds.

"You have angered the Blood Clan," Sh'an growled at her, his first real words at her. "There will be retribution."

"I'm sorry," Kali said, feeling small. "There were two friends across the border. We wanted to save them. We didn't."

A growl rumbled in Sh'an's chest. "You lie often to me."

"No," Kali insisted. "I was trying to protect them."

"Their lives should be forfeit."

"No. You have to save them."

"Do I?" His eyes glinted fiercely. "Why?"