Blood Mercenary

*Chapter Sixteen*

*Chapter Sixteen*

Vivien could not believe it.

It was either her slowing them down or her letting Rylan carry her all the way to the palace. The former was a slap on her pride as a solo Mercenary, and the latter was a knee-in-the-gut-punch-in-the-face-while-being-thrown-down-a-cliff move on her dignity. She was a burden in both choices. Despite the amount of times Rylan assured her it was not a problem, she could not forgive herself. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Go ahead without me, I’ll catch up later.”

Rylan threw her an incredulous look over his shoulder. He stopped and so did Vivien.

“Do you realize where we are?”

Vivien shook her head. Sure, she’d gone from Razia to Eutael plenty of times, but the path Rylan picked was one she had never traveled by before. According to him, it was a shortcut.

“What? I can defend myself against petty humans.”

He ran his hand through his hair, but instead of messing it up, his black hair ruffled in a rather appealing way. “Humans. Creatures not from this dimension roam around here. They’ll be on you like bee on honey once I leave. The scent of Hell is getting stronger lately. Demonic energy is gathering, and I have no idea why. I’d say Xavier is behind it, but he’s dead.”

“So?”

“Don’t you get it? Although you are so mighty and powerful--” Vivien did not miss him rolling his eyes “--you are no match against a demon.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Of course not, my lady.”

“Was that sarcasm?”

“Dear devil, no.”

Vivien narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. “We’re wasting time. I’m not sure if Xavier managed to order his army to march to Eutael. Raine’s life is on the line. I don’t want anything to happen to her because of me.”

What was wrong with her? She’d meant for it to be an excuse to send Rylan ahead of her, but after saying it, she found herself actually meaning every single word. Where did her uncompassionate side disappear to?

Shit, when did she care about other beings other than herself?

He held out his hand and took a step toward her.

No.

Vivien took a massive step backward and cringed at the impact of her feet hitting the ground, causing all the bites and bruises to hurt. The wounds were healing at a much faster rate than that of an average human, which was to be expected, but it would still take a few days for them to completely heal.

She would rather get bitten another twenty times than let Rylan carry her all the way to Eutael. She shuddered. She’d taken ages to convince him she was capable of running--albeit agonizingly but he did not need to know--on her own.

The two had a staring contest. After a few seconds, he sighed. Vivien took it as a victory for her.

“All right, consider this an exercise.” His eyes twinkled with a glint of mischief. “Catch up.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I definitely will.”

“Be careful.”

He was gone. After trying unsuccessfully at deciphering what Rylan meant for a decent amount of time, Vivien gave up. She traveled at a much slower pace, enjoying herself.