Taken

Chapter 18 (Part 3)

I pressed my lips together, ending the argument to save him the breath it would take to continue it. He didn't have the luxury of wasting it given his condition. Not to mention, whatever he used it to say wouldn't matter. He was dead set on me leaving him behind if it came down to it while I knew that I wouldn't. We may not have been on the best of terms, but I wasn't going to abandon him to my consequences. Just like I would never abandon Ash.

Silas could use whatever tone of voice he wanted, but I wasn't leaving him to bleed out. I dragged him into this predicament and I was going to drag him back out. And with the way his breaths had turned into pants and the weight he leaned against me increased, I may need to literally.

Though the voices shouting after us didn't seem to be growing nearer, hopefully having followed the traces of the path Garvin had left as he took off, the sky chose that moment to open us and lower my chances of hearing them approach. Falling rain drowned out the sound of our footsteps and anything that could warn us. It only took a moment for the heavy and cold droplets to saturate my hair and the coat Silas wore.

My muscles strained as Silas's weight continued to grow whole we made our way across the uneven forest floor. I readjusted my hold, needing to lean into him to keep us both from toppling over. It was the first time that I wasn't the one struggling to keep up. Though I was struggling to keep him up. Guilt and fear churned in my stomach, growing with Silas's struggle to hide how badly hurt he was.

I curled my fingers in his shirt and pressed into his side, shouldering his weight when he stumbled with his next step. We were running as fast as we both could. Me with my short legs and human speed and Silas with the injury that left him unsteady on his feet. He had lost too much blood and was still losing more. I wasn't confident in how much farther he could go.

"How are you doing?" I asked him, needing to raise my voice to be heard over the torrent of rain.

"Fine."

He didn't sound fine. The clipped answer came out slurred while his steps began to drag.

"You're not fine. You're bleeding out. That's the opposite of fine. Can't you heal yourself?" I asked. He would have already if he could.

"No," he confirmed. "They used iron rounds. I can't heal myself until my blood is free of all traces of iron poisoning."

"Poisoning?" I asked. I hadn't known that there was room for my worry to grow. "Please don't die on me. I still need you."

The corner of Silas's lips curled up in amusement. It only lasted a moment before pain contorted the small smile. 

"Can't get rid of me that easily, little dryad. I'm not dying tonight." A determined glint entered his eyes as he tried to straighten. His body staggered into mine.

I stumbled back a step, letting go of his shirt to catch myself on a tree. We couldn't keep going like this. We needed to get out of the rain and find a place to camp out until Silas could heal himself. Before he passed out.

My eyes scanned our surroundings, searching. "We need to find somewhere to hide," I said, flicking rain-soaked strands from my eyes as a glint of moonlight drew my attention. Off to the side, the ground transformed into large jagged rocks. With the way some leaned against others, the possibility of finding shelter from the rain started to look promising.

Before I could point it out, Silas was already shaking his head. It was a mistake that had him staggering. His unsteady movements only strengthened my conviction that he needed to rest. He tried to regain his footing, but couldn't. He had pushed himself too far.