Thorns between us

Sixteen: Hunt

Author’s POV

He fell asleep.

Stupid. Drayk never fell asleep first. Not since the deal.

But she was warm against him. And safe. And the fireflies were quiet.

So he closed his eyes.

Just for a minute.

When he woke up, she was gone.

The grass was cold where she’d been. The blanket pooled around his legs like a question.

“she left,” Draygon said immediately.

“I know,” Drayk whispered. His chest went tight. “Where?”

“no pack. no knife. no water.”

Panic.

Drayk shot to his feet. The meadow was empty. Just grass and morning light.

“berry stains,” Draygon said. “by the trees. she went that way.”

Drayk ran.

Barefoot. Didn’t care. The dew soaked his pants. His heart was pounding too loud.

“breathe,” Draygon said. “if you panic you—”

“I’m not panicking,” Drayk lied.

He followed the trail. Crushed blackberries. A torn leaf. Her footprints. Small. Hurried.

Then he heard it.

Elvish. Laughing.

The sound stopped him cold.

Drayk dropped low behind a bush and peered through.

His stomach fell out.

Three elves. Silver bows. Pale armor.

And her.

On her knees. Hands bound with green vine. Blood on her lip. The basket of berries she’d been picking spilled everywhere around her.

“stray human,” the tallest elf said. He had white hair and a scar through his eyebrow. “in our territory. stealing.”

“I wasn’t stealing,” she said. Her voice was shaking but strong. “I was just—”

“quiet,” he snapped and backhanded her.

She gasped.

Something in Drayk broke.

The hunger didn’t creep up this time. It slammed.

“drayk no,” Draygon hissed. “you just woke up. you’re not—”

“Let her go,” Drayk said. He stepped out of the trees.

All three elves turned.

The scarred one grinned. “Well. Look who it is. The blood prince.”

“Let. Her. Go.”

“Or what? You gonna lecture us?”

The scarred elf grabbed her hair and yanked. She made a sound.

Red.

Everything went red.

Drayk moved.

He doesn’t remember the first one. Just the wet sound and the way the body dropped.

The second elf got an arrow off. It grazed Drayk’s arm. He didn’t feel it.

He felt teeth. He felt rage.

The third elf tried to run.

Drayk caught him.

Then silence.

Only his breathing. Ragged.

And her.

Drayk turned.

She was still on her knees. Eyes wide. Staring at him. At the blood. At him.

“drayk,” Draygon said softly. “come back.”

Drayk dropped to his knees in front of her. Shaking. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Did they— are you—”

She flinched.

Drayk froze. His hands hovered over the vine around her wrists.

“Don’t be scared,” he whispered. “Please don’t be scared of me.”

He untied her with fingers that wouldn’t stop trembling.

The moment she was free, she rubbed her wrists. Didn’t touch him.

The silence was worse than the fighting.

“Did they hurt you?” Drayk asked. Voice raw.

She touched her lip. “Just here.”

“I’ll get water,” he said quickly. Standing. “I’ll— I’ll clean it. I’ll—”

“Drayk.”

He stopped.

“Look at me.”

He did. Slowly.

Her face was pale. But she wasn’t crying.

“You came for me,” she said.

“I fell asleep,” he said. The words tore out of him. “I was supposed to watch you and I fell asleep and—”

“You came,” she repeated. She stood. Wobbled.

Drayk caught her before she could fall.

She didn’t pull away.

“I was picking berries,” she said into his chest. “For you. I wanted to make you something sweet.”

Drayk’s throat closed. “I know.”

“I was scared,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry.” He held her tighter. “I’m so sorry. I won’t— I won’t sleep again. I promise.”

She pulled back just enough to look at him. Blood on his jaw. Blood on his shirt. His arm bleeding from the arrow.

“you’re hurt,” she said.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” She reached up and touched his face. Careful. Like she was afraid he’d shatter. “Thank you.”

Drayk closed his eyes. “Don’t thank me for this.”

“Thank you for choosing me,” she said. “Over the hunger. Over them.”

He kissed her then.

It wasn’t like the meadow. It was messy. Desperate. Relief and fear and blood all mixed together.

She tasted like berries and copper.

When they broke apart, Drayk pressed his forehead to hers.

“we have to go,” Draygon said. “before more come. they’ll smell this.”

“yeah,” Drayk agreed out loud.

He picked her up. She was lighter than she should be.

On the walk back, she didn’t let go of his hand. Even though it was covered in someone else’s blood.

At camp she made him sit. She washed the cut on his arm first. Then the blood off his face.

“You saved me,” she said quietly while she worked.

“I almost didn’t,” he said.

“But you did.” She set the cloth down and took his face in both hands. “Drayk. Look at me. You did good.”

Drayk laughed. It sounded broken. “That’s the first time anyone’s said that to me after... after that.”

“Well, they’re wrong,” she said. “You did good.”

That night she didn’t sleep across from him.

She slept curled against him.

And Drayk stayed awake.

Watching.

Guarding.

“you’re not a monster,” Draygon said quietly in the dark.

“today I was,” Drayk thought back.

“today you were human,” Draygon corrected.

Drayk didn’t answer. He just held her closer.