“That’s it?” A couple weeks. Fourteen days. If Ryker and the healer didn’t do this, I wouldn’t ever see my crew again.
She nodded. She’d be paid handsomely for the deal, not that I knew what you did with eighteen months of someone’s life. If you could transfer it, I was sure people would pay well. I knew what I’d pay. But I didn’t think she was lying about the amount of time I had left. I knew what I felt like.
If I took a year and a half from him, and left him in the lurch after that, I’d be as bad a person as he thought I was. Fuck!
Ryker walked over and waved his hand, signaling me to make space for him so he could sit beside me. He rolled up his shirt sleeve until it was halfway up his bicep. I didn’t argue.
The old woman’s voice softened as she said, “It’s not as much as you would think, dear. Take the gesture.”
I had no other choice. I rolled up my sleeve.
As I stared at the healer’s dark eyes, it clicked. I’d heard some people with enough magic didn’t age the same; it was like one of their years was worth two or three of a dull’s. Ryker definitely had enough magic to possibly be one of them.
Still, eighteen months. How did I screw someone when they did that? I’d thought he’d throw her a coin or two or something. Not this.
The healer walked over to a bag she must’ve brought in with her and dug around. She pulled out a wooden stick that had been carved into a two-headed snake, fangs protruding on each side, with a foot’s worth of scales in between.
“What is that?” I asked as the healer headed toward me with it.
“It’s for the transfusion.”
Ryker held out his arm, as if he’d read my skepticism. “Do my side first. She’s not long on trust.”
The healer placed the wooden head near Ryker’s vein. The thing came to life and bit down with a vengeance. He lolled his head back, as if he were going to nap soon.
The healer turned to me, one snake head left.
I thrust my arm out before I could change my mind. It bit down. Its wooden fangs felt like jagged razor blades as they sank into my flesh. I feared it was going to hit bone, but then it stopped.
“Oh, it really likes you,” the healer said, as if that were a good thing. A lukewarm reception would’ve sufficed.
Ryker was staring straight ahead, but I knew he was watching me. Probably expected me to cry or something. He could wait all day for that.
“How long does this take?” Please, don’t let this take all day. I wouldn’t cry, but I might not be above a little whining.
The healer grabbed her bag. “An hour, maybe? It’ll let go when it’s done. I’ll be back after I see a few people.”
An hour? The healer headed off while her snake thingy kept its teeth locked down.
We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before I remembered that I had no idea how I’d gotten to his rooms. “How did I get here, by the way?”
“Are you asking if I carried you through the camp like a sack of potatoes?”
Did he have to find it so entertaining? “Yes, that is what I’m asking.”
“Then yes, that is what I did.”
“Were there—”
“Unless it’s four in the morning, there’s always a lot of people around.”
Why had I thought talking was a good idea? I bounced my head off the back of the couch a couple of times when I realized he smelled good. Like, really good, even better than the soap I’d used. The smell reminded me of this one stretch of trees near the Ruined City where the air always seemed to smell fresher.
We’d been sitting there for about thirty minutes when my skin started to warm. It wasn’t in a feverish way, but like I’d forgotten how cold I’d been for the last few months. My fingers tingled and I could nearly feel the power surging through my veins.
The sickness had come on so slowly that I hadn’t realized how bad I felt until I sat here and started feeling normal. Not even normal. I was feeling good. So good that I didn’t even hate the bastard sitting right next to me at the moment.
“Thanks.” Why did I just blurt that out? If he thought I was grateful, he might try and get even more out of me.
“Uh huh.”
It was a far cry from a civil “you’re welcome,” and that didn’t bother me. He’d barely paid attention to my thanks. That was good.
By the time the healer made her way back to Ryker’s place, I felt like me again, and I’d forgotten how wonderful that was.
I stepped out of Ryker’s rooms and realized that I could leave, right then. He wasn’t expecting to see me until tomorrow morning. I could slip from this place before he woke in the morning, and head back to my crew. And I’d get to stay for six months before I was dead. Then what? Who’d take care of them after that?
That wasn’t my biggest dilemma. Ryker had skimmed eighteen months off his life to buy me six. He had a motive. Did that void the sacrifice he was willingly making? My gut said no, while my life experience told me to screw him before he could screw me. Then there was the promise of food for my people. If he upheld his end, I’d be taking food out of their mouths by leaving.
Perhaps I needed another opinion.
I weaved through the people until I made my way fifteen feet past the last building but before the forest, where whoever was probably watching me could still keep eyes on me. I knelt down in the grass.
I found soft dirt and starting digging with my fingers until I found what I was looking for. A nice, fat worm wriggled in the center of my palm but slowly calmed down. Cupping my hands, I whispered into them and then set the worm back onto the ground, where I’d turned the earth.
The worm wiggled for a moment and looked like he was going to crawl away from camp, but then turned. He headed into the earth directly back the way I’d just come from.
Maybe it was wrong? The last worm had landed me here. Although I might be dead already if it hadn’t, so could I really say that worm had been wrong? Maybe I should do another worm?
No. Couldn’t do that. If I insulted the worms by doubting their answer, they might stop giving me the correct ones.
I slumped, staring at the spot the worm had just disappeared. I was stuck. At least I knew what message to send out tonight.
I felt Burn approaching, but it wasn’t the first time I’d felt him close by since I’d agreed to stay. I knew I was being watched. Burn wasn’t like Ryker, though, as he had to get a lot closer before I felt his magic.
I didn’t have the heart to move from my position yet. Plus, it wasn’t like I was doing anything bad. Even the worm was telling me I had to stay.
Burn stopped beside me, looking down at the little hole I’d made.
“What was that? I thought you were going to eat that thing. Dinner isn’t that far away.”
“I was asking the worm for advice.”
He didn’t say anything as he rubbed the shadow on his jaw. It took a good few minutes before he asked, “What did the worm say?”
Worst outcome was he’d think I was too insane to be of use and tell Ryker to get rid of me. “It doesn’t actually speak, but the gist was it would be a good idea to hang out here for a while.” Wasn’t exactly what the worm crawling back said, but I’d been worming it for a while and could read the dirt pretty well at this point.
He scratched his stubble for another minute. “How good is the worm?”
“Too good.” You would’ve thought I’d just said “horrible” with how dejected the words came out. I wished it was horrible. Why couldn’t that damn thing have crawled in the direction away from this place?
“Can you ask it something for me?”
I looked up. This I had not expected. “You want me to worm it for you?”
“Yeah, worm it,” he said, nodding, as if it were a term he used all day long.
I shrugged. I didn’t have anything else to do for an hour. Might as well. “What’s the question?”
“Is Julia into me?”
I moved a few feet away, to increase my odds of getting a fresh worm, and dug around. “Who’s Julia?”
“Nobody important.”