Chapter 34

Linh produced a small moan and let her head fall to the side. She turned to the right, keeping her leg straight with the other bent, so she could stop the ache crawling up her neck.

Couldn't they have turned me?Who just let someone lay on their back like a corpse for however long?

She opened her eyelids, only to squint them at the blaring light piercing her poor eyes.

Bright sunlight was broken up by small fluffy white clouds, and she followed one as she stared out of what had to be a private room in the hospital. Her lips thinned as she pondered, her disorientated mind still groggy from sleep as she examined the blue sky.

I can't believe he took me home.

Not only did he go against his own demands of not returning her to her village, but he'd been wise enough to do so when he couldn't save her. He'd thought outside the box, outside of his own wants and desires, and had done the right thing for her sake.

She was undoubtedly proud of him.

It was why she knew, while lying on a soft pillow and stupidly uncomfortable bed, that she truly loved him.

What's the bet he's waiting outside of the village for me to come to him?She snorted a quiet laugh, only to give the window a sad smile. He's probably so worried. Her smile died swiftly, and her eyes snapped open wide when another possibility infiltrated her thoughts. Oh shit! What if he left because he hurt me?!

Linh sat up so fast her vision swam. Her empty stomach immediately protested as anxiety clutched at her gut.

If Nathair left due to some silly, chivalrous notion that he no longer deserved her due to one measly accident, she'd kick his weird snake butt!

Before her vision cleared, gentle hands pushed against her shoulders. "You should lie back down," a young, feminine, and familiar voice stated. "You've only just woken up, and you refused to eat anything. I've been pouring nourishing potions down your throat for days."

Linh did as she was told, just as a white clay mask and hood came into view. Two red lines were painted from the top of the mask, down the eyes and then the cheeks. They curved inwards until each line came to the corners of the mask's lips and painted them. Linh shifted her position enough to be half-seated against the pillows.

Linh blinked at her. "Glenda?" she asked, guessing due to the anonymity of the masks the Priests and Priestesses wore.

Her light-brown hand pushed back a few strands of Linh's long fringe – the only part of her skin she could see. "Yeah, it's me. Your dear, old cousin."

Linh gave a small laugh at that. "Aren't I older than you?"

If memory served Linh correctly, Glenda was only eighteen, whereas she was twenty-one. Perhaps due to herage, she didn't act as cold and unfeeling as the other Anzúli Linh had briefly met.

Her great-aunt was the leader and often wore black robes to highlight her position. Linh didn't know her name, but Glenda had accidentally spilled her own when she shouldn't have.

"Yeah. I let the guards know you're awake. Hopefully they let your parents visit you," Glenda murmured, before touching her warm palm to Linh's cheek. "Your temperature is still low. That Duskwalker's venom really did a number on you. Once we removed it, we had to put you into a coma due to your seizing."

What little humour she maintained was sucked right out of her. "How long have I been out?"

"Two full nights." Glenda pushed back the grey blanket and lifted the white hospital dress Linh wore. "How's your right leg? Can you wiggle your toes?"

Linh tried to, but they barely moved. "A little."

"Any soreness? Since we couldn't find any puncture wounds, we assumed it'd bitten you on this leg due to the lack of movement. Our magic really struggled to combat it. If it hadn't offered us some of its venom to make an antidote, we wouldn't have been able to save you. We think our magic did some harm, but we've been trying to fix that as well. The whole situation was unusual for us. There were no texts to help with Duskwalker venom, so we kind of had to... wing it."

Linh bent her knee. It was slow, but she had movement in it. "If I walk around, it'll help to make blood flow properly," Linh stated, gaining herself a tsk.

"You and your mother are always the worst patients. You think just because you work with herbs and medicine that you know everything." The disappointed and frustrated tone in Glenda's voice made Linh weakly grin.

"Someone has to annoy you," she playfully bit back.

"Someone has to annoy you," Glenda mimicked with a mock sneer. "I should put you back into a coma."

She's a little more bitchy than normal.Glenda didn't usually say things like this, not even playfully. Why did Linh get the feeling the woman had hardened in her absence?

"Are you okay?" Linh asked, her forced cheer fading. She sat up a little better so she didn't feel like a feeble child with a cold. "What's happened since I left?"

"Nothing," Glenda stated firmly. "Everything has been easier since you were taken. The bandits stationed here rotate once a week, but they tend to leave everyone alone. Your father finally came to an agreement with them, and we received some supplies, proper food, and even medicine."

Lowering her head to look down at her hands, Linh fidgeted with her fingers. She picked at the sides of her clean fingernails, then twisted and scratched at a finger when it suddenly felt itchy.

"I'm sorry," Glenda stated, her tone quieter and low. "That's likely something you don't want to hear."

With her eyes closed, Linh shone a dead smile at her. "That's not true at all. I'm thankful things got easier for everyone after I left."

"You and I both know that's a lie. Nothing should have been a cost for your freedom," Glenda bit out, sitting back in her wooden chair and sinking into the light. "But Bragg was right. The moment you were taken, your father lost much of his will to fight back in fear he'd hurt you."

"He did hurt me," Linh quietly muttered, looking at the wall her bed was pressed against.

The silence shared between them was heavy, clogging, and cruel. The unspoken statement was in the air, even if Linh didn't truly wish to utter what she'd suffered.

"I'm sorry. I know it must have–"

"Don't. Please don't," Linh rushed out, digging her nails into her arm. Tears instantly welled. "I want to forget."

"I guess we should just be thankful you're alive. That's all that matters?" Glenda asked, her question more a way to check if her response suited Linh.

She was sure it was awkward to talk about this. How could anyone give a suitable response when it could never change what happened?

"I'm alive, and I'm home." Linh was home.

So why did it feel weird being back in her village? Sure, it wasn't her bed, but she'd worked in the infirmary. She often helped her mother with tending to patients. The room she was in was situated on the top level for ultimate privacy and was one of the biggest and well cared for.

It should be comforting to be here. The sound of the villagers outside should be soothing, so why did their cheer or noises feel strange? She used to love waking up in the morning to bright sunshine, birds chirping, and lively people who were flourishing.

Instead, a swallowing pit of reality made its way into her heart. While Linh was suffering, at the exact same time, the world kept moving. People still laughed, embraced their friends or loved ones, and got to experience life in the ways she'd missed. They ate delicious food, slept in soft beds, and they may have done so at the same time she was weeping.

It felt like a cruel joke.

She dug her nails deeper. I miss Nathair.

She missed the quietness of his cave, and how his entire body blocked out everything except for his radiant heartbeat. She missed the abnormality of his life, his environment.

I wish I had woken up in his arms,she thought, as a singular tear slipped down her cheek. Hopefully with her head down, Glenda couldn't see.

The Priests and Priestess were always considered hard. People often thought they were emotionless with how they reacted to others.

Linh needed that now more than ever. If her serpent rock couldn't be here right now, she needed Glenda to at least be a hard pebble. Something that sat in her shoe and annoyed her, rather than embraced her with words that only trickled more pain into her heart.

Grunting beneath her mask awkwardly, Glenda folded her hands on her lap and stiffened her back. "There is already chatter that if you're taken again, the entire village will riot. They want you home, and the bandits are wary now that you're back. They've been acting out of sorts since."

Linh bit her lips so hard she feared she'd draw blood. "Have... have any of them left to go tell Bragg?"

She didn't want to admit it, but she was kind of... scared that she was home. She hadn't wanted to come back here without a solution.

I don't want to be taken again.

She also didn't want to be the cause of exactly what they were threatening: a riot. If a fight broke out and a thick blood scent fluttered into the air, many Demons would come. Two or so a night were relatively easy to fight off with all their fortifications, but a swarm would just be a death sentence for everyone she'd ever known and loved.

"No. We don't believe Bragg is aware," Glenda answered. "Any time one of them tried to leave, the Duskwalker hissed and growled until they went back inside the gate."

Her face shot up as hope bled into her veins. "He's still here?"

She'd been so worried about asking, but there just didn't seem to be a good time to insert her question until now.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or not," Glenda stated with a sigh behind her mask. "The leader of our guild tried to make it leave, but it's refused. I don't know how I feel about it either. It's selfish of me, I know, and I'm really sorry, but I'm glad it's stayed. I feel like the Duskwalker is the only thing keeping the bandits from leaving to tell Bragg you're here."

Linh's brows drew together so tightly they knotted her forehead. "She tried to make him leave?" Linh asked in disbelief. "Even after he brought me here with the intention of saving me? Why?"

She looked out the window as a dark pit swelled in her stomach. I wanted to prove to him that he was wrong and my people would accept him. Yet, they'd told him to leave when he'd done something selfless and noble, just for her sake.

"I think that's what makes this so hard," Glenda stated quietly, her mask tilting towards the window as well. "The bandits... if you were sick, I think they'd just abandon you as a lost cause."

Linh's heart clenched at the truth of those words. Bragg and his men wouldn't care for her wellbeing if she became too much of a liability.

"But the Duskwalker... it brought you here," Glenda continued. "Your father doesn't want to listen to us and refuses to let us talk to it again to make it leave."

"Stop calling him a fucking it," Linh bit out, her eyes narrowing at the sun. She turned her glare to Glenda. "Have a little more respect for someone who saved me."

Taken aback, a small gasp echoed beneath her mask and was accompanied by her head rearing back. Linh didn't think she'd ever sworn in front of another, except Nathair, so she wasn't surprised by Glenda's faceless reaction.

"I'm sorry," Glenda immediately offered. "How long has he had you? As far as we knew, you were still at the bandits' main camp."

So Bragg didn't tell dad that I'd run away, or probably died.Her lips tightened in annoyance. I doubt he would have ever told him the truth, and just used my safety to keep up his manipulations, even with me missing.

He really was a bastard.

Linh's features twinged, and for some reason, her pussy spasmed. She cupped her pelvis with a cringe.

"Almost a month?" Linh guessed, before giving a light moan as she keeled forward. Two seconds later, the pain dissipated.

"Here," Glenda offered, reaching for a cup on the side table. "You got your period yesterday. This tea should help with any cramps."

Linh drained it so fast she almost drowned. "Thanks."

I didn't even think about what would happen if I got my period with Nathair nearby.She figured he would have slithered off somewhere so he didn't fall into a bloodthirsty rage.

I kept forgetting how much danger I was really in.She still didn't care. Nathair was quick-witted, so she assumed he would have figured out a solution. She snorted a quiet laugh at herself. I really do have too much faith in him.

"We were relieved when you got it," Glenda stated, and even Linh could hear the hint of a sad smile in it. "It would have been devastating going from one monster to another, only to end up pregnant."

Linh nearly choked. She patted her chest as she placed the cup down on the table. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"We cleaned and examined your body when you arrived," Glenda said, and once more, darkness entered her tone. Her voice became quieter. "We found trauma between your legs, as well as seed. It's why we wanted him to leave."

"Excuse me?" Linh whined, clenching her thighs together. She fisted the blanket in disbelief.

Trauma between my... Oh gods! She's likely talking about his body-altering spell! She understood this was a natural part of being in an infirmary, but the idea that someone went poking around her lady bits while she was unaware was concerning!

"He also placed some kind of spell on you. It took us a while to notice it, as it was deep beneath your skin." Glenda sighed as she shook her head. She lowered the volume of her voice even more. "I can only imagine what happened at the bandit camp, but to be forced upon by a monster would have been horrifying. I'm–"

Linh jumped forward, almost falling out of the bed, as she slapped both her hands over Glenda's masked mouth to shut her up.

"Stop," Linh pleaded. She eyed the door, worried someone would overhear. "Have you told anyone?"

Glenda shook her head. "No. We were waiting for you to wake up before we made any decisions. Due to you being an adult, it's not our place to speak on your behalf, or to inform anyone of private matters."

Thank goodness for that.

Leaning back to kneel on the bed with the blanket twisted around her legs, Linh placed a singular finger to her lips.

A coy, sheepish smile curled her mouth as shy mischief swirled in her gaze and heated her cheeks. "It was consensual."

Even if it was embarrassing, the last thing Linh wanted was for them to think Nathair was a cruel monster. His outsides may be different and scary, but he was truly a sweetheart.

I don't really care who knows I have feelings for him.She once thought she might, due to the oddity of their relationship, but telling Glenda of the perverted truth... she knew she didn't care. She adored that serpent Duskwalker with all her heart, and people would figure it out eventually when she told them all the truth.

He made her feel safe, cherished, and wanted. Not just for her body, but also her personality. He was sweet, funny, and weirdly charming.

Nathair was wonderful: scales, claws, fangs, and all.

Glenda took a moment to process what Linh had said. When it finally sunk in, the woman rushed to her feet, almost knocking over her chair in the process. Linh winced at its loud scrape.

"It was consensual?!" she whisper-shouted.

Linh reached out and grabbed her robes, yanking and pulling on them so she would sit. Her brows furrowed beseechingly until Glenda sat her bum down.

"Yes," Linh admitted, her cheeks flaring hotter. "I know it's probably strange to understand, but he's not a monster. He's really kind, and he... he made me feel better after everything. He took care of me and was really understanding and patient."

"You're joking," Glenda rasped out. "He's a Duskwalker, Linh!"

Linh rolled her eyes. "I don't think it's fair for you to judge. You would think with three eyes, you'd be better at seeing people for who they really are."

She cast Glenda's mask a hard stare.

"So, he told you." She cupped the chin of her mask and turned her face to the side. "How the hell did he know? Probably from eating a few of us, I guess." The woman shuddered. "And you still let him..."

Linh winced at that. She lowered her head to stare at her hands sitting on her folded knees.

"I don't think he wants to hurt people. He explained that he couldn't help it in the past. They gain intelligence or something from eating people, and now that he has plenty of it... I don't think he wants to do that anymore." She picked at her nails again. "I don't want to judge him for the past. Not when he saved me from my present, and the hurdles I would have faced on my own if he hadn't come into my life."

"You do realise this may all be a delusion, right? Stockholm syndrome, finding security in wrong places to get over trauma. There are many terms and meanings for what you may be going through."

"No," Linh quietly, yet firmly, stated. "I don't want to think of it that way. He never kept me imprisoned. He told me to leave at first, and I chose to stay."

"Linh–"

"I know what I feel, okay?" Linh snapped out. "I know what feels right for me, even if everyone else will think it's wrong."

The wary suspicion in Glenda's voice was unmistakable as she asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Linh's lips pursed, and she glanced up at Glenda's mask. "You're welcome to share my feelings with the others in your temple, but I ask that you let me tell my family and the villagers in my own time. I want to talk to Nathair first and introduce him properly."

Glenda folded her arms across her chest with a childish harrumph, showing her age, but it was weak. She wasn't truly upset, from what Linh could tell, and the Priestess quickly relaxed her posture.

"That's fine. Whatever you wish. I guess it's a good thing we were unable to remove the spell he put on you. We don't know what it was for, if it was some increased fertility magic or just ensuring the strength of your body for mating." Then she quietly muttered, "Why your ass, though? Are all male creatures weird?"

Oh my gosh, someone end me now!Linh threw her face into her hands, mortified they'd examined just what she and Nathair had done the other morning.

"Wait," she whispered, lowering her hands to her mouth. "You tried to remove the magic?"

She winced. Why does that feel like a violation against my body? Doing it had been her choice, and having the spell removed against her will, or even knowledge, felt like she'd almost betrayed Nathair somehow.

"I wish you hadn't assumed," Linh grumbled, only for a knock at the door to interrupt their conversation.

Glenda stood, and her robes fluttered as she walked to the door. Very little dust puffed into a flurry, the infirmary clean and tidy.

"Who's there?" Glenda asked through the door. Her tone was hesitant and unsure, and Linh figured someone had attempted to enter while she was unconscious.

She shuddered at what that meant.

"It's us," Tahlia, her mother, answered.

Glenda immediately opened the door. A girl, barely fifteen, almost pushed her to the ground as she ran inside.

"Linh!" May cried while tackling her to the bed.

With a choke, Linh let the girl wrap her slim arms around her neck and crush her beneath her body. She wrapped her arms around May's waist, and squeezed her with all her might, turning her face to her dark-brown hair to take her in.

"May, give your sister some room," Tahlia demanded as she entered, with her father stepping in behind her.

Glenda closed the door when a bandit, who looked as though he was standing guard, peeked inside. Linh shied away from his gaze, ignoring his presence. I'm being kept here.

She tightened her arms on May, who had started crying with girlish heaves. They're keeping an eye on me. Did that mean getting the chance to see Nathair was low?

She shook her head and opened her eyes when her mother's hand patted her hair. No. I'll figure out a way to convince them to let me see him.

Even if she had to lie and say she'd send him away, she wouldn't let them trap her in this village.

"We're so happy to see you're okay," her mother said, as she sat down in the chair her father brought closer.

Glenda stood by the door, giving them space, and allowed her chair to be occupied by Linh's father. May sat on the edge of the bed, refusing to leave her. She took Linh's hand, and her brows crinkled as she continued crying.

"Are you hungry?" Kai asked. He waved to a board he must have carried in that had a plate, a wide bowl, and cutlery on it. "I brought you some bún bò hu?, since soup will be easiest to get down after not eating for a while."

It was also her favourite, and one of the few traditional Vietnamese meals her father knew how to make. He was a wonderful cook, and this was his way of showing how much he cared about her.

"Mum and I made you some orange sweets," May informed her, before she nibbled on her bottom lip. "I ate all the burnt ones."

Linh huffed a laugh and squeezed her sister's hand. "How can you be so bad at baking, May?" Her sister opened her mouth, likely with some childish reply, but Linh turned to the side table. "I'd like the soup, to be honest. My stomach doesn't feel too good."

The moment she turned her nose towards the beef broth, her mouth instantly watered. Her mother helped to bring the bowl over, and Linh dipped her spoon into it, swirling the fragrant soup.

"Wait," she rasped, lowering her head to investigate the bowl's contents. "Is that... are they rice noodles?" She looked up at her father. "How did you get rice? We haven't been able to get any supply for months."

There was only one town in the entire northern part of Austrális that could farm it. Due to needing a large amount of fresh, clean water, the eastern area closest to the Demonslayer stronghold, Hawthorne Keep, was the only place that could grow it. The town to the right of the mountains there was the most protected, since Demons needed to pass the stronghold to get to it – which the Demonslayers never allowed.

It was a large area with complete sanctuary, but was overpopulated now due to everyone travelling there for security. They blocked anyone from entering it without permits, and they traded rare foods for medicine, coal, metal ores, and basically anything else that wasn't food related.

Hawthorne Keep had already informed all nearby villages that they would protect it in order to feed the rest of the north, and even parts of the east. The south and west were forced to find other means, since travelling with certain perishables was idiotic.

Rice, however, could be long lasting if stored correctly. With them being in the mountains, they only put in requests for food that would last, not only during travel, but also in storage.

"Bragg is allowing us to trade again," her father stated, confirming what Glenda had told him.

"Yeah, but you're terrible at making noodles," she retorted with a laugh, trying to distract away from the darkening conversation. "Grandpa had to teach me how to make them for you."

He gave a fatherly, annoyed huff. His lips flattened, and his eyes narrowed at her. She flashed him a knowing smile.

"Eat it while it's hot," he demanded, before rubbing his recently shaved face. "All my children tease me."

"Give your father a break," her mother warned. "He's been pulling his hair out and picking at his face relentlessly since you've been gone. If he keeps going, he'll make himself bald."

"Sorry," she grumbled, casting her mother an apologetic expression. She picked up her chopsticks and began to eat.

Even though it had less chilli than normal, Linh was thankful for that when her stomach grew queasy. Still, she was happy to have something other than plums, berries, and fish.

She appreciated all Nathair had done to feed her, but nothing could beat a home-cooked meal.

Her shoulders turned inwards as she was gawked at by three sets of eyes. She hid away from their stares by letting her hair fall forward, and slurped away at the liquid more than anything else in the bowl. The beef was too heavy for her, the noodles too hard to grip with her shaky hands. She was just pleased the broth was flavourful and had plenty of coriander, lemongrass, and spring onion.

"Is no one going to talk about the elephant in the room?" her mother stated, eyeing her still-pouting father.

"Which one?" he asked, folding his arms as he leaned back. He placed his ankle on top of his opposing knee. "That she's here, or the fact that a Duskwalker now lingers outside our gates, waiting for her? How about the fact that a Duskwalker had her at all, when she was supposed to be in the main camp, and it looks as if she's been with it for a long time?"

Her shoulders continued to turn inward at every stern and straightforward word her father uttered.

"I ran," Linh admitted, no longer able to stomach another spoonful. "I'm sorry. I know I promised to wait, but I couldn't take it."

"Linh," Tahlia stated, cupping her cheek to make her lift her head. Her usual hard features softened exponentially as she brushed her thumb down the side of Linh's face. "Please don't apologise. We don't care how you got here, only that you got away and you're safe. We've been so worried and sorry for everything, and we were not far from enacting a plan to rescue you."

"David, Michael, and Sasha were going to sneak out and scout the camp to gather more information on how best to infiltrate it. We wanted as little bloodshed as possible, although we were all happy to kill every one of them."

Her people were talking about becoming killers... it was a depressing thought. They had once been so compassionate, only killing for survival, rather than in vengeance.

"Now you don't have to," Linh cut in, trying to give them a smile. "I'm hoping Nathair will help us. The Duskwalker, I mean. That's his name."

"Has he agreed to it?" Her father asked, tightening his folded arms. "The idea of trusting a... Duskwalker doesn't sit well with me. I also won't allow you to sacrifice yourself just for our sake. You've already done that once. If that's your reasoning, you can forget it – immediately."

"That's not–" A bash on the door cut her off.

"You've had your ten minutes," a guard shouted from the other side of it.

Kai stood and headed towards the door. Glenda bowed her head and stepped back to give him room to swing the door open. He came face to face with a sneering tall brute of a man.

"Listen here, you gigantic ogre," her father snapped up at his bearded face. "I will do what I want in my own village, and if that's visit my daughter in hospital, then you will shut up and let me and my family do so."

His dark-blond brows narrowed. "You agreed–"

"Yes, and Bragg agreed to take care of my daughter, and I found her half dead in the arms of a fucking monster. So, do kindly piss off." He slammed the door in the bandit's face, only to shove his back against it. His grin was of a man who was hopped up on adrenaline. "I think I made matters worse, no?"

Her mother shook her head before slapping her face in her hand in disbelief. Her sister, May, stood and prepared herself for what was likely to come next.

Linh slipped to the side of the bed and stood on shaky legs. She limped towards the door being bumped and shoved against with heavy slams. Her father was doing well to keep it shut, but he was sure to falter.

"You really do know how to cause trouble," Linh stated, and waved for him to move.

How did such an immature man become the mayor of our people? He'd always been like this. Stern when needed, reckless when he shouldn't be, and immature to make sure everyone fell in love with his goofy charm.

He shook his head, only to swallow when Linh glared at him. He rolled his eyes, stepped forward, then moved to the side, away from the direction of the door swinging open.

The bandit, with his fist raised in preparation, halted when he found Linh in front of him. He wouldn't dare touch Bragg's property, not if he valued his life. Her face was her shield.

"I spent most of my time eating," she explained, widening her eyes up at him in appeal. "I've missed my family and would really appreciate just a few more minutes."

"A few more minutes to come up with a scheme, no doubt," he sneered, lowering his fist as his lips disappeared when he pursed them.

His words only deepened her worries. She already figured they wouldn't just let her walk out of this room. Now she feared what they would do to her when she was able to, or where they would take her.

"I think you're forgetting who is really in charge here. What can we do?" she asked, raising her arms to gesture to herself. "Or are you that afraid of a sick woman and her family? Should I tell Bragg you couldn't even hold your wits while I was eating my first proper meal in a month?"

His blue eyes darted up to her sister cowering behind her mother, only to yank on the door to find her father behind it.

"Give me shit like that again, and I'll break the rest of your fingers."

Her father threw up his hands in surrender. "She gets her brains from her mother, and not me, obviously."

The bandit snorted a mild laugh. "Can say that again." His expression gentled, kind of, as he brought his gaze back to Linh. "You have five more minutes, and that's it."

She narrowed her eyes into a defiant glare. "That's not a lot of time."

He shrugged and lifted his chin nonchalantly. "Better make each one count then."

He backed up and slammed the door shut.

Linh turned to her family and had no idea how she was supposed to tell them everything in such a short period of time.

If I had known there was a timeframe, I would have eaten after they left.She let out a groan and Glenda caught her when her partially numb leg gave out. All I can do is make sure they help me get to Nathair.

Once she was with him, she would be safe.