Mari's Mistake - Ruby Dixon Page 0,32
I hate him because he’s in so much pain and he still won’t die. I don’t want him to die, but sometimes he hurts so much—and I do, too, thanks to resonance—that I wish it would just happen so he could move on. No one should be in this much pain for this long. But T’chai barely hangs on, floating in and out of consciousness, and it’s destroying us both.
“Live,” I whisper. “Wake up better tomorrow.” I touch his thin, sallow face. “Tomorrow, your fever will be gone, yes?”
But the next day, he’s just as bad as ever. He burns with a fever and his belly is hard and swollen, and I want to scream. I thought the khui was supposed to take care of fevers? I thought it would help him heal?
There are no answers, though, and no relief for my poor T’chai.
Another week passes, and then another. T’chai looks withered in his bed now. He was so strong, and now he looks like a shadow of himself. I’m exhausted and barely hanging on myself. Now, when my khui hums with resonance, it hums alone. T’chai’s no longer resonates to mine.
That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped aching, though.
I still cling to my mate, holding his hand tightly as he’s loaded onto one of the rafts. The earthquakes have gotten worse and we’re escaping this place. I don’t point out that we don’t know if we’re going in the right direction, or even if there’s land to head to. All we know is that we can’t stay here.
I rest my head on T’chai’s chest as S’bren and M’tok and R’jaal paddle the raft that feels far too small to carry so many people. In front of us, Lauren rides with the four-armed aliens, and I’ve been so wrapped up with T’chai that I haven’t even learned their names. She holds the baby as the others paddle, and casts worried looks back at me now and then. Behind us is the raft filled with the third tribe—four aliens I haven’t bothered to meet at all.
They don’t matter. No one matters but my T’chai.
He falls unconscious the moment we leave the island’s steamy shores, and by the time we’ve been on the rafts for a few hours, the temperature has dropped enough that my breath fogs in front of my face and S’bren exclaims, rubbing his arms. Everyone piles on leathers and stuff waxy leaves into the gaps of their clothing to try and keep out the cold. I shrug on a covering that R’jaal gives me, but I just curl up next to T’chai, who burns with fever and shivers at the same time.
For three days, he’s unconscious, and it feels like I’m finally losing him.
“I’m not ready,” I whisper to him, letting my icy tears wet his chest. “I’m not ready. Don’t leave me here alone. I’ve already lost too much.”
For a moment—the barest moment—I feel his hand stroke my hair, and I smile.
The journey seems to go on forever, and the entire island’s trying to kill us. Creatures from the water attack the rafts. The air’s bitterly cold and it snows on us, and we all have to huddle close to T’chai for warmth. We’re exhausted and hungry and…then the island explodes, just as I thought it would.
The sound is deafening, and my ears ring so loudly that I’m unable to hear anyone speak for the next few hours. The volcanic explosion sends out a tidal wave that nearly capsizes our convoy of rafts, and I hold tightly to T’chai even as I cling to the others so I don’t fall over the side. By the time it grows dark, ash is falling, mixed with the snow, and it feels as if the world is ending around us.
Lauren says something up ahead, but I don’t look up. I just move closer to T’chai, who still sleeps, and I wish I could hear his khui purr to mine again. At least if his cootie sang, I’d know he’s still with me. It’s silent, and the silence hurts me. Lauren’s voice turns more excited, but my ears are still ringing and everything she says sounds muffled, like she’s far, far away.
Then R’jaal says something, too, and he sounds excited.
Dully, I sit up, and as I do, I see the shore nearby.
I see snow-capped, jagged mountains. I see the lights of fires. I see people at those fires.
R’jaal looks over at S’bren and M’tok, and there’s a hint of wonder in his voice