Savage Shifters Box Set, page 88
But it was still beautiful.
No sinister force approached them, not even when Jison became loud and flirted with practically everyone due to boredom. Even Salazar wasn’t immune, though he ignored the bulk of it. That loudness carried on as they walked the long path of lushness, and Salazar didn’t mind.
After all, the flirting and the lushness were the perfect distraction from the smell.
There was no mistaking where it came from—Pix, the only one who hadn’t taken a bath when they passed a relatively fresh river source earlier. Jison and Ya-Ya had been all over it, stripping off their clothes with abandon and letting everything just bounce as they loudly enjoyed the water. Salazar was more reserved about it, straying to a semi-hidden side and undressing behind some rocks as he let the water warm him up and make him feel clean. But the boy refused to join in, stubbornly straining their chain and staying on the other side of that rock, his excuse being that he didn’t want the two sirens to take a peek when they were both bathing.
A bullshit excuse, really, considering the boy also refused Salazar’s offer to switch places after a few minutes.
They passed two more bodies of water that didn’t have any darkening in them, both of which the boy also refused to bathe in. Jison and Ya-Ya eyed each other meaningfully, obviously noticing something was up, and the siren-vampire opened his mouth. He clamped it shut instantly when Salazar sent him a warning look, one meant to dissuade whatever mischievous idea was running through that head.
Salazar then sent Pix a disapproving one, which was ignored—either because the boy didn’t see it or pretended not to.
The vampire looked at Pix as they kept walking. They led the way now, with the two sirens walking just a bit behind and flirting with each other. The boy ignored him, so Salazar tapped the arm until Pix reluctantly glanced.
“What?” Pix asked.
Did you have a bad experience with water, by any chance?
“I…haven’t drowned, if that’s what you’re asking.”
That’s not what I’m asking.
“I don’t know what you’re asking.”
You know exactly what I’m asking.
The boy glared at Salazar before returning his gaze down on the ground, as stubborn as ever.
“I just don’t like my body parts exposed, okay? It’s fine. I’m not filthy or anything like that.”
Tap, tap. You smell terrible.
The boy shot him a look this time, one that was toned down from a glare but still pretty irritated. Salazar shrugged, eyeing Pix back and not backing down. There was a certain tension building on the boy’s shoulders before they slumped, and Pix muttered, “No, I don’t.”
Salazar no longer insisted after that, while everyone else gave the boy a wide berth. They kept walking until odd lushness turned to dry lands, and dry lands turned into a small village where they found exactly who they were looking for.
The locksmith’s name was Abernon Green, and they had to negotiate a day of service before the man would remove the chains. It gave the sirens freedom to roam around and get to know the people—and by get to know, that meant flirt with the village people and see who else they could entice with sex other than each other.
That left Salazar and Pix to do the service, which involved counting metal chains in a couple of barrels and cleaning up the locksmith’s whole workspace. By the time they were done, he was hot but not sweating, and Pix…
Well, Pix really needed to take a bath.
The vampire discreetly asked about the nearest inn where Pix could possibly wash up, but the boy still refused and stood his ground that he would only wash when the lock was removed. Tired of the back and forth, Salazar gave up asking and dragged the boy to a rented tavern room, where they freshened up a bit. Salazar didn’t know humans were this modest, especially when Pix closed his eyes the moment Salazar stripped his upper clothing and rubbed his body with a damp cloth.
They went down after a while, where they were treated to stories of vicious creatures passing by this village every now and then: some rather violent wolf shifters who weren’t part of any organized pack, a vampire with some other beastly blood who slaughtered a whole family, and others. There were always hostiles passing by, but the villagers had learned how to defend themselves with makeshift weapons and door charms.
Jison was rightfully indignant, and so was Ya-Ya, but Pix was more bothered by the stories, getting angry when there was talk of children being massacred. The tavern owner also shared about losing a sister, which had Pix looking so sad that Salazar couldn’t help rubbing the boy’s back in comfort. It only made the boy stiffen, and Pix eventually called it a day and said he wanted to sleep.
Salazar studied him quietly before eventually nodding.
*****
“Do you want to keep the chain as a souvenir?”
“No, thanks! Please keep it, sir.”
The sound of clanking filled the locksmith’s working space and still reverberated in his ears, but his attention was more focused on Pix, whose grin had bloomed the moment the lock was picked and the cuff removed from his wrist. Salazar eyed the pinkish-red tinge before Pix hid it, practically interrogating the locksmith for any fresh body of water other than the water drums in their tavern rooms.
“Well, we get our water from the stream nearby,” Abernon said. “But if you really want a huge body of water, we’ve got a waterfall just half a kilometer ahead. Not many travelers pass by there since it’s out of the way, but you’ll reach it by following the path of jagged rocks.
The way the boy’s soft brown eyes lit up had Salazar staring, then hiding a smile as Pix practically bounced in place while they finished their pleasantries. When they were out of the locksmith’s workplace, Pix grinned wider and whirled towards Salazar right away.
“I’m going,” the boy declared. “I want to go alone.”
Salazar frowned, gesturing.
It’s not safe.
Pix scoffed. “It’s broad daylight, and that’s ridiculous. Don’t worry about me. Like he said, the path’s quite unused. I’ll have my bath and be back soon. Then we can get your voice.”
The cheerful positivity and underlying stubbornness left Salazar with no choice but to agree, and he watched as Pix practically ran out of there. Now that he was free, Salazar wondered if he should get some more rest, explore the village for a bit or find the two sirens so they could get on and continue their journey. There were so many options, but his mind only latched on to one.
A few minutes later, he was following the same path the boy had taken and assuring himself that it was the right choice.
He was just going to check on Pix, and that was it. Who knew if the locksmith was sure of the direction, or if there really was no danger in that area? The boy wouldn’t last a second in an attack unless it was another human, and the thought of Pix dying just didn’t sit well with Salazar—no, not when the boy still needed to return to the human world. He kept his footsteps quiet in case Pix dilly-dallied, but Salazar met no one on the path, and eventually, he heard the sound of water just up ahead.
Just a quick peek, and Salazar would leave with the boy none the wiser because obviously modesty mattered a lot to Pix. Hell, the boy even sacrificed his smell just for it. Salazar shook his head, baffled at the reasoning behind that. But he supposed every creature had their odd bunch, and humans weren’t exempted.
The sound of water got louder, making Salazar contemplate just how huge the source was and if he could take a dip, too, away from Pix’s spot. Whoever said vampires didn’t bathe or sleep were idiots—at least, not the bitten vampires because they were mostly just ordinary creatures before from different walks of life. Salazar could still faintly remember his old life in a village, too, and how he had a home people visited to get treated for their injuries.
One of the visitors had been an ancient vampire, who attacked him without warning and sucked all of his blood—almost. He hadn’t been sucked dry, and the infection of the bite had then transformed him into this.
There weren’t many changes, really, other than the shift in strength and speed and the amplification of emotions…and yes, the complete thirst for blood that turned him violent in the beginning before he regretted his choices and changed his lifestyle. He also isolated himself from the normal, ordinary people, not wanting to make a mistake that he would regret again.
Now, here he was: jumping from one prison to another, still a little bit lost with his life. But his resolve was clearer to get his voice now, and so was the instinct to protect the boy.
There was no one who mattered to him before, because he didn’t have family other than his father, who was already long gone. The boy…he brought out a need to make things right; one Salazar couldn’t explain.
But he would make things right for Pix.
The waterfalls came into view, a gorgeous foam of water that really tempted him now to take a bath. There were no signs of animals nearby, so he kept walking and climbing over some rocks, careful not to disturb the way they were naturally but tediously stacked together.
He finally spotted someone frolicking about just near the edge of the waterfall, back facing Salazar but short brown hair recognizable. The boy looked like he was having the time of his life, so Salazar made the step back down again—
Pix hauled himself up on a flat rock just under the waterfall, letting water drip all over his body. Surprise flitted inside Salazar at the sight of curves and a bare butt, followed by dainty hands running all over it. Those hands were lifted and pushed back, making two perfect breasts with pink-tipped nipples arch out.
Surprise turned to shock, followed by numbness as Salazar quietly froze in his spot. His mind reeled as he tried to take in the sight, confusion turning to realization as he took all of her in.
Her, not him.
Creamy skin. Those breasts and that gentle curve of hips, and the shadow in between her legs that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.
It all made sense now—the flashes of vulnerability, the aversion to taking a bath in front of Salazar, the modesty that was out of place in the situation they were in. It wasn’t because Pix had some odd personality.
It was because she was a woman disguised as a boy.
The magnetic pull he felt towards her came back, stirring his body and making a certain emotion flicker before he tried to slam it down and away. Arousal was the last thing he needed. Following that emotion was a deeper one: a sense of betrayal, one that he couldn’t tamp down as easy as the first.
Pix bent down and made a move to dive back into the water. Just before she did, her head slowly turned to the side, brown eyes taking in her surroundings…
She locked eyes with his. He saw the shock slide in there before she went down with a plop instead of the dive she intended until she was completely underwater. She came up for air after a few seconds, spluttering and frantically removing hair out of her eyes.
Her gaze latched on to him again.
“How long have you been standing there?” she almost choked out, the panic clear in her voice.
A few minutes, he gestured.
“You saw…” she gulped. “You saw everything.”
Salazar simply eyed her, letting her know the answer through that. She figured it out and made some more choking noises before her cheeks and neck reddened. He tried to ignore the lovely curve at the nape, too, looking down.
Then he looked back up and gestured, Next time, make sure all your lies are covered, and so is your body. Jison wouldn’t have let this slide.
Her eyes widened, but that was all he saw as he was already turning around and following his original path of leaving. The call of the water left him as he found himself hurrying back to the village, this time making sure that everything was cleared and no one was headed this way. As a last minute precaution, he moved some rocks in the way, just to discourage the idly curious travelers.
A flash of Pix’s body slid to mind again, gripping hot and sliding in his senses. He shook it away almost instantly.
No. He couldn’t think about her that way. Nothing had changed.
Absolutely nothing.
Chapter 130
He wasn’t talking to her.
Not that the vampire could talk, considering he still didn’t have his voice, but Pix at least expected the regular treatment—a comfortable silence that was punctuated with thoughtful gestures every now and then, some insightful knowledge and a take-charge attitude that wasn’t belied by arrogance.
Jison and Ya-Ya had decided not to come with them on the rest of their journey, opting to stay in the village for a few more days and enjoy the delicacies before heading off to their own adventure. Normally that would have pleased Pix, but now…
Now it just made the silence between her and Salazar almost unbearable.
When she’d returned all freshened up from her bath yesterday, she found out that he rented another room for her and had retired early in bed, leaving Jison and Ya-Ya free to invite her for drinks and tease her about her so-called modesty. The natural way they did so told her one thing: that Salazar hadn’t told anyone and wasn’t planning to.
When the two sirens had informed them of their decision, Salazar had wished them well before gesturing only one thing to Pix: Get ready in ten minutes and meet me outside the tavern. That was their last conversation, and that was a few hours ago.
Now they were in the middle of brown fields she didn’t recognize, with the sun shining down on them and orange skies on the horizon…and she didn’t know what to do.
Pix wanted to come at him right off and feel offended about the whole thing, particularly that she’d been discovered and caught at her most vulnerable—naked and a woman. The way those eyes had lingered on her before looking down had her losing sleep last night, as her body tingled with repeated thoughts of it. But there was indignation in the mix, and she wished she could just smack him like she often did Jison when the siren-vampire went out of line.
But she was never guilty about Jison, and she was about Salazar.
She eyed him every now and then, noting the way his eyes focused on the road ahead as if it was of utmost importance. She hadn’t missed the stiff way he made his gestures since his discovery, knew her betrayal wasn’t a simple thing. But she didn’t think a simple apology would do, and she scanned her mind for words that would get them talking again.
After a while, Pix cleared her throat. “Where are we headed again? Like, how many days away is the cave we’re planning to go to?”
There was no response for a few seconds before Salazar lifted his hands and slowly gestured. A few days.
“A few days…how many, exactly?” she prompted.
No estimate.
“But it’s less than a week?”
No estimate.
The short, repetitive answers had frustration slamming up inside her, but she swallowed it back down. Pix cleared her throat again. “Any dangerous paths ahead? Do we need to arm ourselves?”
Don’t know.
Now she did glare at him. She stayed quiet again after a while, and so did he as they kept walking. They reached an ocean side area and walked the edge of the cliffs, and the smell of sea salt on her nostrils made her sigh in bliss.
Move faster.
Just like that, the bliss popped like a balloon, and Pix realized she could no longer take it. They got to the end of the cliff and were back on endless fields, where green and brown trees were seen further up ahead. Pix allowed them to hurry up until they got into the dry forest, walking until they found a clearing with sunlight rays and fresh air.
Then she whirled on him right then and there, folding her arms over her chest.
“I’m sorry, okay?” she began, then pretty much ripped through the rest. “I’m sorry for deceiving you like that. Actually, I’m sorry for deceiving everyone like that, but it was necessary. I wouldn’t have survived with those slave traders if they found out I was a woman, and with all the trouble we encountered during our travel with the others, it just didn’t feel like the right time. Ya-Ya did find out…but she kept the secret, too, because she understood it was for the best.”
Silence met her statement, so Pix went on, suddenly unable to stop the words from flowing. “Not telling you didn’t mean I didn’t trust you, Salazar. On the contrary, you’re the one I trusted the most in our group. I knew you would never have let harm come my way, but…” She took a deep breath. “I was guilty, okay? You guys already depended on me, and I didn’t want to let you down with the truth. I—”
A hand wrapped around her wrist, and it had her looking up. Belatedly, Pix realized she’d been looking at the ground halfway through her confession, probably because she still wasn’t ready to face his anger. She saw that anger now—a flash of dark eyes before they settled down into something firm. His hands started moving.
It wouldn’t have changed things if you were a woman. It doesn’t make you any less of a person. You should still have told us the truth.
The words stunned her and humbled her at the same time, especially when she saw the sincerity in his expression. More shame flooded her, right before she realized that shaming her was the last thing he would have wanted to do. So Pix shook it off.
Her heart softened. Her body relaxed as instinct told her things were going to be okay between them, and that told her how much this mattered to her. She knew if she spoke again right now that her voice would be shaky, so Pix lifted her hands instead.
You’re right. I’m sorry. I really am. Please forgive me. Please…
Something flashed beside her left ear, followed by a buzzing sound that had her pausing. Then her pause turned into a gasp when she felt blurs coming in all directions and a brute force tackling her to the ground, nearly taking her breath away. She made a cry of pain, but it was short-lived as she felt a hand clamping over her mouth and several hands holding her in place.
