CHAPTER#88

He obeyed, and heard a rustling behind him.

"Okay, good. Now if they walk in they won't see me."

"Is that why you're a little girl?"

"Partially." He felt her hands go up the back of his shirt. "That and I'm hoping that they won't trample a little kid when they see one." Her hands moved around to his belly and slid her hands beneath his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying not to laugh when she hit a ticklish spot.

"Stealing your body heat." The moment she said it, a chill went through him. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead and his tongue went strangely numb.

"Isn't that what you've been doing for the last couple of hours?"

"No. I've been sleeping." One hand pinched his side playfully. Her fingers were like ice. "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I got my ass beat. If you hadn't dropped the sun stone, I wouldn't have gotten away."

"What happened?"

"It wasn't a fair fight. The mountain top was covered in ice and snow, so she had a huge advantage. I think the best comparison is like trying to light a match in a storm. It was an uphill fight, and I thought I was doing okay until that damn abomination showed up."

"The dragon?"

"Pah, hardly. If it had been a dragon, you would know it. It was some type of creature stitched together with earth magic, a thing of teeth and scales and hair. Technically it isn't even alive, but that doesn't matter. It knocked me down, and I had to set fire to pretty much everything to chase it off. That's when she found me in all the smoke, and I knew that I had to escape. I spotted the stone glowing behind her in the snow, so I gave it a boost." Ratu sighed. "You're so warm."

"Not really." In fact, his toes were slowly going numb. "Who was that on the cliff? Zel called her the Snow Queen."

"Cute name. I imagine that's what the centaurs call her. No, she's a kitsune, a fox demon. She told me her name was Yuki. Kitsune and naga are a lot alike. We are both shapeshifters capable of tremendous magic, but kitsune tend to be loners, whereas naga prefer the company of others."

"Oh. Any idea on why she tried to kill me?"

"We didn't have an in-depth conversation about it. Anyway, I remember falling, and then hearing your voice. You saved me once again and kept me alive until I woke up. By then, the centaurs had us, and now we need to figure out how to get out of this mess."

"That would be nice." His teeth chattered. "So why are you stealing my body heat?"

"I'm replenishing my magic. I can think of another way that's more fun, but I don't think now is the time or place."

Mike nodded. The centaurs were upset enough as it is, he couldn't imagine their reaction to discovering that he had a magical fuck buddy.. "Are you almost done? I'm freezing."

"Almost." His fingers tingled and she let out a sigh. "There. I think that'll work."

"You can get magic from my body heat?"

"Hmm? Not really, no." Her hands moved to his back, and she leaned against him. "Your body heat was nice, but I needed something for your magic to hitch a ride on to absorb it. Magic requires symbolism with logic, a lesson most students learn eventually. By allowing me to take your body heat, I was able to initiate an exchange of magic."

"Wait, say that last part again?"

"You heard me. An exchange. You have magic, and I just took some of it. Or depleted it would be a better term. Your magic isn't like mine, so it isn't a one-to-one conversion, which is a shame."

"But what if I need it?"

She chuckled. "Are you planning to fuck your way out of here?"

Mike frowned. So far, that was the one trick up his sleeve and he knew she had a point. "No. Not without plenty of water and maybe a granola bar."

"Very funny. Right now, your magic is tied to sensuality and sexual contact. Unless you are planning to seduce an entire centaur tribe, I think I can make better use of it." Her hands became extremely warm, sending pulses of heat through his limbs. "Does that feel better?"

He could feel his toes again. "Much. So what now?"

"I'm afraid we wait. We need to know what we are dealing with."

"What if they just come in here to execute me or something?"

A hiss came from behind him. "Then I'll turn them to ash. They don't know I'm here, so we will have the element of surprise."

He really hoped it didn't come to a fight. It felt like this was a giant misunderstanding that could be solved with a little bit of diplomacy and a desire to hear him out before stabbing him with their spears.

He checked his phone. He didn't have service, but he did have his alarm set. Frowning, he turned it off. If he didn't get out of the centaur camp by nightfall, he wouldn't make it back in time to turn the sundial and then he would have the Society to deal with.

When would it end? He was exhausted, and the appearance of Yuki the snow bitch had further complicated things. Who was she, and why did she try to kill him? Usually he got a few moments to aggravate someone before they tried to off him.

He paced in the back, Ratu staying by his side the whole time. An hour passed while they brainstormed. Ratu debated the merits of smoking out the camp or transforming into a large serpent and scaring the centaurs. She examined his two remaining vials, the one for hiding and the acidic one for escaping. He had given Zel the worst-case scenario vial, surprised that she hadn't used it.