"I wondered if you knew I was here," came Shade's only response, followed by sounds of his swift approach, twigs snapping beneath dark boots.
Too soon, his masked face appeared around an outcropping of spruce trees, hood still pulled up over his head, leaving only the area around his eyes free from obscurity.
At least one of us kept warm, I thought bitterly.
For better or for worse, fatigue robbed me of all vestiges of fear, so I said, "What do you want now? You are doing a fantastic job of ruining my life, why bother following me around aimlessly for hours without making yourself known?"
"I did consider leaving you to fend for yourself after that stunt you pulled," he admitted with a cordial dip of his chin, sweeping in closer, "but then I remembered that it's not to my benefit for you to die. Quite the opposite, in fact."
As accurate as that assessment of my survival abilities was, affront still bubbled in my chest.
"I am doing fine," I snarled. "I have a plan, thank you very much, and it's working out just great!"
"I can tell," he said wryly, pointedly looking me up and down, head to toe and back.
He didn't need a convenient heartbeat monitor like my dad had used to tell I was, in fact, not doing fine and lying through my teeth.
His response had only served to infuriate me further, but rather than interact, I turned on my heel and kept walking, pure loathing increasing my pace to nearly double my earlier tiring stride.
Unfortunately, he followed, and with far too much ease.
"I hate you," I muttered.
"Really? I, for one, am shocked."
If looks could kill, the one I speared him with would have set him aflame instantly. He seemed to catch on, because lethal, liquid amusement radiated off of him in waves. The smug bastard.
I bunched up my dress to step over a large log in my path without the fear of it getting caught on anything. I spoke at the ground. "Drop dead."
"I almost miss when you acted scared of me."
"Almost?"
"Darling," he caught up, turning at the waist to face me, "this is so much more fun."
"Call me darling one more time and I will find something to stab you with," I warned.
"I'll heal," he pointed out.
"But I imagine it will bring me great satisfaction to do it anyway," I said, forcing an extra sweet smile to accompany the morbid words.
"It makes me tempted to do it anyway, just to force you to follow through."
Unfortunately, I believed him.
I tried to storm off in pointed, bone-chilling silence. I really, truly did, and managed it for a solid half-hour. My hate-fueled gait, however, wasn't sustainable in my condition, and I found myself quickly slowing to an unsteady stagger, needing to push myself from nearby objects to keep going. Soon, I fretted, my body would give out on me as I again approached the close of a second day without water, and my fourth without a meal. It didn't seem possible to survive weeks without food. Not even a full week in, I felt myself growing delirious and jelly legged.
I slid my gaze sidelong over to Shade, who effortlessly kept up only a half pace behind. "I have half a mind to say I'm hallucinating you."
"What makes you think you aren't?" he challenged after a long silence.
YOU ARE READING
Super•Villainous
Fantasy"I've been looking for you." There was an unexpected rasp to his voice, a hint of desperation. He stretched out one hand, as if to brush it across my cheek, or perhaps wrap it around my throat. Oddly enough, I didn't know which option frightened me...
