"Ready?" he asked, reaching out to grasp my hand with his.
I nodded, holding on tightly. I hated this part the most. In less than the blink of an eye, the sand beneath my feet and the ocean in front of me disappeared. Traveling with Haniel was nothing like the way they showed it in movies. There was no spinning, no vortex of colors, one second you were here, and the next you were somewhere else.
It took my eyes several moments to adjust to my new surroundings. Placing my hands on my knees, I leaned over to gather my bearings. I grimaced when I saw patches of snow on the ground.
"Snow?" I complained, thankful that I at least had boots on.
Haniel waited patiently while I adjusted to the altitude and climate change. I always struggled with lightheadedness and nausea when I traveled with him. When I first started traveling with him, he had used his gifts to help me adjust, but he had tapered that off a few months ago, claiming I needed to learn to acclimate myself. After a few minutes, I had adjusted to the altitude and was able to stand upright without feeling like I was going to toss my toast.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yeah, but seriously, snow?" I griped again, shivering slightly in the cooler temperatures.
"The altitude will help strengthen your lungs further during battle."
"You always act like a swarm of Daemons are going to crawl their way out of the depths of hell."
"It is best to be prepared for all situations," Haniel answered in his normal dismissive tone whenever I questioned the endless hours of training. Not that I bitched much about it since it got me out of school.
"No more talking. Go," he said, pointing to the top of the mountain above us.
"How high?" I asked, knowing from previous training sessions what he expected.
"The top. I will be waiting for you there," he said, disappearing in front of me.
"What a cheat," I complained to myself as I picked up a steady pace up the uneven ground. There was no trail to speak of, so all the work was up to me. My breathing came out in even puffs as I made my way up the steep incline.
My mind began to wander as I moved on autopilot. I'd been too hyped up all morning to allow myself the luxury of thinking about Emrys. I teased myself with fantasies about why he wanted to see me so badly. I'd been warned to stay away from him, but I couldn't help wondering what would have happened if I would have joined him.
Busy with sinful thoughts of the steamy Trader, I missed the exposed tree root that was sticking up out of the ground as I jogged along.
One minute I was thinking of the tattoo that disappeared down his shirt and the next I was airborne. Using skills Haniel had taught me, I tucked my body into a ball and wrapped my arms around my head to protect it. I landed several feet away in a bone-jarring heap.
"Fucking hell's bells," I grunted, taking a few seconds to gather my wits while I took stock of possible injuries. Every bone in my body ached, but as I slowly began to uncurl myself from the fetal position I had flown in, I knew I wasn't seriously injured, except maybe my pride. After a moment, I staggered to my feet and pushed my hair out of my face. My knees burned and I looked down grimacing.
"Mother of monkey asses, these were new pants," I squawked out loud as I took in the tennis ball-sized holes in each of the knees of my pants. Blood flowed copiously from my left knee while the right one looked like road rash.
"Real slick, dipshit," I said, leaning down to roll up my pant legs so I could take a closer look. I sucked in a breath as the material of my pants brushed against my scraped knees. "Holy donkey balls, how do kids deal with scraped knees all the time?" I complained out loud.
"Do you always talk to yourself?" a voice asked behind me.
"Stalk much?" I asked unsurprised. Even while nursing a couple of scraped knees, my instincts had clued me in to the presence of someone else up here in the middle of nowhere. "More importantly, how did you find me?" I asked, turning around to face Emrys.
"Built-in tracking device," he said, pointing to his chest.
"Really? Are you screwing with me?"
He raised his eyebrows suggestively at my words. "Now that would be an interesting turn of events."
I smirked at him. "I think your ego's making drinks your nonhuman body can't have."
"That's an odd way to put it, but trust me, cookie, that's not a problem," he answered in his honey-laced voice, taking a step toward me.
"The slick banter doesn't work on me," I said nonchalantly. "Haniel filled me in on your, uh, 'talents.'"
"Yeah, Haniel's had a hard-on for our gifts of persuasion for years."
I snorted out a laugh. I'd spent the last year around straight-laced people and it was nice in a naughty way to have someone speak what I was thinking.