Chapter 93 Eyes on me

Chapter 93 Eyes on me
~ Tyra ~

"Tell me, Zaran," I started, pride evident in my voice. "What exactly do you think would have happened if we had arrived at this field without me insisting that you rest and regain your strength?"

I raised my brows as I waited for him to finally realize how wrong he had been. I was expecting at least a reluctant admission that maybe, just maybe, I had been right about his condition.

Instead, his expression remained completely unchanged.

"Nothing would have happened. We would have crossed safely just as we did." His response landed, dripping with sheer arrogance.

"Don't lie to yourself. What would have happened is that you would have gotten tired of carrying my weight and eventually dropped me halfway across." I corrected him confidently, convinced that I had finally found a hole in his argument.

For a brief moment, a complicated expression crossed his features. It was gone almost as quickly as it appeared, leaving me wondering whether I had imagined it.

"Just because you think that doesn't make it even slightly true," he replied. "Even if I got tired and the thought of dropping you crossed my mind, I would drop myself first and provide you with a soft landing so you wouldn't get hurt."

The mischievousness that had been building inside me instantly disappeared.

I stared at him, suddenly unable to think of a witty response.

"Why?" I asked, my voice quieter this time.

Why would he say something like that so casually? Why would he be willing to put himself in danger simply to make sure I didn't get hurt?

My heart ached with the need to understand him.

"I am the reason you're here in the first place. I will stop at nothing to see that you get home safely." His answer settled somewhere deep inside me.

Instead of giving me peace, his answer only brought another question to my mind.

"What if you weren't the reason I am here? Would you do the same?"

Zaran stared directly into my eyes. He held my gaze for a moment longer than necessary, and I found myself waiting for his answer without even realizing I had stopped breathing.

Then his eyes moved away from mine and traveled toward the sky.

"It's getting late. We need to keep moving."

He stepped to the side and resumed walking, deliberately leaving my question unanswered.

I watched him for a moment, before a sigh finally escaped my lips. I followed him shortly after.

I didn't bother pushing the matter or asking him again. If he hadn't answered it the first time I asked, then there was no guarantee that he would answer it the second time.

We eventually stopped at a particular spot about an hour before darkness completely settled in. Zaran looked around the area for a while before deciding that it was the safest place for us to spend the night.

"We'll stop here and build a shelter," he announced.

None of us argued.

We immediately began gathering whatever supplies we could find that would help us put together a suitable shelter for the night. Kosi went farther into the surrounding area while Zaran searched for stronger branches, and I gathered what I could carry without making myself completely useless.

By the time I returned to where they were with the things I had collected, I heard the two of them speaking in low voices.

I slowed down slightly.

Their voices were quiet enough that I couldn't make out everything they were saying, but the secrecy immediately caught my attention.

"What are you two whispering about?" I asked as I walked toward them.

Kosi turned toward me.

"Master can't make..."

"Kosi!" Zaran's sharp interruption stopped him instantly.

The ghoul swallowed the rest of his words and looked between the two of us, finally lowering his head, fixing his eyes on the floor.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Really, Zaran?" I asked, shooting him a deeply displeased look.

"What did I do?" he asked, feigning innocence so convincingly that I almost wanted to believe him.

"Still trying to bully him into silence?" I asked, pointing toward Kosi. "If you don't want me around you, you can just say it and I'll move far away. Why are you two whispering behind my back as if you're plotting against me?"

I didn't bother hiding my annoyance this time. It spilled freely into my words as I folded my arms and stared at him.

"Nobody is plotting anything against you," he answered matter of factly.

"Is that true, Kosi?" I immediately turned toward the ghoul.

"True." His simple answer made me narrow my eyes.

"Then what were you two whispering about?" I questioned, turning my attention back to him.

Kosi lowered his eyes, shaking his head in refusal. "Kosi can't tell. Master no allow."

I slowly turned around to face the big bully again.

"Zaran." My voice came out harder than I intended, but he didn't seem bothered by it.

"What? I'm not saying anything to him anymore," he denied, already knowing exactly what accusation I was about to make.

"He can feel your emotions," I reminded him. "Give up your stubbornness and keep your eyes on me."

I tilted my head slightly upward so I could hold his gaze properly.

For a moment, he seemed reluctant, but eventually his eyes settled on mine. The moment I was certain he was paying attention to me, I spoke to Kosi.

"Go on and tell me, Kosi."

It took him a moment to decide whether he should obey me or continue protecting whatever secret Zaran had clearly wanted to keep.

Or probably he was trying to figure out exactly what Zaran's emotions was saying before he spoke.

Eventually, he gave in.

"Master weak. Master can't provide external heat anymore. Master only provide internal heat now. Tyra freeze at night unless Tyra share body heat with master. Master worried Tyra refuse."

He delivered the entire situation without holding anything back.

"That's what you couldn't tell me about?" I widened my eyes in disbelief, my gaze never leaving Zaran.

"I never said I wasn't going to tell you. I was thinking of an alternative heat source first," he answered, his forehead slightly creased as if this was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"Like what? Fire?" I asked, my brows rising. "So we can burn down the shelter we spent hours building?"

I couldn't decide what I was feeling. Part of me was annoyed, while another part of me felt strangely relieved by the fact that his concern had been about me.

"I haven't come up with one yet," he finally admitted.

"If sharing body heat is what it takes to keep me alive, then so be it. You can stop bothering your head trying to come up with a nonexistent alternative."

The words had barely left my mouth when Kosi suddenly clapped his hands in excitement.

His face lit up with a smile.

"See, master? Tyra no refuse."

Zaran immediately turned toward him and shot him a glare.

I, however, turned toward Zaran at exactly the same moment and caught the expression he was about to make.

For a brief second, his face showed exactly what he was thinking, but when he realized I had seen it, his expression immediately changed into a forced smile that looked so unnatural that I almost laughed.

I decided not to say anything to him about it.

Before long, the shelter was finally up and ready.

After spending so much time gathering supplies and putting everything together, I was more than ready to sleep. The darkness had already settled around us, and the cold air outside made the little shelter feel like the safest place in the world.

That night, when I finally went to sleep, I was positioned side by side with Zaran, inside the shelter.

Kosi sat a small distance away from us, and I only let that happen because he confirmed he doesn't feel cold or hot, since he wasn't human in the first place.