Chapter 95 Never going back

Chapter 95 Never going back
~ Tyra ~

The sun hovered just above the horizon when we finally arrived at the stream. After catching some fish for dinner and sending Kosi to fetch some wood for the fire, we decided that a bath would do us much good despite the limited time we had before we needed to continue our journey.

“I'll go first,” I said, stepping toward the water.

For the last few days, I'd only been washing myself with the spare water we had, so the thought of finally getting into a proper stream was something I had been looking forward to.

Zaran didn't argue or try to stop me. He only moved farther away from me, although he remained close enough to be within sight.

That small gesture made me feel more comfortable because I knew he was giving me the privacy I needed while still making sure I wasn't completely alone.

“Scream if you see anything threatening, and take as little time as you can. We need to get moving soon,” he said, turning both his face and his entire body away from me.

I hurriedly took off my clothes and got into the water, making sure to keep myself as low as possible while I washed. I finished cleaning myself as fast as I could, not wanting to keep him waiting for too long, and climbed out of the stream almost immediately afterward.

I dressed myself completely before turning my attention back to Zaran. Throughout the entire process, I kept my eyes on him whenever I could, mostly to make sure he hadn't turned around to look at me.

Thankfully, he didn't disappoint me. He didn't even move his body in the slightest.

“Done. Your turn,” I announced.

Only then did he turn around and start making his way toward the water. I watched him for a moment before deciding that, since he had given me the privacy I wanted, I should do the same for him.

I started walking toward the spot where he had been standing while I was in the water, intending to give him the same amount of space and privacy he had given me. However, I had barely made it halfway when his voice stopped me.

“Don't go too far. You can stand right there so I don't have to run three miles in my birthday suit to come save you should something go wrong. Not that I mind, but I'm sure you will.”

I immediately turned around to shoot him a glare, only to freeze when I saw that he had already taken off his shirt, leaving his bare back on full display.

His sexy back, however, wasn't the only thing that kept my eyes glued to him. The markings I had seen on his neck didn't merely stop there. They extended down his back, continuing toward his lower back in a beautiful and mesmerizing pattern that made me stare longer than I probably should have.

I wanted to look away. I knew I should. I even told myself to stop staring before he noticed, but instead of doing that, a memory suddenly decided to surface in my mind.

“Umm... Do you pee?” I asked.

He paused for a moment before turning to face me fully, his face filled with confusion.

“That is most definitely the strangest question I've ever been asked. Why? Do I look like I don't?” he probed, and I could literally hear the puzzlement in his voice.

But my heart was dealing with something else entirely. The patterns were still visible across his chest, and if I thought his back was sexy, his front profile was on a whole different level of sexy.

The sight of his toned abs and muscles had my thoughts becoming noticeably less organized. His tan skin looked even more striking in the fading light, and I immediately realized that continuing to stare at him wasn't going to help me behave normally.

“No, that's not it.” I shook my head and forced myself to look away before I forgot myself and started drooling. “The other day, I told Kosi I needed to pee, and he said he doesn't know what that means. If he knows other things because you do them, he should know pee if... You know...”

“He isn't familiar with the word pee. If you had said urinate, or take a piss, he would have understood what you were talking about. His vocabulary is kinda limited,” he responded.

Shortly after, I heard the splash of water, signaling that he had taken a dip.

I remained where I was, trying very hard not to think about what I had just seen.

Nightfall found us building another makeshift shelter and sharing another round of roasted fish right outside the shelter.

“Apart from exploring portals, is there anything else you enjoy doing?” I asked the moment I swallowed the last piece of fish in my mouth.

“Cooking.”

My brows flew higher, and I stared at him for a moment.

“Really?”

He shot me a smile that immediately had my heart fluttering in my chest. What the hell was wrong with me?

Ever since that morning after my conversation with Kosi, it had been increasingly difficult to keep myself well behaved around Zaran. Little things that I probably wouldn't have paid attention to before were suddenly catching my attention, and I was beginning to notice just how easily a simple smile from him could affect me.

“Why do you look surprised? I've been prepping our meals for the past two days,” he pointed out.

“I know, but I didn't think it was something you enjoyed doing. Thought you were only doing it out of duty and guilt,” I revealed honestly.

“It's a mixture of both. Even though I love to cook, I've never done it for anyone other than myself before.”

That revelation had my eyes widening before I looked away from him briefly to hide the warmth spreading across my cheeks.

“Oh... That makes me feel really special,” I confessed when I finally looked back at him.

He had this intense look in his eyes that almost forced me to look away again. There was something about the way he was staring at me that made me suddenly aware of the distance between us, but before I could allow myself to get too distracted, he moved his gaze upward.

“The moon is really beautiful tonight,” he said, switching the topic.

“It is...” I confirmed, lifting my eyes toward the sky as well.

The sight of the moon hanging above us brought another memory to mind, and my eyes narrowed slightly as I remembered something he had said during one of our earlier conversations.

“You were saying something about the moon goddess the other day, something about her not abandoning us as we thought. Can I know why you think so and what you think actually happened?”

Suspicion settled on his face for a moment as he regarded me. His expression became more guarded, and I immediately noticed the difference.

“Why do you need the information? Do you plan to return to Blazing Moon to correct what you have been taught?”

“I'm never going back to Blazing Moon,” I frowned, the idea itself annoying me. “The only thing connecting me to that place is my mother. Once I'm settled and I'm able to get her out, I'm closing that chapter forever. I just hope I've not been replaced after missing work for three days because that will be a huge setback for me.”

“Your reason for missing work is legit. You won't be replaced. Oriental Island is not like Blazing Moon. We have reasonable people here,” he assured me.

“I hope so.” I nodded before remembering why I had brought up the subject in the first place. “So, about the moon goddess...” I reminded him, determined not to let it go this time.

“Before she disappeared, she gave Azarel a very disturbing message—”

“Azarel?” I cut him off, my brows knitting tightly. “The mouthpiece of the Moon goddess?”

“Yeah. Azarel was yet to decode that message when her presence suddenly disappeared. Chaos broke out shortly after, and a little time later, Azarel himself was found dead. The persecution of witches started during that period.”

My jaw dropped, and my eyes narrowed with suspicion that I didn't even bother to hide.

“How old are you?” I asked.

“Twenty three,” he answered without thinking.

“How do you know Azarel? And how did you come about all this you just said?” I threw another question at him.

He let out a sigh, and I could tell from the sound that he already knew where my questions were heading.

“It's late, Tyra. We should get some sleep. We will need to set out early tomorrow.”

He pushed himself to his feet, stomped out the fire, and turned to head inside the shelter.

But I quickly shot up to my feet and blocked his path before he could get very far.

“I'm not letting you use that trick on me again, Zaran. How did you get such information about something that happened over a hundred and forty years ago if you're just twenty three?”

He stared at me for a few moments, and the tiredness in his eyes became more noticeable.

“Would you believe it if I told you?” he asked tiredly.

“Try me.”

“I harbor the memories of people who lived and experienced everything that happened at that time. I know much more than you can imagine, and I prefer not to reveal any more than I have at the moment.”