Remi wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand.

She pulled apart a cluster of tightly-woven branches and squeezed between. As soon as she let go of them, they smacked her back with a wrathful vengeance, leaving behind a nasty sting.

A bug flew into her face, and Remi immediately smacked it in the air. It tumbled to the ground, stunned, while she shuddered and hurried on ahead, ducking her head down to avoid the other bugs swarming around her.

Some tried to latch onto her bare arms and suck her blood, while others simply desired to take a small chunk of flesh from her. Still others seemed content just buzzing inches away from her ears, which grated heavily on her nerves and made her skin crawl and her hands clench into fists.

While Remi had always had a liking for spiders and snakes, bugs were an entirely different story. She hated bugs with a burning passion, and wished she could destroy every single dreadful species of flying, ugly, black bug. Besides the lady bug, of course—and that was the only exception.

Butterflies were fine, too, but their friends the moths were not. Hairy, with big and beady eyes, they disgusted Remi.

Hence why she usually tried to avoid going outside during the hottest parts of the day, when the most bugs would be out. Or standing near a fire at night, when moths would be drawn in.

A thistle bridged against her leg, snagging her dress and scraping against her leg.

She let out an angry, frustrated sound, and her anger only grew when she heard Killure's crazed cackles echoing through the jungle from high above in the tree canopies, where he'd been gliding effortlessly from branch to branch and tree to tree, silent as night aside from when he couldn't hold in his laughter any longer and let it come bubbling out like the raging rapids of a mischievous, deceitful river—always at Remi's expense.

"Shut up!" she growled up at him, but of course he didn't listen.

The sound of his melodious, taunting laugh made her blood boil, but she smoothed over her features—unwilling to let him glimpse the affect he had on her. That would probably only make him even more smug than he already was.

Much to her relief, Remi found herself stepping into a clearing with only a few of the sparse, thin-trunked trees with wide canopies that offered shade, allowing dapples of sunlight to seep through to the forest floor, which was covered in small greenery and damp soil.

Killure's eerie laugh echoed once more before finally disappearing, and Remi found that she was no longer mad.

They were almost there.

Just a couple more miles now.

———

After struggling through the thick greenery and dangling vines for a few minutes longer, the sound of rushing water that Remi had been following for some time now grew deafening.

Another clearing emerged, the ground became damp and squishy, and filled with pointy rocks. It led to a pool of deep blue water, and a small waterfall that was pouring water into the pool of water, splashing the water and causing large ripples.

Remi jumped when she saw Killure lounging lazily on a large rock with his bare feet dangling in the water, shoes placed neatly at his side. He looked up at her with an amused expression. "Going to tell me why we came all the way up here yet, doll?"

Remi took a few moments to catch her breath—the hike had really winded her. She needed to run more often.

Finally, she stood and met his gaze. "For you."

"For me?"

Remi nodded with a small smile as she walked over to him. "You saved my life, and Bliss's life. I know Blue wouldn't have found us without you smelling us."

Killure rolled his eyes. "It's what I'm supposed to do."

"Aren't I the one who is supposed to say what you are to do?" Remi raised an eyebrow teasingly.

He held her eyes levelly.

"Therefore," she continued. "I decided you deserve a thank you."

She had to speak loudly in order to be heard over the waterfall's roar.

Killure narrowed his eyes at her and arched a brow. "And your thanks was to have me bitten by bugs, get leaves in my hair, and sweat in the sun?"

Remi eyes him closely, then took a step closer. "You're not sweating."

He pursed his lips. "All the same."

Remi laughed at him. "Just look!" She pointed at the magnificent waterfall. Power hovered in the air around it as it crashed its waters into the pool beneath it. "It's impressive, isn't it?"

Killure seemed far from impressed. In fact, he looked disinterested. "No more so than any other waterfall." Then his eyes slowly made their way up Remi's sweaty body, and he licked his lips. "It would be more . . . impressive, if you stood in front of it—naked."

Remi ducked her head at his words and scowled, ignoring the way they made her heart pound and her face flush. "You're missing the point. The waterfall—it reminds me of you."

This caught his attention, and he almost seemed interested. "How so?"

Both were so strong and powerful, yet beautiful. "Your eyes are the same colour as the water."

She was nearly standing between his spread legs now. With a growl, he surprised her by grabbing her waist and bringing her closer, until their bodies were less than an inch apart. "You noticed what colour my eyes are?"

Remi breathed in sharply at their sudden closeness, and her heart began beating faster, frequently skipping a beat. "Of course I did. They're hard to forget."

She saw the dark, primal look in his eyes, swirling with lust. "Why don't you act like any other master I've had?" he murmured, tilting his head to the side.

"How did they act?" she pressed, wondering if he would open up and reveal something about his past.

Annoyance flashed over his dark, handsome features for a moment before disappearing. "You treat me as an equal, when we both know I'm not."

Remi frowned. She covered his hand—the one that wasn't around her waist—with hers and squeezed. The muscles of his arms tensed, as if he wanted to pull away but didn't. "Killure . . ." she grumbled, reaching up and tracing his perfect, sharp jawline.

"Hmm?" he pressed with a dark look in his eyes, his fingers swirling sensual patterns on her lower back.

Remi felt her entire body turning even hotter than it already was, and wondered what it would be like if she wrapped her legs around his strong waist and tangled her hands in his hair.

Remi shook her head to clear her thoughts, but they didn't go away easily. "In my mind, you're not beneath me. You're important."

Killure let out an angry growl, and his grip on his waist tightened almost painfully. "Careful, doll. Keep spewing lies like that with that pretty face of yours and someone might actually have the misfortune of believing them."

Remi peered up at him in confusion. "What would it take for me to prove to you that I mean what I say?"

"You can't," he snapped, canines flashing. His tail flicked back and forth behind him in irritation. He took his arm off her waist, releasing her.

"Fine," Remi relented. "But at least come with me. I want to show you something."

His eerily wide smile tightened, becoming as cold as ice. "What would you like to show me?"

"You have to follow me."