Branded Read Free Page B

bottom of the cliff, guts spilling everywhere. “You scared?”
    “Fuck you,” Asher said. There was nothing wrong with not wanting to end your life as a smashed open corpse.
    “Maybe it’s time to spread your wings.” Stoner took a few steps, walking backwards over the makeshift bridge, and Asher almost willed him to stumble.
    “You see any fucking wings on me?” Asher threw his hands up. What was wrong with these people? “I'm staying.” He planted his feet firmly on the ground, arms crossed in front of his chest. There was no reason to go with these people. He would find another way home, one that didn't involve cliffs and bridges.
    “C'mon, we don’t have time to dawdle.” Snakes reached out to him. Not wanting to be touched, Asher slapped her hand away. Something stung his wrist in midair. The burn spread up his arm faster than a wildfire.
    “You bit me!” Asher jumped back. “You fucking bit me!” The same snake that had shown him its tongue before hissed at him. Its eyes twinkled even as Snakes herself shot him a horrified look.
    “Don't panic!” she said, waving her arms. Asher's vision blurred, and black dots crept in from the sides.
    “Shit!” Unable to stop himself, he fell over backwards and braced himself for a harsh meet-up with the ground. It never came. Instead, he fell against someone's chest. It was a man's chest. Blind Guy's. Stronger than he looks , Asher thought before unconsciousness claimed him.
     
    ***
     
    A dark sky greeted him when he woke again. It was still warm, though. He blinked and a flickering light caught his eyes. He was lying close to a campfire. Wait. Campfire? Where the hell was he? He sat up as memories rushed back to him. He was dreaming. No. If this was a dream, he would have woken up by now.
    “Morning,” someone said.
    Asher glanced to his side and found Blind Guy sitting a few feet away from him. As he looked farther he spotted the other two freaks asleep behind him. Around them, tall earthen walls blocked them from the outside world as if the ground itself had risen up to protect them.
    “What happened?” Asher said, instead of returning the greeting.
    “We crossed the bridge without any of us dying and set up camp here for the night. I made a fire and Jonas built those walls. We switched for guard duty.”
    “How did he… No, forget it.” Asher could imagine the answer: Magic. He almost snorted at the thought. Magic was not something he'd ever believed or even been remotely interested in, but this world seemed to run on it.
    “Where are we?” he asked instead. “This whole freakish place, I mean. How the hell did I end up here?”
    “This place is called Altasia,” Blind Guy said. “And I don’t know, sorry. I was just taking a walk one day and the next moment, I’m here.”
    “How long have you been here?”
    “About a week, maybe a little longer. It’s hard to tell.”
    “And you haven’t found a way back, yet.”
    “No.” Blind Guy pressed his lips together as if Asher was blaming him for failing to do so. Asher wasn’t interested in playing the guilt-game, though. Shifting blame around never got you anywhere.
    “This is too fucking weird,” he said, looking up at the sky. The sun was beginning to rise in the distance, spilling purple light over the horizon.
    “You hungry?”
    Asher glanced back at Blind Guy. “What can you offer?”
    “There's still a bit of dried meat left…” Blind Guy said. Asher watched him rummage through his bag. His hair fell over his face and the soft light cast shadows on him that made him look like someone out of a painting. Everything looked nicer illuminated by flames, but Blind Guy seemed designed for viewing in that light. As if the fire didn't only burn next to him, but inside of him too. For an instance, Asher was insanely jealous—and slightly turned on. Then Blind Guy frowned, spoke, and the moment passed. “You're gonna take it now?”
    Take what? Oh, the food. Asher hadn't noticed the