"Thanks," Aurora said softly, not angry at all. Her lashes fluttered as they lowered, delicate like butterfly wings.
Everett didn’t respond. He just tidied up their things on the ground. There were only two bottles of water left in his backpack, which ant... it was ti to head back.
What a sha. If he’d known, he would’ve told Tobias to pack a bigger bag. Then they could’ve stayed out here a few more days...
Everett found himself a little amused. His love for her—it was selfish, even a little pathetic.
Aurora watched him calmly pack up and found it strange. Why was he so composed? Was he really sure he could get them out of here?
She had never seen Everett panic, not once. But did he actually know the way out?
After packing up, Everett stacked the leftover firewood neatly to the side. He looked at the slowly dying fire—it’d probably burn for another half hour before going out completely.
This place would need to be cleaned up after they left... After all, the Temple of Three Lives had stood for centuries. It would be a sha to let it fall apart.
With that thought, Everett pulled on his now-dry sweater and coat, slung the backpack over his shoulder, and strode toward the exit.
Aurora quickly followed behind. "Hey, are you sure you can find the way out?"
"If you don’t trust , feel free to go your own way," Everett replied without looking back, his voice laced with sarcasm.
Aurora scoffed. She was completely turned around—no way she could find the path on her own. From how calm he was acting, he clearly had sothing up his sleeve.
"Oh, right. What about the snake bite? Is it better now?"
Aurora asked the question softly, almost hesitant.
"It’s fine."
"But it’s so cold—aren’t snakes supposed to hibernate?" Aurora pressed on, confused.
"Since when did you get so nosy, Aurora?" Everett finally sounded annoyed. He turned back to look at her, lips curled in irritation. "Yeah, snakes hibernate. But... accidents still happen."
Aurora lowered her head. Honestly, she was starting to suspect this whole "snake bite" thing had been staged by Everett and his people.
Otherwise, how could he have circled back to the temple so easily?
It was the safest place to spend the night, especially during last night’s downpour. If they’d been caught in that storm, it would’ve been brutal.
"I’m not nosy! Everett, you’re such a jerk. I’m not talking to you anymore!"
Fuming, Aurora flung the dry branch she’d been holding. This man was infuriating.
Didn’t he like her? Then why did he get so annoyed just because she asked a few more questions?
Or maybe... he was hiding sothing?
If he really did leave her outside on purpose last night, that would seriously piss her off. But... she had no proof.
Still, he hadn’t done anything to her either... and that made her feel even more conflicted. Annoyance and frustration swirled in her chest.
Why did fate throw her into his path again? She hated this man. And now that he was ignoring her, why did she feel this strange sense of... disappointnt?
Ugh, she was being pathetic. Totally pathetic.
Her mind a ss, Aurora followed behind Everett. Suddenly, he stopped like he was trying to get his bearings.
She stood still. Everett turned to glance at her, his eyes landing on the faint trace of anger on her face.
"Mad?" he asked casually.
"None of your business."
Aurora shot him a glare and looked away.
Everett walked back toward her and reached out a hand toward her face. Aurora instantly stepped back, startled.
"Don’t touch ! Or I swear I won’t go easy on you!"
Everett froze. All he’d wanted to do was brush off a pine needle stuck in her hair. But the way she recoiled—it was like she thought he was so kind of predator.
His expression darkened. In the next second, he stord forward, grabbed her shoulders, and pinned her hard against a pine tree.
Aurora let out a sharp scream, but before she could say anything, Everett’s lips crashed down on hers. One of his hands held her tight, keeping her from moving.
His other hand road freely. Aurora struggled desperately, but it was useless. Her entire body trembled, her strength fading fast. She felt herself about to collapse...
Everett suddenly let go of her, eyes filled with mockery and sarcasm. "Aurora, don’t act like I’m so desperate animal. What, are you avoiding like I’ve got so contagious disease? Are you that scared of touching you? Let tell you—if I really wanted to sleep with you, I would’ve done it long ago. Why the hell would I wait until now?"
Aurora panted, her lips now a deep, flushed red—soft and vivid like rose petals from his kiss.
With a cold snort, Everett turned and stord off, clearly pissed.
Aurora stood there, a ss of emotions swirling inside. Her reaction had just been instinctive. Truthfully... she didn’t hate him that much anymore.
But still, the way he just acted—wasn’t that straight-up disrespect?
"Everett, you asshole!"
She shouted after him, twice, before trailing behind at a distance.
After walking for over an hour, Aurora couldn’t take it anymore. She slumped against a pine tree and sat down, completely exhausted.
Hearing nothing behind him, Everett stopped and turned to look. He quietly took a seat ahead of her, waiting patiently.
He checked the ti. They’d left around 8 a.m., and now it was just past 9. If things went smoothly, they should make it back to Aurora’s team camp by noon.
Everett wasn’t usually one for taking pictures, but when he glanced back and saw Aurora, panting and sweaty, a rare smile tugged at his lips—one so effortlessly handso it could’ve stopped ti.
He lifted his phone and snapped a few shots of her wiping sweat from her forehead.
Then he put the phone away, set down his backpack, and walked over to her, holding out a handkerchief.
Aurora glared at him and didn’t take it.
Trying to play nice now? Please. She wasn’t buying it.
Everett raised an eyebrow, then took the handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat off her forehead himself.
Aurora imdiately leaned back to avoid him. Still angry from earlier, she frowned and snapped, "I don’t need your fake kindness!"
Catching the fire in her eyes, Everett smirked. He dropped the handkerchief on the ground in front of her and walked off without a word.
Aurora glanced down at it... then looked at his tall, broad back.
In the end, she rolled her eyes hard, picked up the handkerchief, and held it in her hand.
She wanted to throw it away—but sohow, she just couldn’t.
After resting for over ten minutes, sweat chilled her back. With no other choice, she ended up using Everett’s handkerchief to wipe herself down.
She walked up to him, and as she neared, Everett stood and began walking again without a word.
The path stayed fairly straight, and Aurora started recognizing the scenery. When she spotted a stretch of stone forest ahead, her eyes lit up.
"Oh my god, we’re finally back! Once we pass that mountain, we’ll be back at the team’s base camp!"
Relief and excitent burst out of her. Being lost for two days and two nights had felt like a nightmare.
While lost, she’d worried about wild animals in the mountains. But after waking up from being kidnapped, she realized—what’s even scarier than beasts is the kind of human evil you don’t see coming.
Everett raised an eyebrow. "Funny... I dread about a fairy last night. Said fairy pointed in the right direction."
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