Book 19: You Came for Me

Oakley

Alpin steps into the water. He’s naked. Totally, completely naked. It doesn’t matter. His skin is scorched to a crisp, all shades of red, blue, and black. His arm hangs at an awkward angle from his left shoulder, useless. But in his right arm, he brandishes what I believe is an axe. 

I push upright, swaying as my body rejects the sudden movement. He slowly moves in my direction. I suppose if he were in better shape, I’d be dead by now at his hand, but neither of us are at our best, and that is in my favor. 

I brace myself on a tree, taking several painful, burning breaths. My legs refuse to cooperate, even staring death in the face. 

Alpin can’t speak, which I realize within seconds as his battered face catches a single beam of moonlight breaking through the smokey sky. His jaw is completely d