It took a full sixteen hours—sixteen painful, dragging hours—for that idiotic snake to finally get Kaya to agree to let him travel with her.
And honestly? If it weren't for Cutie, she would've kicked him out the moment he opened his smug mouth. But for some reason, even Cutie—the little ball of sass and instincts—seemed unusually keen on this snake tagging along.
Kaya didn't know why. Maybe Cutie saw something she didn't. Maybe the snake had hypnotized her. Who knows.
All Kaya knew was that she had only one more day before she left this cursed place to travel toward the next tribe—or whatever mess waited out there.
And she was already exhausted.
"I've met two beastmen," she mumbled to herself that night, lying flat on her back, staring up at the cave ceiling. "Two. And I'm this tired. What's gonna happen when I meet more? When the whole damn zoo shows up?"
