Sacred Flame: His Enemy, His Mate (BL)-Chapter 52: Stripping

Kain Locke

It was pretty dark now. Normally, there are always things like light everywhere in the active cities, but since the war, things have changed, and many places have been reduced to piles of dust and stones. Ruins, they call places like that.

And currently, we’re in one, I needn’t have anyone sitting me down and giving lectures about what this place is. Because that’s obviously from the buildings that now had weeds poking out of them, and the collapsed roofs.

Now, I’m in a ruin in the middle of someplace I don’t know, to make it worse with someone who’s barely hanging on to his consciousness, and has to get immediate treatment as soon as possible.

I have no idea whether it was due to the cold, however, his bleeding head has stopped, although blood had now clot on the wound, and the place around it was really angrily red, only his face was bluish pale and when I touched his body.

Goodness, he’s a living frozen iceberg. His body is so cold it’s frightening.

I pulled myself up quickly, I had to find shelter, if I didn’t want him dying out here, for some unknown reason, that thought made my chest tighten in a way I can’t explain.

It’s easier said than done... It’s one thing finding shelter, but it’s another thing carrying such a person like this when I can barely lift myself... definitely not a tiny problem.

Nevertheless, there’s nothing I could possibly do but try, so I began to drag him with his arms towards a huge tree,

I dragged Kael under the massive tree, my arms shaking from exhaustion and the biting cold and when it felt like my limbs would be falling off, I gathered leaves and placed him on it, even though the leaves I’d gathered barely did anything to cushion him, but that didn’t matter right now.

I took a deep breath, leaning against the tree as I stared at him, lying there almost lifeless, his skin was pale, his lips parted slightly as shallow, white mist, fading too fast into the night air. uneven breaths escaped his lips, barely audible that I wouldn’t have noticed if it wasn’t quiet around us and I wasn’t paying attention.

I gulped hard, and before I knew it, I was already crouching next to him, my two fingers moving to press against his throat.

His pulse was weak. Too weak.

"Damn it," I muttered sitting on the ground, pulling him closer, trying to put some warmth into his freezing body but my own clothes were also soaked, sticking to my skin like ice, making the cold on my own body relentless,

If we didn’t find warmth soon, we were both screwed.

I forced my sluggish limbs to move, scanning the darkness for something to keep us warm, but there wasn’t anything and I didn’t have my communicator with me to contact anyone in the base.

Warmth... there should be dry branches right?

Just as quickly as the thought clicked, I laid Kael down as carefully as I could, ignoring the way my fingers trembled before pushing myself to my feet.

I searched around, fortunately I found half-hidden dry woods beneath a cluster of bushes.

I forced myself forward, grabbing as many dry sticks as I could carry.

Dropping back down beside him, I arranged the wood into a small pile. My hands were stiff with cold as I reached into my pocket.

But what was I looking for anyway? Even if I got a match, it must’ve gotten wet from the water.

And I don’t smoke to carry lighter everywhere, at least I used to but not anymore, so the only choice was to search his clothes whether he has one on or not..

I dipped my hand into his chest pocket, but there was nothing.

Please Lord, let him have one.. please, please, please.

I dipped my hand into his trousers pocket, and my stomach dropped at the dampness. However, my hand brushes against the cold metal.

Now this was one time I was glad someone was smoking.

"Shit." it was so wet, it’ll be a miracle if it still works, that’s if the gas hadn’t already been diluted with water from the sea.

Regardless, I flicked it on, but... Nothing.

I tried again. Still nothing.

Panic surged up my throat. My eyes darted to Kael, however unlike before, his breathing was more shallow, his chest was barely lifted with each breath.

"No, no, no. Stay with me, damn you." fucking damn him to think he can just die on me here after dragging me into all of this! "Please... please... Kael, can you hear me? I’m going to make fire for us, just hang in there okay?"

I fumbled with it again, striking it desperately this time, and there was a faint spark, followed by another.

Then, finally, a weak flame flickered to life.

I cupped my hands around it, shielding it from the wind, feeding it twigs, coaxing it to grow. The fire crackled to life, the warmth spreading slowly, barely enough to fight off the cold seeping into my bones.

I turned to Kael. He was still ice-cold.

I hesitated for only a second before reaching for his soaked shirt.

"I swear, if you wake up and try to kill me for this, I’m punching you."

Stripping off his wet clothes was harder than I expected, my fingers barely working. But I got it done. Then, gritting my teeth, as I peeled off my own soaked suit jacket, shirt and pulled him against me, wrapping my arms tightly around his freezing body.

The fire wouldn’t be enough.

Body heat. That was our only option.

He didn’t react. His head rested against my shoulder, his breath still too faint.

"You owe me for this," I muttered under my breath, holding him even closer, ignoring the way my own pulse pounded too fast.

The fire crackled softly beside us, barely cutting through the freezing night.

I stayed awake, listening to the birds, and the crickets, a flood of questions crashing into my mind, one after another.

One of them was that man in the bathroom hallway... Who was he?

I’ve seen him before. I know I have. But why can’t I remember? Why is it just—blank? It’s right there, just out of reach, like a word on the tip of my tongue, refusing to come out.

Why? Why? Why?

I let out a shaky breath, dragging a hand through my wet hair as my eyes went back to Kael,

His chest barely rose against mine with each breath. And to be sincere, he looked... I don’t know... maybe vulnerable like this, almost... I should be saying this but he looked so innocent sleeping like this to that man with several bloods on his hands.

What is he doing? Why is he doing this? What does he want to tell me? As far as I’m concerned, this is totally unrelated to the base. Why the hell are we even in this mess?

Why did he drag me into this?

I clenched my jaw, shoving the questions aside. They didn’t matter right now.

He wasn’t as cold as before, and his breathing was getting better.

Therefore, I laid him back down and turned my attention to the pile of wet clothes I had stripped off earlier, this has to be dried up.

Grabbing them, I wrung out as much water as I could, then spread them over a low branch to dry. Kael was still in his trousers, his skin cold to the touch.

I needed more firewood, given that the fire had to stay alive. I had to stay warm.

Thus, I searched for more and tossed it into the fire, then I just sat there, looking at him for a long while, those wet ridiculously long lashes, and those powerful muscles..

I gulped, shifting my gaze away as quickly.

The wind howled through the trees, chilling me to the bone.

Maybe I should just rest a little. Just for a second.

I shifted against the tree, my back pressing into the rough bark. My eyelids are growing impossibly heavy.

I told myself I’d just close them for a moment. Just a moment.

Before I knew it, sleep pulled me under and mercilessly claimed me. It was just black, and maybe peaceful.

After a few hours,

A hard tap on my shoulder ripped me out of sleep.

I jerked awake, my body stiff and aching from the uncomfortable position I slept.

The fire had now burned out, leaving nothing but faint embers. The night was silent as well except for one thing—dogs barking in the distance.

I blinked, still groggy, my limbs stiff and aching from the cold. I tried to stand to see Kael was leaning over me, his hand pressing against my shoulder.

How did he manage to drag himself here? I hadn’t asked when...

"They’re onto us," he said hoarsely, "We gotta move now." He concluded, coughing violently.

I stared at him, my mind still sluggish from sleep.

"The fuck?" I rasped painfully due to how dry my throat was.

I sat up, rubbing my face as my brain caught up with the situation. "How the hell—? I was in the car! Just there and watched as it went under with us. I saw you drowning and that stuff hitting you in the head! You almost died in that fucking water. And now some damn dogs are after us?" My voice rose, frustration bubbling over. "What the fuck is this!? Why the fuck do I have to go through this when you won’t even give a fucking explanation!"

Kael didn’t answer right away. He took a slow, uneven breath, and that’s when I noticed his wound.

It wasn’t looking good, if anything he was forcing himself, trying to mask the pain, but I could see it in the way he held himself, the way his shoulders tensed, the slight tremor in his fingers.

Shit.

I forced myself to push everything else aside. Complaining wasn’t going to change anything. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

With a frustrated exhale, I grabbed our clothes, shaking the dirt off before handing his own to him. "Put this on," I muttered, pulling my own over my body.

Kael didn’t argue. He moved slowly, stiffly, but he got dressed.

"We need to go," he said, glancing toward the direction of the barking. "If they find us, we’re dead."

"They?" I nodded, not arguing with him as I hooked an arm around his waist, dragging him up. He staggered but managed to stay on his feet.

We stumbled forward, deeper into the woods,

I didn’t know where we were going. I didn’t know how the hell we were supposed to get out of this.

But one thing was clear.

We had to keep moving or those people were going to get us.