My lips part in wonder. Bringing my hand to his face, I brush away a few rebel curls from his cheek before I mold my palm to his skin, tracing the area around his eyes. Wow... I've never seen eyes this color before. But...how?

As my thumb brushes against his skin, he inhales sharply, his muscles tightening. Thinking I must have offended him somehow, I pull my hand back. At the same time, his hand shoots out, holding mine in place.

His eyes close, his chest rumbling with a rough and wild sound.

My heart thumps in my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"Ze?" I whisper.

He doesn't answer, taking another deep breath as he presses my hand tighter against his skin, slowly moving it around until his lips brush against the inside of my wrist. A strangled noise erupts in the stillness of the forest—one that I'm not sure whether it's coming from him or from an unknown foe.

I try to wiggle under him.

"Don't," he barks the command, his eyes snapping open.

He stares at me with those swirling purple eyes, his black pupils fading into a mix of silver and purple, as if the starry sky met aurora borealis.

"Don't move," he grits out.

"What?" I whisper.

His lips compress into a thin line, his expression changing as he glares at me. One moment we're on the ground, the next he's up, helping me to my feet too.

"Why did you..." I start to ask but stop when I see him march toward a tree in the back. He removes an arrow stuck in the bark and studies it closely.

"Traps," he states. "Someone was here before us," he says as he directs his gaze to the path we were supposed to take. "We need to be more careful."

"But it's just an arrow, no?" I ask as I go to his side.

His mouth curls in a lopsided smile.

"Not just an arrow," he notes, swiping some yellow residue with his finger from the arrowhead. Bringing it to his nose, he sniffs it.

"Venom."

"What?"

"Naga venom. Deadly to almost any species. A painful death, too."

"We'll need to be more careful then. Can you spot the traps? You were pretty fast there."

He nods, but his expression is grave.

"You need to stick by my side at all times," he tells me in a strict voice as he throws the arrow to the ground and destroys it with his powers.

"All right," I say softly. "Thank you for saving me. You were awesome!" I exclaim enthusiastically as I give him two thumbs-up. Of course, he doesn't know what that symbolizes, so he merely shrugs.

Yet as he gazes at me, I note that his eyes are still the same swirling purple. It wasn't a play of lights or my erroneous perception.

"Ze... Why are your eyes a different color?"

He blinks, shock enveloping his features.