Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush

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Fog hung low over the clearing the morning after .The fire had burned down to soft red embers when Eli crouched beside Xander with the kind of focus that kind of scared him a little. His fingers were pressed gently to Xander’s wrist, then his forehead, then without even a heads up, he placed two knuckles just beneath his sternum.

Xander flinched.

"Ow! what the hell was that?!"

Eli didn’t answer immediately. His jaw tightened. Eyes narrowed slightly, as though the world had just told him something he really didn’t want to hear.

"What is it?" Iris asked from her place by the coals, brows drawn in worry. She was rolling up their last blanket, hands tense.

Eli straightened slowly. "...we need to move."

Xander sat up with effort. "Seriously? We nearly died, like, twelve hours ago."

"And it will all be for nothing if we wait too long," Eli muttered, slinging his satchel across his shoulder. "The crystal inside you is... unstable. That thing was never meant to be lodged inside a mortal bloodstream. The only reason you are still alive is because you are the Kaelhi."

"I think my bloodstream’s doing pretty good," Xander mumbled with a deadpan expression, though his voice sounded shaky and his shirt was sticking to his back in a way that felt dangerously warm.

Eli shot him a look. "Your bloodstream is about three degrees away from combustion. If we do not get you to Iasora by the next moonrise..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "You will die."

Xander turned a little green at that.