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I curl up in the far corner of the hut, my body too exhausted to stay awake any longer. My mind wanders back to the Underground, and I wonder if The Beast is searching for me.They’ve probably ransacked my apartment, even Gretta’s, I guess, and the thought makes me grateful Talis took her under his wing.Maybe he knew. If he’s Cristen’s anchor, does that mean he shares some of the Heir of Fate’s powers?
I fall asleep as my brain turns to mush, similar questions swirling about like a tornado. Despite my exhaustion, my sleep is light, and I toss and turn. One of the sisters collapses next to me at some point, and it’s way too soon when my shoulder is shaken.
“Zora, your turn for watch,” Harmony whispers, trying not to wake Sera.
I groan and sit up, immediately realizing I forgot to wrap my wound. My shoulder burns with intense pain, and I have to bite down on my tongue not to moan. Harmony gives me a concerned look, but I shoo her toward her bed and leave the hut.
One swipe with my hand, and I know the wound needs stitches, but the first aid kit came with no such materials. My eyes fall on my sword, its tip tucked in the fire and red hot. “Oh, fuck me,” I mutter and tear off a piece of my sleeve. I ball it up and shove it in my mouth before I grab the sword and slap it across my wound.
I screech into the fabric as the sword burns the wound closed. It takes a painful moment to get the blade free, some of my skin peeling up with it.
My chest heaves as I set the blade back into the flames and watch my skin melt off its tip. I peer down at my wound. It’s a disgusting mess of melted flesh, but after I splash some water over it and use my torn sleeve to wipe it clean, I see it’s no longer losing blood. I re-bandage it, then collapse at the edge of the river, training my eyes on the vines.
The sun sits just past its peak in the sky. Sweat batters the back of my neck. I fidget in the dirt, uncomfortable but also unwilling to find somewhere else to relax. I want to use every spare moment of rest doing absolutely nothing for as long as I can. I give my cheek a slap, my eyes begging to close.Stay awake, but it’s no use. After a few more minutes, I doze off. Between dealing with the Underground, the emotional exhaustion of learning the truth about The Prince, and then fighting my way through a horde of the best female warriors in the Kingdom, I am well and truly spent.
But not enough to miss the growl.
My head snaps up, having rolled over to my shoulder in sleep. My hands clench into the dirt as the sound comes again. Low. Menacing.Wild.
I shove up to my feet and backtrack to the fire, grabbing my sword. I survey the dense foliage surrounding our stronghold, and my focus hones in on a bristle of leaves only 20 feet away.
My heartbeat scatters as two large yellow eyes appear in the shadows. Then four. Twelve. All on one face. A beast that can see all of me, hunger marked in each of its pupils.
“Shit.” I grip my sword tighter. “Harmony? Sera?”
The beast steps a massive claw out of the tree line. The slits of its nose flare, and its jaw opens to reveal pointed teeth lined with saliva.
I’m not scared of a lot.
But Iamscared of whatever the fuck that is.
My lips part in horror as it leaps out of the darkness toward me, bat-like wings fanning outward and blocking the sun as it descends. “Shit!” I scream and scramble backward, holding my sword up and out in the hopes of impaling the thing.
It swipes out its claw toward my chest, and I fall to the ground, my sword clanging away from me. I crawl backward, its many eyes gleaming with glory. “Godsdammit, this is not the quickpainlessdeath you promised me!” I shout toward the hut.
I squeeze my eyes shut, mumble what may be my first prayer.
The beast screeches in agony, and my eyes fly open. A gasp rattles through my chest as golden muscles wield a long sword straight through the creature’s neck.
Cristen cleaves the monster’s head from its body, his dark hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.
The head topples to the ground with a solidthwack.
He turns to me, his chest bearing all his scars plus a single tattoo, and I realize I’m seeing all of him as his face fills with so much desperation that my throat squeezes frantically. “Are you okay?” he asks. He bends over and offers me a hand.
I stare at his open palm, then at the tattoo on his chest. I recognize it. It was the only tattoo that stuck out to me when I trailed my fingers over the overlapping web of his ink.I saw through that illusion, just like I had with his eyes. I just didn’t realize I had.
He crouches, aligning his incredible gaze with mine. “Zora? Are you in shock?”
I find some of my composure and glare at him. “Is there any other way to be when the man I hate saves my Gods-damn life?”
There’s a rustle behind me, and my head snaps around as Harmony and Sera emerge from the hut.
Sera rubs sleep from her eyes, and Harmony’s whole face might as well be a yawn. They both notice Cristen at the same time. Their brows scrunch, shoulders tense.
“No way did you both not hear me scream,” I hiss toward them.
“You screamed?” Sera asks. She shares a guilty look with Harmony. “I knew my gut was trying to wake me up.”
