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Air. There’s air outside.
Each movement feels like hot pokers are being shoved through my body. My ears ring with a high pitch, making me even dizzier. Still, I press on, my legs scraping against broken shards of the table that litter the floor. If the splinters are embedding in my skin, I don’t feel them.
I make it to the door but stumble as I try to lift onto my knees to reach the knob. My body collapses against it, trembling from the pain. There’s more blood pouring down my arm where I fell against the wood shard still lodged in my skin. My eyes glaze over at the sight, replacing it with dark spots.
The ringing in my ears disorients me. I reach up with my good arm and slap at the door, trying to feel for the knob.
Air. Get to air.
Finally, my hand finds the metal latch, and I let myself collapse against it. The night air rushes in, and I try to take more life-giving breaths. My lungs burn, not unlike the night I drowned in the ocean. I gasp, over and over, lying in the doorway. The air is cool, and I try to let it sooth the vice of fire within me.
It isn’t nearly as effective as I’d hoped, but it’s a start.
With a bit more oxygen, I use the door frame to pull myself up to sit, panting with exhaustion from the effort.
How long could this possibly last?
Would Leon stay out all night just to prove I’m not strong enough to fight the bond? The thought has a definite Leon quality to it. The man is not going to back down until I give in and become his to command.
Tears run down my face at the thought, and the ringing in my ears reaches a new, head-splitting frequency. Even in this state, the bond punishes me for having less-than-obedient thoughts.
I let myself sob as I’m hit with wave after wave of blinding pain. It’s quickly followed by a rising tide of nausea that rolls through me. I don’t even bother to crawl; instead, I just let my body slump onto the grassy side of the doorframe. I throw up the small meal I had the day before and then continue dry, heaving in between sobs and gasps of pain.
The heat won’t stop. The burning only gets worse with every passing moment that Leon is away. I rack my brain at how to fix this.
The burning. I need to stop the burning.
How the fuck do you stop a supernatural burning pain from a punishing magical bond?
A stupid TV commercial voice rings through my head, ‘Only you can stop forest fires.’
Breathing hard, I decide to give in to my ridiculous subconscious mind and try the obvious. If my body feels like it’s on fire, I need water.
Fucking brilliant, inner Vivian.
My vision still clouds with black spots and tears, and I manage to find the strength to look around. I try to remember where I saw an ocean yesterday when Leon was building wards around the castle. Disorientated and desperate, I grip the doorframe, forcing myself to stand.
“Breathe, Vivian,” I whisper to myself. “Find the water.”
The cool promise of water is enough for me to push through the searing pain that kisses every inch of me. If Ican reach the water, I can climb into it and let myself rest until the pain stops.
I need water.
I keep repeating the logical thought. Even though nothing in my life makes sense anymore, a simple task like this does.
I stumble forward in the direction I think the water is in. It’s still pitch-black outside, and there aren’t any streetlights in this realm to guide me. There isn’t even a moon to illuminate the darkness.
I continue forward, sobbing through the pain when I see it. Ahead, to my right, a slight glow in the darkness. My brow furrows at the sight. I know that glow. I’ve seen it before.
My head hurts so bad; the realization is slow to hit.
A forsaken spirit.
The slight glow looks to be rippling below it like it’s casting waves in the ground.
No, not ground.
Water.
