The noose of bodies seems to tighten as we collectively lean forward, even the Bahari male.
Everyone but Rhordyn.
A smell hits me, but it’s not the chafing odor of partially rotten flesh that has my throat cinching. It’s the underlying waft of wet dog—a scent that casts a line into my memories, hooking on something too big and vicious to pull to the surface.
I’m about to stand and walk out of the room when Rhordyn snatches my hand and pins it against his thigh.
I turn to hiss at him, but Zali grips the corners of the sack andtugs, sending a big, fluffy, frozen head rolling across the table.
My hand flies to my mouth in an effort to catch the garbled sound that rushes out.
People stand and point and gag, screams bouncing off the curved walls. Sour-smelling vomit spills across the table, though the putrid stench is swiftly lost to the cinder scent of pure, undiluted fear.
Rhordyn’s hand tightens, offering me a frosty anchor while I’m caught in the crossfire of that vacant stare ...
Vruk.
I gawk at a wide, flat maw—at blood-stained teeth exposed by its peeled back lips, as though the creature died mid-snarl. The gray, shaggy mane has been hacked through, leaving a slice of exposed meat and bone and dried blood.
A thick neck that used to be attached to a hulking body.
“Breathe,Orlaith.”
I try, but my lungs are made of stone. If I force them to inflate, I’m certain they’ll shatter.
The trembling ground.
That awful screeching sound.
No.
No, no, no ...
Baze’s warm hands land on my shoulders, pinning me to the chair with their comforting weight, but it’s not enough to tamp that pressure bulging inside my skull.
“Look at me.”
I can barely hear Rhordyn’s voice through the ringing in my ears, but I can’t do what he’s asked. I can’t peel my eyes from that devastating maw—worried that if I do, it’ll come back to life and snap at me. Rip me up until I’m nothing but scattered pieces.
Rhordyn drops my hand, and for a second I’m adrift; floating without anchor. But then he grabs my thigh under the table, and a breath strikes the back of my throat.
“Look. At. Me,” he growls against my ear so ardently that it shoves through the haze.
I peel from my nightmare and stare into eyes that are ruthless. Stark, frozen lakes that take no mercy.
“It’sdead,Orlaith. Nothing can hurt you so long as you’re with me. Do you hear?”
I think I nod.
“You’re going to breathe,” he orders, fingers digging in, grip tightening to the point of pain, and I suck a sharp gasp.
The icy wave of oxygen barrels into my lungs, enriched with the scent ofhim. It’s a balm for my insides, the instant relief tempering me.
The shrill sound in my ears tapers enough for me to hear the ongoing commotion, voices rioting back and forth.
Baze lifts his hands.
Rhordyn’s throat works, and he loosens his grip, though he doesn’t let go. His hand stays wrapped around my thigh as he surveys the room.
