Maybe it was a bad idea to come up here after all…
I grip Rhune’s arm, my nails digging into his skin. My fear is cresting in my veins, filling my head with a violent whooshingsound. My mind drags me back to the arachnyx attack—how fast it all happened, how close I was to death. Would we even be able to hear a spider approaching? What if it’s crawling up the cliffside now, as I think about it?
Paranoia creeps up my spine, and I whip my head over my shoulder, certain I will see those beady black eyes and chittering jaws once more. But there’s nothing.
“You okay, Willow? Your heart is racing.” Rhune presses his warm palm to my chest, his eyes wide with worry. “You look terrified.”
“It’s nothing.” I shake my head, trying to get a hold of my breathing. “I just… I just need a moment to calm down…”
An iron poker pierces my temple, and I suck in a sharp breath as pain lances through me. I reach up, cupping my head with both hands, but it does nothing to stop the fire spreading through me. It licks down my spine and tears through my veins until I’m choking on an agonized scream I can’t release.
“Willow? Willow!”
I’m vaguely aware of hands on my body, gripping, shaking, and desperate, but I’m too lost to the pain to pay them any mind. It’s like I’m being ripped apart from the inside out, like my soul is on fire, and I don’t know how much more I can take before I pass out from the sheer agony of it all.
What is happening to me?
The sky opens up above us, releasing an onslaught of snow and hail. They whip through the air in violent, stinging sheets, tearing at my exposed skin and adding to the pain pulsing through my system. Within moments, the snow is too thick to see through, and it’s so cold I swear I can feel the blood freezing in my veins.
The pain crests, sharp and blinding, and my vision fills with black spots, consuming my sight and filling me with dread. Ifight to hang on, but there’s a real, terrifying possibility I won’t be able to much longer.
Don’t fight. Give in.
I rail against that little voice in the back of my mind, refusing to listen to it.I’m a fighter. I’ve made it this far. I’ve made it through Nathan’s betrayal, through ice storms and nightmarish creatures and things that should have killed me a dozen times over. I’m not going to let a little headache take me down.
A debilitating, skull-splitting headache, sure. But it’s just a headache.Just a headache…
“Willow! Willow, it’s okay! Just breathe!”
What do you mean? I am breathing?
“Come on, Rhune! We need to get her out of this storm!”
“We can’t move her like this!”
“If we stay out here, we’ll all die!”
Their voices sound so far away. So very, very far away. I want to reach out and hold on to them, to let them drag me back from the brink I’m teetering on, but I fear that I’m already too far gone.
“Hold on, Willow! Hold on!”
I can’t… I can’t…
A gentle pressure closes over my mouth, and the pleasurable warmth that follows soothes some of the raw ache burning deep in my soul. I breathe out a shaky sigh of relief, leaning into the sensation and letting it draw me back from the edge.
Slowly, my eyes drift open, and I realize I’m kissing Dravik.
Wait? What!
Startled, I try to pull back, but I’m flat on the ground with nowhere to go. It’s only then that I realize what’s actually happening. Dravik isn’tkissingme. He’s breathing air into my lungs in slow, measured breaths. Shame floods hot and fast across my face at the understanding.
Thankfully, Dravik notices that my eyes are open, and he pulls back from the embrace. Four horned heads peek into view, their mouths turned down and multicolored eyes swimming with concern.
“How do you feel?” Dravik asks. “Can you talk?”
“I… yes.” I clear my throat, nervous at the intensity in their gazes. “I can talk.”
“Are you thirsty?” Rhune asks, shoving a cupful of water toward my lips. I take a small sip, nearly choke, and Nyx has to physically pull Rhune back to stop him from waterboarding me.
