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Lily’s gaze flitted to the severed chunks of the soldier’s corpse just outside her field of vision. There was so much death she could still see but couldn’t beckon. The Wraith raked itself under her skin.
Neir leaned down to murmur in her ear. “He is very protective of you. It’s got me curious what exactly it is about Evelian cunt that has this man so enamored.”
Rage cascaded off of Jarek in waves—the Serpent lashed at his feet like a monster bursting from the sea.
“Oh, he didn’t like that.” Warm, escence-laden breath trailed down her neck. “I’m beginning to regret revealing myself before I could’ve had my way with you while you were eager at that bar.”
Lily drew in a slow breath. When his lips brushed her skin, she didn’t flinch—didn’t respond at all. Whatever pull he had on her during their brief interaction in Reave was gone—burned away by something she hadn’t understood until Jarek.
“Control yourself, God Eater, and I’ll consider returning her to you when I’m finished.”
Jarek lunged. Neir’s responding beam of light blinded her again, and her stomach rolled. Her vision began to fade.
We’re vanishing.
Panic set into Lily as she desperately looked around as if she could stop it. Jarek shouted her name—a distant cry as Lily’s body faded from the town entirely.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The musty scent of earth invaded her senses. Lily landed on her hands and knees in a patch of moist grass, legs numb and body exhausted. She staggered to the closest tree to steady her head, a delicate thing with a skinny trunk and even thinner branches. The glow of the moons was undisturbed by light pollution, but it was completely silent. Not even the hoot of an owl or the rustling of a critter underfoot.
Across a wide gap strewn with fallen leaves was another tree, identical to the one holding her up. A breadth away was another. And another. Lily gazed up at the spindly branches, then to the soil. Soft and damp.
The Lithance trees.
The flare of a light drew a gasp from her. She spun to Neir grabbing her by the arm.
Adrenaline surged through Lily, sharpened by the brief taste of freedom after vanishing to the orchard. Knowing Jarek was here looking for her gave it purpose—something to fight for, if only for a little longer. What she did next wasn’t rational but driven by the anger and fear coiling in her gut.
She kneed him in the groin.
Lily bolted. She ducked around a few trees before she was struck from behind, falling and landing on her stomach. Her muscles tensed, and she couldn’t move.
“Fucking bitch!”
“Let me go!” she screamed.
Neir flipped her onto her back, driving a knee into her arms and pinning them to her chest. Lily cried out as the pain rattled her aching ribs.
“Quiet!” He clutched the front of her shirt and yanked her toward him. “Pull something like that again and I’ll rip one of Luka’s fingers off.”
“Fuck you!” Lily hissed.
“You can be pissed at me all you want, pet, but any harm that comes to him here on in is your fault.
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’ll help you.”
“Our bargain is set.”
“There is no bargain if I can’t trust you!”
“You will.”
Lily laughed. “After what you did? To my friends? Luka?” She leaned closer, and he away. “Never.”
Neir shoved her to the ground. Lily tried to control her body’s trembles, eyeing the bleeding wound in Neir’s shoulder and its aura. Jarek must’ve done that.
Gods damn these cuffs. She could get herself out of this by using that aura if the Wraith wasn’t locked away.
