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RAFFERTY
Black blood oozes from my filleted forearm, and as it drips down to the grass below, I finally feel relief.
I’d honestly believed that admitting the connection between Ember and Taranus is a lie would eliminate the dark energy’s ability to use my code of honor against me. However, the moment we’d said our goodbyes and stepped out of the wards of Pixie Thicket, the dark energy slammed into me full force.
I’d had to fight the urge to rush back in and slaughter everyone.
The dark energy will never let me go.
Whether it’s Taranus’s connection to the woman I love or her disease, it will always find a way to twist my mind, to taint what I feel. Even as last night was more than I could have ever hoped for, and a hell of a lot more than I deserve.
“Are you okay?”
Ember watches me from beneath a tree, concern etched in every line of her beautiful face. “Better now.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I force a smile and cross the distance between us. Reaching down, I help her to her feet. The moment we’d stepped through the wards, she, too, had been affected. Exhaustion returned, her body clearly making up for lost time.
Just as the energy within me did.
“We’re two peas in a pod, huh? Steady me.”
I do as she asks, wrapping an arm around her waist, and watch as she bends and tears the bottom of her dress. We’d left the clothes the pixies had given us back in the hut, taking instead the freshly washed and dried ones we’d arrived in.
She straightens and wraps my injured forearm with the cloth, ties it into a knot, and smiles up at me.
She sees my weakness. She pities me. I need to show her, teach her that prey does not pity a predator.I shake my head, trying to clear the dark thoughts as I lift her and place her on my back.
“How much farther until camp?”
“We should be arriving sometime right before nightfall,” I tell her, though I can only guess. There’s no telling how far we managed to get off course. At least, we’ve seen no creatures out, not since Falcon left us at the same river where he’d found us.
He’d been kind then, too, much kinder than I’d ever given his kind credit for. And when I’d offered him the dagger we’d traded information for, he shook his head and took off with no explanation.
Curious, those little creatures.
“Rafferty!”
I whirl as a man calls my name.
Fin rushes forward, relief on his face. “It’s about bloody time! Where the hell have you two been?”
“Paulina was supposed to bring us back. She never showed. And neither did you fuckers. What kept you?”
Fin’s features darken. “Let’s get you back.” He reaches out and touches my shoulder. A moment later, we’re standing in the camp.
Everyone stops and stares at us. Their grief-stricken expressions soften when they see us, though no one approaches.
“What the hell happened?”
“Paulina,” Fin starts. “Better come with me.”
Ember silent on my back, we walk through the camp toward a tent near the back. The fae standing outside pulls the flap open, and a woman growls. We move inside. A creature is chained to the center pole, hair falling in its face. Its body is contorted, legs and arms more like legs for a head that is turned at a horrible angle.
“Oh no,” Ember gasps.
Paulina.A black gaze meets mine, and she snarls.
