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Somehow, her sex tasted sweeter than it ever had before.
Romy didn’t knowhow long they lay there, but when she saw the sky change from black to midnight blue, she nudged Silvan’s shoulder.
“I know. We need to check out the clearing and get back to the boat.” After standing, he pulled her up too, then plucked several pieces of clover from her hair. “Romy, you are… fuck… you taste… fuck… I can’t speak.” Silvan gave an awkward chuckle. “You’ve fucked me up, princess.”
She kept hold of his hand as they resumed their trek. “But you didn’t…”
“Are you kidding? I came so fucking hard, and you didn’t even touch me. Jesus.” He dropped his head as if he were embarrassed. “It was wonderful.”
“But I didn’t even do anything.”
“You don’t have to. You’re it, Romy. Everything about…” Before he could complete his thought, he stopped and narrowed his gaze. They weren’t within a distance that she could make out anything more than shapes, but Romy knew Silvan’s shifter senses were impeccable.
“What is it?”
Silvan took off, Romy in tow, stopping directly at the edge of the tree line. “Those look like… hmmpff… that’s dumb.”
Romy squinted and blinked to focus on four white stone pillars. No. Not just pillars. Even at a distance, she could see the design had a wide base and narrowed upward to a point. Was it a monolith? A monument? Or something more? “Is that an… altar?”
“Oh fuckkkk.” He stepped onto the field.
Another step.
Another.
Just as Romy registered the blood stain on one of the altars, a decomposing hand reached through the ground and seized Silvan’s foot. Long claws extended and sank into his boot. Before she could help, his entire lower half had sunk underground. A deafening roar shook the trees, and hundreds of the same deformed, decaying hands sprouted in the field, giving way to arms, heads, torsos, entire bodies clawing their way through the dirt. They were humanoid, yet inhuman. Dead but alive. Though they seemed unable to walk, Romy found no solace in this when Silvan sank deeper with every passing second.
Despite his large size and strength, Silvan struggled to break free from the creature’s grasp. She tugged on his arm, hopeful to help dislodge him, but Silvan released her hand as soon as he budged an inch.
“Go,” he pleaded, hoarse and strained.
“No, Sil. I’m not leaving you,” she cried, wetness pooling in the corners of her eyes.
“Go, Romy. Run. I’ll be fine. Trust me.”
Across the field, the creatures stood almost as one unit and launched themselves in their direction. Whatever handicap they’d had corrected itself quickly.
“Romy.Now.”
Something about the surety in Silvan’s voice and earnestness in his amber eyes compelled Romy to listen and then… run.
Backtracking the way they’d come, she ran faster than she’d ever had in her life. Unlike the branka, who were easy to divert, the zombie-like creatures followed, shrieking and groaning like demonic wraiths. There would be no hiding in the moss to escape this time. Over her shoulder, Silvan, now a silver wolf, galloped past her and veered to the right. He barked twice, signaling for her to follow, but the command made no sense. She could see their boat. Why would they go a different direction from their only chance off this island?
Romy started toward the dock, but Silvan barked again. Finally, she saw what he’d seen before her: hundreds of branka hovered at the water’s edge.
She followed Silvan as they weaved between trees, up and down hills, never slowing. Romy wondered why she wasn’t exhausted or slowing her pace. Her energy had to be from adrenaline, right? She damn sure hadn’t turned into a distance runner overnight.
Ahead, two branka ambushed Silvan. He easily overpowered the insects, but right before he ripped off a stinger, he barked three times, instructing Romy to go left. She didn’t question how she understood him; she simply did. To Romy, the wolf was as transparent as the man.
“Fuck.” Kudzu was thicker in this part of the forest, and Romy struggled to keep pace. “Dammit.” After an unfortunate misstep, she found herself tangled in a vine. Her ankle contorted, and she was on her ass after a loud pop, sliding down into a seemingly endless gully.
Unable to slow her fall, she shielded her face with her hands and continued the descent. The last thing she remembered was the welcome cool of deep water and crystalline eyes shining brighter than the sun.
Then the world went dark.
“Romy, Romy… wake up… wake up.”
Romy knew it was him.Silvan. She heard his voice. Felt his arms. She even recognized his scent. But she had absolutely no doubt that Bastian had retrieved her from the water and sheltered her from harm. He’d constructed a ward of sorts to protect her. He’d healed the ankle she’d thought she’d broken during the fall and then waited with her for Silvan to arrive.
