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“Did he bite you?” he asks frantically. “Kai, did he bite you?”
I realize he has to repeat himself because I’m still in shock, my eyes wide in horror and my heart threatening to burst from my chest.
“No,” I say. “No, he didn’t bite me.”
Kaito relaxes. “Oh, thank the Dead Lands.”
“Did I hurt you?” Dade asks, rushing forward once they make sure the fae is dead.
“I’m fine,” I assure him, pushing my hair out of my eyes. “I’m going to have nightmares about that fae for the rest of my life, but I’m okay.”
“We need to move right now,” Rook growls. “Someone, pick her up. We run from here.”
The next hour is spent running at their full speed to put as much distance as possible between us and the dead fae. Apparently, the Arachna Clan doesn’t take well to one of their own being killed. Even Rook seems shaken, which tells me all I need to know.
If these are creatures that scare the boogeyman of the Dead Lands, then I don’t want anything to do with them.
They run until they are exhausted, and only then do we rest. I try to convince myself we’re not being followed and that we’re safe now, but I can’t wipe away the feeling of spiders running along my skin no matter how hard I try.
Chapter
Forty-Six
KAI
Even after eating the meal Kaito prepares, I am restless. The fire burns close by, the orange light flickering around us and keeping me warm. A huge boulder shelters us from the forest and only allows a small walkway to the cave we have taken shelter in. Dade stands there now, protecting us, and I turn away from the sliver of darkness I see beyond, not wanting to see that fae ever again.
My skin still crawls like I can feel it touching me, those leering eyes and fangs descending toward me. Shivering, I wrap myself tighter in the blanket one of them produced for me, and as they plan the next day’s journey, I force my eyes to close. I’m still exhausted from healing Kaito, and after today’s attack, I know I need to sleep.
My hand drifts to my stomach under the blanket, covering the thin cut there. We checked it as soon as we found shelter. It wasn’t deep, just bleeding a lot. Dade feels horrible, and I can feel his guilt no matter how much I thank him for saving me. This small wound is nothing compared to what would have happened had he not. Weyland carefully bandaged the cut. They had all been silent while he wrapped it, as if my injury was ontheir shoulders. No matter how much I tell them otherwise, they still seem to carry that guilt.
Leaving my hand on the bandage, I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing myself to think of only good things as I fight my brain to calm down and sleep. Minutes or maybe hours later, I feel a hand stroke my head softly. “Sleep,bacca. No one can hurt you here.”
As if I needed to hear that, I finally slip into the waiting oblivion.
Pincers dig into the soft skin of my sides as my eyes snap open. My body is freezing, my heart pounding as I stare into the face of the spider fae. Its lips twist in a cruel, mocking grin, showcasing its sharp teeth. All the better to eat me with. Its eyes blink as one as the spider legs tug me closer.
“Just a taste.” It cackles as I scream, writhing in its grip.
It’s just a dream, just a dream, I tell myself.Wake up!
It’s no use. I’m dragged closer and closer toward that waiting mouth, my screams echoing around the forest, until inky smoke wraps around his mouth. Familiar darkness obscures everything until I can’t see through it, and I feel myself relax. I drop to the ground as the dream changes, and when the smoke parts, I know I have Rook to thank as he emerges from it.
Eyes hard and wanting, he doesn’t stop until he reaches me. He tilts my chin up, his mouth crashing onto mine, kissing me furiously. He drains every last drop of fear from me and replaces it with burning desire.
His smoke wraps around us until I can only feel him. His lips drag down my chin and across my neck as he leaves open-mouthed kisses along my pulse. My head tilts back of its own accord, my eyes shutting as I accept the darkness. His hands stroke my body, teasing me and bringing me back to life.
My core clenches, and heat roars through me from a need so strong, I cry out.
“Shh, I have you, little oblivion,” he promises as tendrils of shadow snake under my clothes and stroke my skin, sliding across my breasts tauntingly before moving down my stomach and my mound. I part my legs without thought, and his chuckle makes me shiver.
“So eager, little oblivion. If I woke you now, would you be wet?”
“Rook, please,” I beg, reaching for him, but all I find is smoke.
My hands fist in it as I gasp. Those smoky tendrils slip inside me, burrowing deep, and as my mouth parts on a scream, more slide inside my lips and down my throat until I’m impaled on his shadows.
“Wake up, little oblivion,” he croons, the voice dark in my ear. “I have had enough of your dreams. I want the real thing.”
