Page 130 of Faerie Hunted

I wasn’t going to waste her time or mine asking stupid questions likewhy me? Because sometimes it just was. Like what Faerie said about free will and the deeds of men. Sometimes things just sucked. You adjusted. You rolled with the punches. You did your best with the cards dealt and when things changed, you dealt with those as well.

The goddess took a step forward. The blinding heat of her scalded my skin but I wasn't burning. I was alive.

“You are strong enough to get through this. Trust me, lovely girl. Keep going. Keep being strong and when you get to the end, know it is only the beginning.”

Then she touched my forehead and the world spun into darkness again.

33

The sharp rocks of the beach bit into my skin and dug what felt like permanent grooves along my spine.

I came awake with a fierce cough that wracked through me from top to bottom. The pain returned with it. I drowned on land. The sensations were strong; they were inescapable.

Turning on my side, just like in the ballroom, I sucked air into my poor body. Water sifted against the rocks beneath my feet and lapped at my legs. Okay, I was definitely back in my body.

The darkness behind my closed lids was matched by the impenetrable black when I finally pried them open. Pitch-black, oppressive and living. Sheer terror curled my fingers into claws.

I pushed onto my knees and pawed at the ground around me. The water between the rocks was frozen. My hand hit something furry and wet. I grabbed hold of the thick limb, feeling in one direction until I hit paws.

Unmoving.

Adrenaline lit me like an electric zap.

“Noren!” Panic overwhelmed me. I scrambled closer, scooting until my legs pressed against the long length of his back. “No, no, no. Oh god, please, no, don’t be dead.”

I felt for his face and the lines of his ears. One, the other. His snout. His eyes were closed.

Was he breathing? Did I feel air passing through his nostrils?

The full absence of light made it impossible to know and I was too petrified to find his pulse. There was only mine, racing faster than a rocket through the atmosphere, my lungs working overtime and my head spiraling.

“Please don’t leave me. You can’t be dead.” I moved closer yet and pulled at him until his head and neck fell over my lap, the water freezing both of us together.

Was this the cost of Life?

If so, fuck that. I’d give my own if it meant Noren made it through. He’d only come because of his loyalty to me.

The direwolf woke with a snort, shifting underneath my hands. In the next beat, he lifted his face to mine and a warm, rough tongue dragged across my cheek.

Relief was immediate. I was shaking all over and for a second I thought I was going to throw up.

“Thank you.” I wrapped my arms around his bulky neck and shivered. “Okay, so you’re with me. That means the others have to be here, too.” I dropped my head to his, letting the warmth of his fur sink into my skin. “Livvy? Onyx?”

After a slight delay, two voices rose from somewhere down the beach.

“Over here,” Onyx called.

“Tavi? Is that you?”

He and Livvy sounded close to each other.

“Keep talking,” I replied. “I’ll come to you.” I pushed away from Noren and crawled on my hands and knees toward the sound of their voices.

Noren gathered at my side in a comforting presence. The rocks underneath us were both sharp and smooth, small and large. I lost my balance more often than I could count until my head knocked against another body.

A familiar scent reached me first. “Livvy? Is that you?” I asked.

Her arms banded around my torso. “I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m here with you. We found each other.”

---