Page 42 of Between Wrath and Mercy

“We can’t do this. Not here, not ever.” I started to push him away. We needed to get back on the road, get to Astana, get toElora. I wanted him badly, but I couldn’t let myself think like this, get lost in this. He pushed back into me again, pulling my lower lip between his teeth before he went back to kissing my neck. And gods help me, I got lost in the sensation.

“Emmeline, I want you to grab your dagger.” My eyes were shut, letting Rainier drag his lips across the sensitive spot where my shoulder met my neck, the skin pebbling. The voice was familiar, but it made no sense, and it took me a moment to fully understand. I opened my eyes, looking towards the path I’d taken, and blinked.

Rainier and Dewalt stood on the path, watching me with grim horror.

My eyes widened in shock while I felt a sharp pain in my neck.

“It’s an onaán.” Rainier’s voice was low. He was carefully circling around me, assessing and searching for a way to get to me.

“Can you reach your dagger? You’ll have to get it’s heart.” Dewalt had an arrow notched, waiting, but the onaán was too close to me for him to get a clear shot. I reached down for the weapon strapped to my thigh. I knew I needed to do something soon. Its hand on my breast had turned into a claw, and I nearly cried out as it started digging into me. I knew it was draining me. I was already feeling lightheaded in the moments since it latched onto my neck. Blade in hand, I pushed the creature back from me a little bit, and it pulled the claw out of my shirt, grabbing onto my neck, holding me still as it latched on even harder, pushing back into me. I let out a small yelp and looked desperately at Dewalt in my line of vision. I tried not to look at the onaán, its body starting to change. It still looked like Rainier, but its skin had turned mottled—bark-like and a dark greenish brown.

“I can’t—” My voice faltered, and I noticed spots in my vision. I started pushing against the monster again, desperate and flailing. I was going to die.

“Stop, Em! It’s going to tear your throat.” There was real terror in Rainier’s voice. “Just stay with me.”

The ground below us gave out, and I screamed as I fell, the monstrosity landing on top of me, and a searing pain in my neck. A second or an hour later, I wasn’t sure, a splash of warm and wet splattered down over me. I peered up through blurry vision and saw Rainier holding the onaán’s head, no longer attached to its body. The next thing I knew, Rainier was lifting me, gently and with ease, cradling me to his chest. I heard, more than felt, the ground below us move as Rainier held me, maintaining pressure on my neck. I vaguely knew I was bleeding, excessively based on my suffering vision. I closed my eyes, relaxing into the weightlessness.

“You can’t sleep right now, Highclere. Open your eyes. Look at me, Em!” Rainier hovered over my face, the emerald-green eyes flooded with concern and fear. “Go get Ven’s kit, now!” Rainier’s yell would have been deafening if I wasn’t on the verge of unconsciousness. Leaning into his warmth, I realized Rainier had seen me kiss the onaán, and I thought maybe the embarrassment of it would keep me from passing out. It didn’t.

Iwokeuptoa canteen being held against my mouth.

“Em, drink.” I pulled it to my lips. It was a struggle, considering everything was bouncing, and it took me a moment to realize I was on horseback. I drank deeply, soothing my dry throat. Rainier’s arm was around my waist, helping keep me balanced on top of the horse.

“How long was I out?” I sat up a little straighter, stopping myself from leaning back into his arms.

“A few hours. Lavenia patched you up and said to let you rest. We knew you’d kill us if we waited on you, so we packed up and left.”

I couldn’t believe I’d been knocked out for a few hours. I surmised that the onaán must have taken a lot of blood, considering how weak I still felt, but at least I wasn’t dead. I glanced down, sure I’d still be covered in blood, but I saw I had on a fresh shirt with my cloak wrapped around my shoulders. A surge of embarrassment flowed through me. Not only had I been caught kissing a creature I thought was Rainier, someone had changed me out of my blood-drenched clothes, and they had to get me up on the horse. Mortifying. Thankfully, my stomach started growling loudly enough to drown out any of my thoughts.

“Let me grab you something to eat.” After fumbling around in one of the saddlebags, he pulled out an apple and passed it to me. I bit into the piece of fruit ravenously, throwing the core when I finished.

“Thank you,” I paused, “for saving me. Sorry for the trouble.”

“I was surprised to see the onaán so close to the Mirastos. I’m glad we got there in time.” I felt his arm tighten around me, pulling me closer to his body. Whether it was intentional or not, I didn’t think about it and just relaxed into his hold.

“I should have been more careful.” I should have known Rainier wouldn’t throw me into a tree and forcefully kiss me, especially not after our limited exchange when we woke up. After everything we’d been through, all the things we’d said in hurt and anger, all the time that had passed? How stupid was I?

“How could you have known? Onaán are surprisingly convincing.” His voice didn’t hold an ounce of amusement, and for that I was grateful. I knew the stories of many different creatures supposedly wandering the Whispering Wood, but I thought most were legends. I didn’t realize they were real, and I’d never heard of an onaán before. I wouldn’t make such a mistake again.

“How do they work? How did it know to mimic you?” Why did it appear to me as Rainier? Why did it try to kiss me?

“That’s only the second one I’ve seen in all my travels, but they tend to appear as someone you’d trust. Their goal is to get close and drain you, so they’ll appear however they think they can do it, using your own thoughts against you.” I almost snorted, entertained by the idea of Rainier being the person I trusted the most right now, although the longer I thought about it, the more I realized just how right the creature was. I heard a sound to my left as Lavenia approached.

“Ah, you’re awake! How are you feeling?” She gave me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, clearly worried. She seemed tired, and I noticed she’d thrown her braids on top of her head into an elegant bun. I wondered if it was to keep it clear of the copious amounts of my blood she had to deal with.

“Tired. I know I just woke up, but I could easily go back to sleep, even on top of a horse.” With Lavenia next to us, I thought perhaps I should pull away from Rainier, but I was nestled in his arms rather comfortably. Still, I didn’t want to give her and Dewalt more fodder for their insinuations.

“Here, eat this.” She reached over, handing me a hunk of bread. When I lifted my arm to take it from her, she noticed Rainier’s arm around my waist and let her gaze hover there for a moment. I ignored it. It was just an arm, after all, and I’d been unconscious only minutes ago.

“Chew on this if you have any pain. It’s a shame you can’t heal yourself. What’s the point of your divinity if it can’t even help you?” She teased. She handed me a small pouch full of leaves. I sniffed them, and tucked them away, put off by the scent. My neck wasn’t hurting quite that bad.

“If only. Mairin will check on me when we get to Brambleton.” I reached up and felt the bandage on my neck. “Pretty nasty, huh?”

“You’re lucky Rainier killed it when he did, before it could just rip your throat out. I’m still shocked it wasn’t bleeding more.” Lavenia grimaced, and Rainier made a low sound in his throat before he spoke.

“I thought you were dead, there was that much blood. Too much. But by the time I got you to Lavenia, it had slowed, and I could tell you were breathing.”

“You’re lucky.” She eased off, falling back behind us. I laid back in Rainier’s arms in silence for a while, already about to doze off again. Eventually, I felt him stiffen behind me.

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