Page 19 of The Howling
I get closer and stare at her some more.
I think she breathes. I put a paw on the bed. Wynter makes a snuffling sound, and I remove my paw.
But it is my bed and she is my female. I should put my paw on the bed.
I put my paw on the bed. Again. This time she doesn’t make a noise, so I put my other paw on the bed, then I move forward until my stomach is on the bed too.
I am on the bed. I am next to her. Her warmth is seeping out and I don’t like it. I push closer, wanting to keep it in.
But perhaps a human doesn’t heal like a Barghest, and if she doesn’t, she will require more magic than I have.
“Reavely?” Her voice is weak.
“I am here.”
“I need a doctor. I think I broke some ribs when…” Her sentence ends with a sob.
Volcanic anger rises within me. It makes me want to return to Moranik and to the fortress we escaped and set it aflame. The place holds more hells than I have ever seen.
It’s enough to jolt me back to my usual form. “I can get a healer.”
Whatever she wants, my mate will have. No matter what it might mean for me. I leave the castle reluctantly and head down to the village where the local warlock will have a late-night visitor he had hoped would never come.
But he will help her. If he knows what is good for him.
WYNTER
Ihaven’t broken a bone in my life, so I’ve no idea if the pain and breathlessness I’m experiencing is normal.
What am I thinking? None of this is normal. I’ve been taken into a different realm, one humans didn’t even know existed until a few years ago. I’ve nearly been forced to…I shake my head to get the thought out…I’ve been kidnapped by the black dog of death, and now I’m inhiscastle.
I gaze up at the bed, a large four poster which could probably take two Reavelys comfortably. The room has bare stone walls, and like Lord Guyzance’s fortress, it also has large windows. Unlike Guyzance’s place, it has heavy brocade curtains which hang down to the floor. The Faerie being impervious to draughts, curtains are not something they bother with. Here in Reavely’s castle, the curtains remain open, and all I can see is the rest of the room reflected back in the dark glass. A room filled with small candles, their light dancing here and there.
I’d like to move, to explore, but not only have I little energy, any movement causes pain so bad I nearly pass out. All I can do is lie in the position Reavely put me in and hope he can get someone to help me. If that’s what he wants.
I am completely confused by him, by his reasons. He was clearly planning to escape all this time, so taking me can’t possibly have been his aim. Could it?
I’m fearfully cold, but I can’t shiver as it hurts like hell. Each movement is agonising. Sweat pours out of me, soaking my dress and making the ice which is surrounding me worse. My fevered imagination hears voices coming out of the ether, out of the walls, out of the candles which are speaking to me.
They’re calling to me, but I can’t answer. My jaw is locked and my chest has closed up on me. A face comes into view. A handsome face, with fire-filled eyes and cheekbones I could cut myself on. Dark hair sticks up from his head like ears.
I quite like him, if only I could see him clearly.
“Little female?” The voice doesn’t so much fill my ears but my chest.
It doesn’t hurt.
I blink.
The face becomes clearer.
“Reavely?”
He smiles, revealing such sharp teeth, I take in a breath, wanting to move away but unable to.
“The warlock said you needed rest,” he says, his eyebrows crashing together. “You should rest.”
I stop trying to move. I still don’t know what Reavely wants from me. The huge Barghest is perched on the edge of the bed, towering over me.
