Page 16 of Escaping Hallow Hill Academy
Because it’s a dog.
A wolf, actually.
Stark black fur is slick against a big body. A bushy tail is curled in against him where he lies. Shining green eyes study me apprehensively, guardedly.
Until a low, heartbreaking whine slips from his lips, and blood stains the water pooling around him. Did someone dump him here to die?
Shit.
“You’re okay,” I whisper sweetly to him in a tone I’d never use with a human or a supernatural, for that matter. Especially the fucks who left this sweet puppy alone in his final hours. I slide down on my hands and knees and show the little creature my palms as I gradually come closer. “You’re okay, pretty puppy,” I tell him in the most soothing voice I possess. It’s a voice I’ve never even heard before.
I don’t even know who that bitch is.
With leisure moves that tell him I’m not a threat, I lower my fingers oh-so-slowly into his thick, wet fur. And I find a deep gash along his stomach instantly.
“Fuck.”
I have no idea how the pup isn’t dead already. Not that he’s a pup. He’s a massive wolf who just so happens to seem like a little pup in this heartbreaking moment.
He just looks so vulnerable right now. I can’t stand it.
“You’re okay, little puppy,” I tell him, more for my sake than his. He is most definitelynotokay.
My shaking fingers shove at the gold knobs along the wall and steam fills the space instantly. The hot water streaming over my back and hair mingles with the enormous amount of blood he himself is losing. My palm stays firmly over the pulsing wound on his stomach, and that soul-twisting cry of his shudders from his lips.
With my free hand. I pat his slick head, pushing the hair from his big eyes and watching as they slowly close. Peace shifts over his face, and he even settles his head against my slick thigh. He finds comfort just from my closeness, it seems. No one wants to be alone in the end.
Not mankind.
Not animals.
And I guess not even me.
If I listen hard enough, among the pounding droplets of water and the uneven breaths leaving his lungs, I can hear the gentle but delayed drum of his heart.
It isn’t a drum at all, though. It’s a lost, tapping echo of strength that once was.
He’s dying.
My head tilts low until my ebony hair slips into his. My temple meets his, and his emerald eyes open just slightly to meet my own. “Our Holy Lady of Death, find life. Give us life among the darkness. Give me strength. Give me strength to give to another. In My Lady’s name, I beg as your forever servant of darkness, bless this magic,” I breathe out a sigh of desperation as my body thrums, my tattoos illuminate, and power pulses from me that I’ve taken and kept and reserved for a time just like this.
And I give it all to him.
Somehow, the metal clinging to my spine allows this little bit of magic. It’s nonthreatening, it’s peaceful, and that must be why.
A growl like violence and agony trembles from his body, and I feel every ounce of that pain. It just isn’t long-lasting. It’s over in a matter of three strong and relentless heartbeats.
His heartbeats.
Wide and vibrant green eyes flash open to me. His eyes are locked on me hard, like he’s reading me.Knowingme.
The word spirit animal flits through my mind
It’s an unsettling sensation that shivers over my damp skin. Scents wash over me entirely that I can’t make sense of, and there are two things in this moment that I know with absolute clarity.
One, this pup is somehow magical. Two, I know he’s meant to be mine. My spirit animal perhaps.
I have to pull back from him, but before I can, his big paws slip over my thighs, and he settles into my lap. His big body covers me almost entirely.
