Page 152 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“What did you do?”
“She’s safe.” Miles didn’t cower at Damen’s accusation. Still, I could visualize him holding firm, with his arms crossed and features hard.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Damen’s voice was thick with barely contained fury. “Why did you bury her?”
“She’s out of harm’s way.”
A pause. A sharp breath.
“That’s not an answer.” It sounded like Damen was forcing himself to be patient.“Where the fuck is she?”
Miles exhaled steadily. “Where she needs to be. She’ll be back when she’s ready.”
“Fuck off with that cryptic bullshit,” Damen snapped. “We don’t have time for this.”
There was a ripple through the ground before,“Fuck, it’s back!”
What did he mean, ‘When I was ready?’
Was I ready?
I pressed my hand into the damp earth, expecting resistance, but it wasn’t there. Instead, the ground was yielding, waiting for me.
A warmth unfurled deep in my chest, and the pressure against my lungs eased. The soil shifted, moving with me, responding to something I hadn’t fully grasped yet.
It wasn’t Miles’ power pulling me free.
It was mine.
Light fractured the darkness, splitting through the soil, and the earth gave way to open air.One breath, I was buried; the next, I was back on the surface.
The battlefield slammed into me all at once.
The rush of motion and fighting as the Snallygaster moved toward Damen.
One moment, my hands were empty; the next, a solid weight slipped into my grip as if it had always belonged there.
I didn’t have time to question it.
The Snallygaster lunged. I swung.
The impact rang through my bones as the flat of my blade connected with the creature’s skull. The force sent it staggering back, wings flaring, its screech more startled than pained.
I stood frozen, breath caught in my throat, as the last few seconds replayed in my mind. Damen rushed to my side and grabbed my shoulders. My arms felt heavy, but outside of that was a buzzing numbness that threatened to pull me under.
“Damen?” I asked. What was he doing here? Hadn’t I been with Miles, watching safely from a distance as Titus unsuccessfully tried to subdue the Snallygaster?
“Bianca.” Julian’s voice cut through the haze. He ignored Damen’s glare as he pulled me carefully into his arms. His hands ran over my arms, checking for injuries. “You’re safe now,” he said. “You’re okay.”
I barely heard him.
Something across the battlefield had changed, and my attention wandered the scene until I spotted Titus.
He watched me with unreadable golden eyes and tucked his wings closer to his body. His tail, which had been sweeping the ground in agitation, curled inward before he exhaled in a deep enough sigh to stir the air.
Then, after a long pause, he turned back to the fight, his next movement sharper, more deliberate.
What was his problem?
