Page 62 of All's Fair in Lion and War
Rivian grabbed the front of her shirt in his fist and lifted her half off the ground.
Her arms fell back, dangling like dead fish on a line. She had nothing left. Not even enough energy to hold up her head properly. Everything ached and throbbed. Her vision blurred bad enough that she couldn’t really tell Rivian’s face from any other male’s now.
Just his smell.
She would always recognize that scent.
She would have nightmares about the scent for the rest of her life.
They’ve saved other women. That’s good.The satisfaction of knowing Rivian had lost control of other women he’d stolen gave her a warm feeling in the center of her chest.
The warmth was an illusion.
Even the pain had faded to a dull thudding ache.
She was starting not to feel. Loss of blood. The icy air.
The blackness would take her soon.
He dropped her back into the snow. “Find Riya, now. Bring her here.” His voice thundered through the trees like a boom of thunder from the sky.
She wanted to curl into a ball.
She wanted to put her hands under her arms to warm her icy cold fingers.
She wanted to see Saul’s face one more time before Fate claimed her as a lost soul and took her to the Beyond. She wanted to tell him she wished they’d had more of a chance to try and build a life together.
None of those things would happen.
Her life was slipping away.
The red stain on the ground around her body was growing.
She was so weak. Her magick couldn’t keep up with the beating her body had taken.
“Lorelei.” She wanted it to be Saul’s voice speaking her name, but it wasn’t. It was a female. The same female who had stolen her memories from her. Cursed her to relive each day in the dark to what Rivian had done to her.
“Leave me be,betkha.” She hoped the insult to the magick-bender would be enough to chase her off. She didn’t want to forget again. Even if it meant staying alive. She didn’t want to forget Saul and the others here in this town. They were the one bright light in the whole experience of loss.
The woman flinched, but didn’t leave.
“I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.” She pressed a hand down over the wound on Lorelei’s stomach. It burned like she imagined dragon fire would, hot and fast with death riding on it’s heels.
Lorelei screamed and thrashed.
Shouting surrounded her.
Other hands and arms grabbed hold of her to keep her still.
The bender’s magick poured into her.
Lorelei could hear more screaming. Someone was calling for Saul. Was it coming from her? Maybe it was someone else. She couldn’t tell anymore. Everything was such a blur of pain and fire and despair.
No one else would call for him.
It had to be her.
She tried to focus her mind through the chaos. Slowly all the pieces folded together exactly how they were supposed to. Her lion growled and rattled her chest, the familiar vibration gave her hope that maybe she wasn’t dying.
