Page 96 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Ice flames shoot through the air where I used to be a second later.
Holding my breath, I brace myself for a hard landing. But the ground never comes.
My stomach lurches as we continue plummeting down through the forest floor and into the unknown depths beyond.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Instead of slamming into the hard ground, our fall is broken by a sloping net of tangled vines. That powerful body is still pressed against mine, muscular arms wrapped tightly around me, as we hit the vines and then roll down along them before finally reaching the thick grass below.
Dragging in a deep breath, I try to calm my pounding heart as I blink and look up at the person who slammed into me up there in the thorn forest. The person who saved me from the ice flames one second before they could hit me.
Draven.
Of course it’s Draven.
It will always be Draven.
His beautiful golden eyes are wide as he stares back at me, and there is a storm of conflicting emotions pulsing in there. One moment, he’s looking at me with hatred. The next with fear. Then with desperation. Then anger. Confusion. Longing. Back to hatred.
Above us, the ground rumbles as the hole that the Dryad Queen must have opened in the forest floor closes itself again. The sunlight that filtered down through it disappears, but theunderground forest we’ve ended up in isn’t pitch black. All around us, spheres of light are floating between the trees, giving off a warm golden glow.
It’s breathtaking.
For a few seconds, I feel utterly at peace as Draven and I lie there on the soft grass, gazing into each other’s eyes while his arms are wrapped around me.
Then panic flashes across his face.
Shoving me out of his arms, he scrambles to his feet.
The loss of his body around me makes me feel even more cold and empty than before.
“This is your fault,” he says, anger lacing his voice. “If you had been faster, Lavendera would be dead by now. If you hadn’t just left that dead soldier on the floor, the others wouldn’t have found him so quickly. If you hadn’t?—”
“That’s not really why you’re angry,” I interrupt.
Brushing blades of grass from my black fighting leathers, I climb to my feet as well and raise my chin to lock hard eyes on Draven. The black waves inside me are thrashing like a violent ocean in a storm.
I can’t do this anymore.
I can’t fucking take it anymore.
It’s enough.
It’s all just fuckingenough!
This ends right now.
One way or another.
“You’re angry with me because you protected me from the ice flames just now,” I continue while I start advancing on him.
He takes a step back.
“You’re angry because you protected me from that sword back in the city too,” I press, striding closer. “You’re angry because you wanted to comfort me after my parents were killed.”
Panic flashes across his face again, and he continues backing away.
“You’re angry because you are constantly fighting against your instincts.” I hold his gaze with a commanding stare. “Against who you really are. But your soul hasn’t forgotten. Your heart hasn’t forgotten. It’s only your mind that is trying to rewrite all of your feelings for me.”
