Page 197 of Unrivaled
The word was massacred in my mouth—fitting, really—but Dmytro looked at me like he was shocked to find me at the site of all those unconscious, very happy women.“Ylva?”he asked, probably in case I’d forgotten my name.
Sweat.He hadn’t bathed in days.He’d been living on game.His heart rate was a little high.The air whistled strangely through his lungs.Sick?Injured?
“What happened?”I asked.Getting myself upright was a struggle.My legs worked.I still had my boots on, and my pants, too.
“Northern mages are attacking our Runs,” he said, holding up the butter.“I got word there was an Earthworker here.”
“They’re what?”I grabbed my shirt.“How?”
“Poison clouds,” he said.“Is this the sorceress?”
I looked at the pile of bodies.The sorceress was the one in front of Dmytro, a plump, short, delectable bite of sunshine.Everyone had sprawled around her like she was the fire and they were the dancers.
Ithadfelt kind of like that, actually.
“That’s her,” I agreed, waving a hand at the woman in the center sleeping peacefully.“You might need to get in with a bit of enthusiasm to wake her, uncle.”
He grunted.“Where’s your silver, girl?”
I rolled my eyes.“As if I’m fucking a sorceress with silver on.”I still had the necklace.I wasn’t going feral.
But the Curse was right there, under my skin, writhing.
I licked my lips, mostly to alleviate the discomfort of their texture.
“You give her a shake,” he said.“Your little pack around?”
I ignored the mockery in the wordpack.We were sharp as steel.They just gave shitty orders.
My legs worked as I stood and made my way to the pile of bodies.“What’re the sorcerers doing?”I asked, trying to get my head in order.
Outside, a flock of starlings passed overhead.A cow was startled.Dmytro’s horse paused while chewing its cud.The owner of the house, upstairs, turned in their bed.Dmytro’s belly wasn’t happy.One of the women in the pile was close to menstruating, and the air flurried, bringing her scent to my nose.It was vaguely coppery.Her lids fluttered lightly in her sleep.
“We need to block the Runs,” Dmytro said grimly.
Thatshocked me back into the present.“Then we’ll be sitting ducks.”
“D’you think wewantto do it?”He gave a snort of disgust.“You’d know this if you attended the meetings, girl.”
“You don’twantme to attend the meetings,” I shot back.
“We don’t want you to charge off before anything’s decided.”
“It takes you six years to make a decision!”I threw up my hands.“Why not justget it done?”
He made a noise of disgust.I turned to the sorceress, righteous indignation making my head clear faster than a bucket of ice water.
She came awake at the gentle shake of her shoulder.“Hey, Snowdrop,” I said.“Got a grumpy old Worg here to butter you up.”
She blinked, then sat up, yawning.Fucking sorceresses.Her hair was perfect.Her tits were perfect.The way her lashes fluttered?Perfect.I reached for my shirt.I didn’t have time for perfection.Could never be me.
“Earthworker Jadira,” my uncle said, going down on one knee.From memory, she didn’t hate that angle.“I’ve several groups of missing Worgs, and some tunnels that we suspect are full of poison.”
I grabbed my vest and started lacing it.Missing Worgs?He hadn’t mentionedthat.
“Oh, no,” the sorceress said, taking the wooden bowl.“Where?What happened?”
“Northern mages,” he said.
