Page 9 of Left Hand of the Divine
Stay strong, Roux. We’re coming.
Chapter Three
Roux
Fingers combed through my hair, pulling me from the depths of sleep. My mind was fuzzy, and my thoughts were slow. I struggled to peel my eyes open, and my bones felt heavier than lead.
A softly hummed song filtered through my ears as the last grip of sleep slipped from me.
But it wasn’t really sleep, was it?
Images flashed through my mind. The darkness, the stars, and the giant wolf.
The memory of the pain slicing against my bones.
I bolted up, completely awake, but I immediately regretted the sudden movement. The world swam before me, and my head felt woozy, like I’d drunk way too many margaritas.
“Atticus? Rafe?” Where were they? “Ray—”
“Calm yourself,Asteri.Do not move too quickly.”
The words came from the shadows, soft and sultry. A mere whisper on the breeze.
“Who’s there?”
“Do you not know me?”
It was a man’s voice, and there was something achingly familiar about it. That dark low tone with a deliberate slowness, like he was taking care over every word that passed his lips.
“Where are you?” I could barely see anything, even with my night vision. I seemed to be in some sort of bedchamber, but there was no light anywhere. Just darkness that permeated every corner. And where were the others? What the hell had happened?
“I am everywhere,” he replied mysteriously, his voice seeming to travel around the space.
“Where are the others?”
A low menacing laugh echoed around the room. “Those fools aren’t worthy of you.”
Anger sparked low in my gut. “You know nothing about them. Or me. Where are they?”
“I know more about you than you do,” he replied cryptically, his voice fading to a creepy echo.
“What do you want?”
He laughed, a smoky rasp that vibrated against my skin. “Freedom.”
I went to call my scythe to me but thought better of it. I didn’t know what kind of creature I was facing, and he hadn’t moved to attack me yet. Maybe he was actually friendly and was keeping to the shadows so he wouldn’t blind me with his radiant beauty?
Probably not, but a girl could hope.
“Freedom from what?” I asked, hoping that I could keep him talking long enough that I could make an escape.
He gave a depreciating laugh. “From this place. From the pain, the suffering. The sheer monotony.”
There was a bite to his words that made my heart clench. I didn’t understand why this man affected me so much. Maybe something in his sorrow resonated with me on some level. I still didn’t know why I grieved, only that I knew I’d lost someone. That hollowness had followed me into this life, and no matter how hard I tried to forget it, the feeling lingered. It caught me off guard sometimes and would send waves of sorrow so powerful that they threatened to drown me.
“I’m sorry that you’ve suffered,” I said as I stood from the bed. I stumbled forwards, my hands out in front of me feeling for objects and furniture but finding nothing.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice full of warmth for the first time, like he was amused by my fumbling in the dark.
