Page 69 of Seraph's Tears
Movement, brown against brown, caught my attention far off the path, deeper into the wilds. I squinted, and could make out two or three figures running toward the rock outcroppings. It had to be Eve.
The ayim pounded in my heart, surging through my body and sending me into an alertness I hadn’t experienced since the war. Rage and fear nearly blinding me, I cut through the thickening fog to rescue my mate. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
If they touched a hair on her head, I would slaughter them where they stood.
Eve
I climbed between the rock outcroppings, stumbling over the bumps and dips in the land.
“Come back here, Eve,” Zorababel shouted, his voice hoarse now.
Rock scraped my palm, ripping open the sensitive skin, and my skirt’s hem tore beneath my feet. I had stumbled my way back to the dangerous hill and sheer cliff up ahead. If I could lose them among the rocks…
Lightning flashed behind one of the clouds, illuminating my path. In response, thunder boomed across the wide, oppressive sky.
“There she is!” Absalom’s dull, loud voice broke across the open air.
I ducked behind a boulder, taking a second to catch my breath. My chest heaved, and the wet, cold air burned my throat as I gulped it into my lungs.
A boot scraped on damp rock somewhere behind me.
Fear shot through me, making my heart skip a beat and hair stand on end. I bolted, jerking away from the noise and hurrying further up the hill. I bent nearly double, climbing with my hands and feet in hopes that they would miss my figure in the lowering night if it was closer to the ground.
“Run, girl, run,” Zorababel taunted. “But the lord guides my path, and I am his instrument to smite punishment upon the rebellious and wicked.”
My leg muscles burned and my feet ached from the rocks and pebbles I’d trampled. I gripped long, dead grass to steady myself, and it cut into my bleeding palms.
I bit back a whimper.
Suddenly, the rock formations dropped away and I was there, on the edge of the cliff. I peered over, my stomach flipping anxiously. Although it was only mid afternoon, the black clouds and the bleak landscape had caused night to fall early upon the land.
I reached the brink of the cliff, found a spot where the grass grew up and outward, which disguised the edge. I couldn’t catch my breath. I bent over, my hands on my knees, and gasped. Sweat made my necklace, still caught between my dress and my skin, stick to me.
Ever-present wind whipped my hair in my eyes and tangled my torn skirts around my legs. From the corner of my eye I could see the bottom of the cliff. It wasn’t a tall cliff—these were the moors, after all—but the rocks at the bottom were deadly.
Zorababel’s grunt reached my ears above the shrieking wind and the rumbling thunder.
I looked up, my heart sinking. This had been my plan, a foolish one, yes, but the only one I could think of.
“There you are.” Zorababel appeared into view, stepping out of the shadows of the tall rocks and leering at me. “If you’d stopped earlier, I could’ve granted you mercy. But you, Eve Lovejoy, have been very, very wicked.”
I licked my dry lips, feeling the first sprinkle of rain. My heart rattled in my ribcage.
“Get over here.”
I straightened, shaking my head.
“Eve,” he snapped, his face a rictus of fury. He would murder me, I realized. I’d pushed him too far. “Get over here now.”
Again, I shook my head.
He clenched his jaw so hard I was surprised I didn’t hear a tooth crack. With his hands balled into dangerous fists, the reverend stalked toward me.
I stood still, the cliff edge at my back. Fear grasped my chest, squeezing like a vise. I could scarcely breathe from the crushing grip.
Lightning flashed again, capturing an image of the violence in every line of his body.
“You’ll have to come get me.” I couldn’t breathe. I let him come closer. If I could move out of the way at the very last second, he should go hurtling over the edge.
