Page 61 of Moon Cursed
But if I closed my eyes and concentrated, I sensed a shield around the vital organ.
Kane had put it there. Moon magic protected that which belonged to him and the knife had slid right off of it.
The Hunter hadn’t tried to stab me again. Perhaps the only way to kill a Goddess Incarnate was to stab me in the heart, and he’d realized that was pointless.
So he’d tried another tactic.
To deprive me of life.
To confuse me and give me false hope all the while letting me die a slow death.
No water.
No food.
To moonlight.
Certainly no sun, either.
Just a constant hum of silence as my companion while he waited me out.
It was torture.
A sound to my left made me flinch. I hadn’t heard anything since the last time I’d lost my mind and the skies had shimmered with my hallucination of the moon of my realm. I’d once hated the moon and all that it symbolized, but now I craved it.
I must have really fallen off my nut, because this particular hallucination was a full-blown female in a silvery gown that flowed with a wind that shouldn’t exist here.
“My sweet, sweet daughter. I am so sorry to have put you in this position,”the female lamented as she stepped toward me.
Her eyes glowed with moonlight and flowers bloomed in her hair. The long strands of her beautiful mane flowed around her all the way to her ankles. It made her look like a lion and when she gave me a wistful smile, tiny fangs poked from her perfect lips.
I could see the Corruption in her now, but it didn’t hinder her beauty. Dark lines marred her face and spidered over her otherwise flawless skin.
I knew who she was.
She wasme.
But not me.
The Goddess that lived inside of me—but how was she here?
Scrambling to my feet, I found the strength to stumble toward her. “Please, take me away from this place,” I begged as fresh tears flowed. I didn’t know how I had any moisture left in my body, but her magic was what kept me alive and it seemed to react most strongly to my sorrow.
The tears were a waste, though, because the heated air forced them to evaporate the moment they fell from my chin.
She reached me and wrapped her arms around me, offering me a blissful reprieve from the suffocating air.“It takes all of my power to keep us alive, Kaitsja.”
I knew she meant both me and my wolf when she called me that.
“Why is he doing this?” I asked as I sank into Her.
I had nothing left. I’d been here for too long in this place of heat and nothingness. She held my weight as if I was nothing and I gave everything over to Her.
“He thinks you are the Conduit and that I am Corrupted.”She stroked my hair as she spoke.“He’s not wrong—but he doesn’t understand that Calamity is on a new path of Awakening. It cannot be stopped. Instead, it must be taught how to be.”
I didn’t know what she meant with talk about Calamity and Awakening. None of that mattered to me.
“I just want to go home,” I said as I squeezed my eyes shut. I clenched my fists into her gauzy dress. She felt so strong and sure underneath my weakness and I envied her power. “I miss my family.”
