Page 103 of Given to the Fae
He screams out in pain and turns, yelling for one of the others to help.
The paddock open, I stagger out. I don’t have a plan, but I can’t just stay there and wait to descend into my baser instincts. I need to hide myself away until it's over.
I leave the barn and realize too late that I’ve gone the wrong way and am in the adjacent house from earlier...or was it yesterday?
Frantically, I turn to go back the way I came, but there’s a body blocking the door.
‘What do we have here?’ a quiet voice I don’t recognize says. ‘A slave girl not in the safety of the paddock. Shall I show you what happens to naughty little humans who stray from the pack?’
I shake my head as he advances, and all at once, I’m furious that he’s stopping me from going where I want.
The door slams on his hand where he’s holding the jamb and he curses. And then the candle beside him flares and a hot sparklands on his tunic. It catches immediately with a whoosh and the goblin I see now, yelps, batting at his arm to put out the fire.
How am I...
‘What the fuck is going on here?!’
The voice is familiar, and even though I hate him, I’m thankful it’s him.
‘Why is she not with the others?’
The goblin snarls. ‘I found her wandering.’
Locke lets out a sound of impatience. ‘Go. Clean yourself up and ensure the paddock is locked. I’ll deal with this one.’
The goblin leaves and Locke grabs me, his fingers cutting into my arms.
‘Do you know what could have happened to you? You can’t leave the barn!’
I don’t understand his concern, but I’m too far gone to care.
I open my mouth to beg him to help me, but all that comes out is a choked sob.
‘Fuck,’ he mutters. ‘Your skin is burning. It’s happening again.’
I nod. ‘Please,’ I mouth, but hardly any sound comes out.
‘Come. Bere’s not here. No one will miss you until the morn.’
He pulls me along with him, and when my knees give out, he hoists me easily into his arms and carries me out of the dingy house to another two streets over.
I watch where we’re going, taking in as much as I can through the haze just in case I can escape. Though, if I do, it won’t be to leave the first city. It’ll be to jump in the river and sink to the bottom or throw myself in front of a fast-moving cart.
I see a figure dressed in black in an alleyway across the street, and I do a double-take with a hiss when, even in my feverish state, I’m sure I recognize the man in the shadows. But when I look again, there’s no one there.
Impossible.This heat winding through my body is making me imagine things.
Locke doesn’t seem to notice anything amiss. He climbs the outer steps and puts me down for just a moment to open the door before he picks me back up and takes me inside. I forget about the vision outside.
The room is nondescript with the usual amenities, but I barely see it, too busy staring at Locke beseechingly.
I don’t say anything as he turns to me, taking in my panting breaths and my anguished expression. My stomach cramps and I double over with a groan. He scoops me up and puts me in his bed, pulling the hated slave dress over my head in one quick motion.
‘Let me help you,’ he says.
All I can do is nod, and he parts me gently, probing me with one lone finger.
But I need more. Now.
