Page 57 of Grave Devil
“Are you afraid?” he asks, his tone taunting.
For the first time, I’m seeing him without a cloudy haze blurring my vision. I notice that his hair is black and shiny like obsidian. It’s thick and wavy, similar to their other brother, Felix. I don’t know why I never noticed it before. Although, most of my encounters with him have been mostly in my head. He only shows me what he wants me to see, revealing pieces of himself as he sees fit. Always in control.
“Y-yes,” I stammer.I’m afraid of what I’m going to let you do to me.I shove my hands into my pockets—a reflex. An act of contrition. I want to hide so that his gaze can’t feast upon the parts of me that ache to touch him.
“Then we are off to a good start. You have wasted precious time with your silly bonfire and your false gods.” He pulls the cloak up over his antlers, hiding his shiny black locks from me again. “Now you will know what it truly means to join the WildHunt. To be a part of something old and sacred. And then I will see if you’re truly worthy of your blood.”
My stomach knots. The look in his eyes is feral,hungry. I take a few hurried steps back. Every cell in my body prickles in alarm. “Wait. I don’t understand. What are you going to do?”
His lips curl into a smirk. “I’m going to hunt.”
My knees wobble as I take another step back.
Fuck.
I glance around, confused. “What… What do you want me to do?”
He snarls, baring his teeth. “Run.”
MIA
The irony that I am running through the woods in high-heeled boots and a seventeenth-century ball gown while I could very easily be getting high on twenty-first-century weed back at Blackwell Manor instead, is not lost on me. The fact that I actually had the option and yet I still chose to taunt the scary, albeitreally fucking hot,Skelker, is a true testament to how fucked up I really am.
I want to run home, but he planted himself in that direction, forcing me to go the opposite way. I could’ve also made a dash back through the Circle, toward my guys and the bonfires.I can still see the smoke billowing over the treetops.
But I don’t. Because that would mean I’m running away instead of playing his game. If I want to find out who he really is and what he truly wants, then I have to let him catch me.So where are you herding me?
I curse under my breath as my laces snag on a fallen branch. I stumble forward, my legs tumbling underneath me, as I nearly fall on my face. The momentum propels me forward faster, and this time, I do trip on a rock.
“Fuck!” I slam into the dirt, palms out. Searing pain shoots up my arms as I brace all my weight on them.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
Oh, hell. He’s right behind me, letting me think I was farther ahead. I scramble to my feet, ignoring my stinging palms, hike up my skirt, and take off into a full sprint through the forest.
Fuck, you, Sonny Crane. Or whatever your name really is.
I try not to think about the gravel that’s embedded in my skin as I run. Trying to hold these heavy skirts up so I don’t trip on them again is harder than one would think. This fucking monster has me acting like a helpless damsel in distress. Like I’m one of those sacrificial virgins from the olden days.
Fuck my life.
I could tell myself that it’s all for Bones. That it’s to get him the answers he needs. But then I’d be a liar. Who am I kidding?I’m doing this all for my traitorous pussy.
Because the thrill that this man,this fucking devil’s spawn, gives me is the most unholy thing I’ve ever craved. I’m hot, breathless, and my thighs burn. And not in a bad way. I always say that I don’t run unless I’m being chased.I’m never making that stupid joke ever again.
As I reach the river crossing, I realize where I am. My stomach drops. This is the same path Draven took me the other day. The sacrificial murder cabin is up ahead. He really does want to reenact the Wild Hunt.Great.
I skirt across the rocks, groaning as puddles of rainwater slosh around my ankles. It’s enough of a nuisance to slow me down so that he gains on me again. His hissing gets louder and sends chills up my spine. But as soon as I get across, I break into a run again.
Take. Take. Take.His voice clicks, unnerving me.
My stomach bottoms out, pushing me to the verge of nausea. That thick, heavy energy hits me as soon as the cabin comes into view. Every inch of my body resists, begging me to stay as faraway as I can. It was easier with Draven at my side. But now that the devil’s at my back, my courage wanes. I’m not so tough now.
My fingers tremble, and for a moment, I’m tempted to drink the poison Draven gave me. It can’t drown the Skelker out now that he’s here in the flesh, but it can at least numb my fear. Fuck. I don’t know what to do. I whip around to see him stalking through the grass. He looks unreal, like an apparition. But he is very real. And the closer he gets, the more pronounced his smug smirk gets.
“Ready to face my wrath, dark one?” he calls across the field.
On instinct, I lurch back and wrestle the cabin door open.As if these walls can protect me from him.The second I’m inside, I’m reminded of the heavy, dark curse that hangs in the air. So much death and pain permeate this space. But as I scramble up the stairs in the dark with nothing but moonlight to see by, the energy turns feral and carnal.
