Page 123 of Vasmora
A chuckle echoed around me. “Hold her, Drefan. Make her watch while I cut her lover open with a blade.”
Arms came around from behind, swallowing me, and panic hooked itself in my chest. Hoarse screams ripped from my throat as I kicked and wriggled in his grasp, bucking against him.
“Maevyth!” Drefan barked and squeezed me tighter.
Something inside of me snapped.
“Let me go!” I managed to wriggle my hand free and slashed my nails across the bicep still wrapped around me.
“Ah, fuck!” he growled. His grip tautened, an iron band caging me against him.
A crackling snarl sent a ripple across my nerves, and I looked back to the eyes still watching me from the corner of the room, where a massive black wolf stepped into the light.
My breath hitched, and I froze. A wolf?
Cool fabric brushed across my legs, my body wrapped in a black leather cloak. Not the tattered dress.
Melantha’s corpse was no longer beside me. I trailed my gaze over the familiar cave walls that surrounded me.
“It’s just a nightmare.”
As Zevander’s voice breached my thoughts, I dropped my gaze to the hand still binding me and the scorpion that’d settled back into his skin.
Oh, no.
I twisted around, eyes darting to the gash in his bicep where I’d cut him. Slapping a trembling hand to my mouth, I let out a gasp and kicked myself backward. “I’m … what have I done?”
He lurched forward, reaching out a hand, but I quickly dodged him, scrambling further away. Zevander looked beyond me and gave a nod. “She’s fine. You can leave,” he ordered, and I didn’t bother to turn around when I heard the wolf grunt, followed by his retreating footsteps.
All I could do was stare at the wound I’d inflicted. One he hadn’t asked for.
“What did I do?” Fingers lodged in my hair, I thought back to the voice I’d heard, the one I’d sworn belonged to Drefan.
“You did what you needed to do.”
“Needed to do? No. I didn’t need to attack you.” I winced as I recalled how viciously I’d lashed out at him. “Please forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” he said, but a glance toward that wound showed blood spilling out of it, the depth of those gaping edges telling me it needed stitches. “Just a scratch.” His voice carried a hint of amusement unfitting for the remorse I felt.
A realization he must’ve noticed himself when he gripped my arms, pulling me closer. “I’m fine. It was just a nightmare.”
“I thought …” I frowned, recalling how vivid it’d been. “It was as if I were there.”
“I wish I could tell you they go away.” He raised his palm, and the light that flashed across it had me turning to see the handwoven door rising up from the floor, where it leaned against the entrance, blocking out the wolf on the other side. “Seems you’ve acquired some extra guards. The alpha insists on staying close.” He jerked his head toward something behind me. “There’s food if you’re hungry.”
I swept my gaze over the cave, noting how the small space didn’t quite feel as cold and empty as earlier, with piles of blankets gathered around the fire and plates of fruit and meat.
No sign of Drefan’s mutilated body. Not a drop of blood where he’d lain.
“I burned it all,” Zevander said, as if reading my mind. “Every trace of him.”
A mist of tears blurred my vision. “Is this real?”
“Yes.” Zevander reached out, gently cupping my face. “You’re here. With me.” His hips shifted below me, prodding me to sit forward, and he lifted the scorpion necklace from his pocket, handing it to me. “Take this. It fell out of your dress at the hot springs. I’ve found it useful when my thoughts get away from me.”
Clutching it in my hand, I ran my thumb over the scorpion’s tail, my thoughts reeling me back to the very moment I’d realized he was alive and I was safe.
Perhaps it was the overwhelming relief of being there, with him, and not in that cold cell, or his gentle touch pulling me further from that nightmare, but whatever control I’d managed over my emotions seeped through the cracks of my composure. A rigid clench stung my jaw, as I fought to contain it, the pain I’d held in my chest forcing its way up my throat.
