Page 89 of Accidental Fae (Fae War Chronicles 1)
Fear ices my veins, and I’m helpless to do anything but stare up at him as he continues to advance. My attention is fully focused on Rafferty, so I don’t feel the icy tendrils snake around my wrist.
Not until it’s too late.
Something wrenches me backward, and I scream as branches and other brush rip at my skin. They tear at my clothes, slicing the skin of my back, my arms, my legs, as I’m dragged at breakneck speed through the forest.
“Ember!” Rafferty’s deafening roar is the last thing I hear before pain explodes in my head and everything goes black.
* * *
My skin is warm.
Too warm.
Sweat beads along my skin, slicking my hair to the side of my face. Slowly, I open my eyes as pain continues throbbing inside my brain. Every inch of my body hurts. Even my damned fingernails burn.
Vision clearing, I attempt to remain still, not wanting to alert whoever—or whatever—is lingering nearby.
Heat licks my body from a fire literally a foot from my face. The willpower to remain where I am is immense. Stone rises in front of and around me, telling me that I’m somewhere underground.
“You might as well sit, girl. We know you wake.” The raspy voice echoes through the cavern.
My heart pounds as I sit, and my vision swims once again. Every movement hurts; every breath aches. Lifting my shaking hands, I study the tears in my skin. Blood crusts every inch of my arms and what I can see of my ankles.
“Who—” I turn, having to twist my whole body, thanks to the stiffness in my neck, and very nearly scream when I get a look at the small creature behind me.
Wearing a black cloak, it’s hunched over with a face so pale it’s near translucent. Yellow eyes stare back at me from cavernous holes in its gaunt face. Teeth sharpened like knives are bared in a sinister grin.
“You were lost, girl,” it rasps.
“No. I wasn’t. What are you?”
“You were lost. We saved you.”
“I wasn’t lost. I was with someone,” I argue back. I try to stand. Pain shoots up my leg, and I drop back down, wincing as tears fill my eyes. “What happened?”
“We saved you,” it repeats. “We will deliver you to safety, and you will help us in return.”
“What—how am I supposed to help you?”
“You will feed us.”
My stomach churns. “Feed us?” I inquire, pretty damned sure I don’t want to know the answer.
“Your life will feed us.” It presses clawed hands to its chest. “It has been a while since we’ve eaten.”
I glance around the cavern, looking for the others, but see none. “Who is we?”
“We.” It gestures to itself again.
Swallowing hard, I scoot toward the door. The pain is so intense; every movement sends more tears to my eyes. “Please. My friend, he’s looking for me,” I manage through the tears.
“Your friend is bad. Very bad. We saved you.”
“No. You don’t understand. He’s not bad.”
“Heisbad.Wesaw it,” it counters. Then, it turns its back to me and begins to hum a dark tune I can’t even pretend to try to listen to. I attempt to scoot more but fall backward, unable to keep going when my entire body might as well be broken. Who knows, maybe it is.
“You hurt me,” I whisper. “You dragged me through the trees.”