say to stay back, you listen!”
No response. Not that I expected one, but the whole situation is fucked up. “I don’t know how you did it, but I don’t appreciate you crawling under my skin and into my thoughts. I can’t get your scent out of my nose, the softness of your body out of my head, and the hunger to take you grows by the day.”
Behind me, the bear rises on hind legs, completely healed, and my heart almost stops as the creature stares at me with full intention to charge after us. I need a place to hide Narah, to get her out of harm’s way.
“You want to know the truth,” I say and sprint forward, holding her tight against me as she bounces in my arms. “I don’t want to like you or take you as mine. I promised myself I wouldn’t. Not with how complicated and shitty my life is. But everything about you makes me question myself, and whatever you’ve done to bewitch me needs to end. Because right now, I’m going to take you as mine and keep you for eternity. And that right there scares the fuck out of me more than the monster coming for my blood.”
The ground shudders behind me, and I face the charging animal.
In that same split second, my knees suddenly give out beneath me as a strange sensation envelops me. One of exhaustion, of utter weakness, and with it the world around me wavers.
What the fuck?
My arms slacken, and Narah slips from my grasp. She falls to the ground as everything around me tilts.
Terror grips me. What’s happening to me? With my last bit of strength, I wrench my head up to the bear just as his body starts dissolving into black mist. The creature vanishes just as fast as darkness sweeps over my mind and steals me from this world.
Narah
Something soft strokes my cheek, and it takes moments for my thoughts to snap back to reality, to remind myself of the spell with the bears and what a dangerous situation we’re all in.
I flip open my eyes at once with that thought, and Crius is looking down at me, smirking.
“How are you feeling, gorgeous?” he asks and pushes loose strands of hair from my brow, and I wince from the touch. “You’ve earned yourself a massive bruise.” He reaches down and pokes me in the brow.
“Ouch.” I bat his hand away and push myself up. Crius doesn’t miss a beat and takes my hand, then I’m on my feet in a flash. At first, the land around me sways, and I grasp onto his strong arm until I find my balance.
Crius’s embrace constricts, not letting me fall. I grip his shirt.
The place is so quiet, and I can feel the rush of cool air against my face, hear the thud of my heart in my ears. We are no longer in the clearing, but by the river’s water once more. A fire burns nearby, while in the distance Ragnar, Nikos, and Stone are strolling toward us along the water’s edge.
“You’ve healed,” I say, staring down at Crius’s body. “You were bleeding terribly from the bear’s attack.”
“My wound has closed up, and it won’t take long to completely heal. You’ve been unconscious for a couple of hours now.”
“I have?” Echoes of what we recently went through ripple over my mind, while the trees sway in the cool breeze and the river glistens beneath the sunlight. I glance up, because I’ve missed the sun.
“You saved us,” Crius tells me, his hand sweeping more hair off my face, and at his touch, I melt. “Very clever way of doing it, too. Though I will warn you… not everyone is particularly happy about being forced to share their secrets with you.”
I blink at him, at his sharp jawline and cheekbones, at those brilliant hazel eyes with green flecks. “I was trying to save your lives.” I think back to Crius admitting he wasn’t afraid of dying but cared more about impressing others.
“The way I see it, I’ve told you something intimate, and you helped save me. You didn’t need to, but I appreciate it,” he mutters.
“Do you really not care about dying?” The words slip past my lips in a whisper, and I regret them at once.
He stares at me for a long pause, his expression turning impassive. “I should have died long ago for my actions, Narah, and no, that’s not a secret you will ever pry out of me.”‘