Chapter 28 Eviana #2
But she didn’t get to finish because a violent burst of wind hit her square in the chest, sending her flying through the air.
Her power tried to help her, branches and leaves reaching for her, but she still slammed into the trunk of a tree too hard.
Her head snapped back as her spine collided with rough bark, and then she dropped to the forest floor.
On her hands and knees, she tried to suck in a breath after getting the air knocked out of her.
The spots in her vision didn’t help, and she blinked rapidly, trying to dispel them.
“Corbin!” Lange bellowed, and he really needed to shut the fuck up. One Dread-Nymph was already here. He was calling more to a godsdamn feast.
“Lange,” she hissed, crawling forward and pushing to her feet.
She swayed some but kept going, watching him wrap his power around the tree roots keeping him tethered.
Then he released his grip on the wind, and it snapped the roots before twisting around Lange like a funnel and lifting him into the air.
Good gods. No wonder Valter had been in a good mood after receiving his files the night Theon had claimed the male. She knew he was powerful, but this was…
This was a godsdamn nightmare.
She couldn’t spend her time trying to reason with him.
She needed to find the Dread-Nymph before he disappeared into the woods.
They would never find him, but Corbin would never stop trying.
Then she’d be alone—not that she cared—but survival was easier in the woods with others.
She just needed them to help her get to the Serafina Estate and get away with the girl.
Then they could all go their separate ways.
“Corbin!” Lange yelled. “I’m coming!” He looked down at Eviana, his expression cold and murderous. “I’m going to kill you for doing this again. Every time I think maybe you’re not a cold-hearted bitch, you prove just how wrong I am.”
The words sliced through her, and she hated it. Because words shouldn’t have any effect on her, but for some reason, those did. Those did, and she couldn’t let them.
“Where is it?” she whispered, crouching down to press her palms to the dirt once more. “Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?”
Then she felt the tiniest of flutters against her palm.
She lifted one to find a sapling poking up from the ground.
Another sprung up a few feet away. Then another.
She stood following them, moving farther and farther away from the campsite.
Away from Lange. All the while knowing he was going in the opposite direction, and where was Corbin?
Couldn’t he hear all the commotion? What if something really was wrong?
What if—
“Hello, my flower.”
She froze, his voice an icy chill that settled into her bones.
He stepped from behind a tree. His dark hair and deep emerald eyes. His shadows a swarm around him, trailing each step. His perfectly tailored suit.
No. He couldn’t be here.
She reached for her knife, wanting the pain to draw her out, but in her rush, she’d left it behind.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
“I am so incredibly disappointed in you, Eve,” he sighed in mock dismay, but she knew better. There was little Valter enjoyed more than discipline and correcting behavior. “Although you did make your punishment so much easier by bringing me all the way to the Serafina Kingdom, didn’t you?”
He was before her now, and she could do nothing. Clasping her hands in front of her like she’d done thousands of times, she dropped her eyes to the ground. But long fingers wrapped around her chin, forcing her face back up.
“None of that now, Eve,” he said coldly. “You thought you could leave me? You thought you could hide from me?”
His grip on her face was bruising, and she forced herself not to wince. Not to react. Forced herself to shove down all the emotions and become the same nothing she’d always been because it was the only way to survive.
Valter’s other hand came up, petting down her hair. “The only way to be free of me is by death. Is that what you wish for, my flower? Death?”
Yes. She couldn’t say that, but she would take death a thousand times over before going back to Arius House with him.
He knew though. Even without the bond, she’d shown her hand the day she’d blocked their bond and ran. All her cards were on the table, so what was there to even try to hide now?
That hand on her hair turned into a fist, grasping a handful of strands and yanking hard. “Death would be a kindness, and you have lost any affection I had for you,” he hissed.
Pulling on her hair again, he forced her to her knees. If only this was the worst he would do, she would survive it easily. Cocks and cunts were nothing anymore, but she knew this wouldn’t be it. She would pay for this betrayal for the rest of her immortal years.
A small tendril of green brushed along her thigh, tiny leaves and flowers unfurling from the vine, and it was only then she remembered she was in the woods.
The Dreamlock Woods.
Whipping her head to the side, she saw it.
Tall and lithe, her white eyes glowed in the darkening forest. Lanky black hair flowed down her back, tangled in the branches that were part of her.
Her gown was decaying leaves, and her fingers were sharpened twigs.
A walking spirit of the forest, the Dread-Nymph smiled, all her teeth as sharp and pointed as a Night Child’s fangs.
She hadn’t realized they could ensnare more than one victim at a time.
Either that or there were two here. But she couldn’t harm it with her power.
The Dread-Nymphs were part of nature. A grotesque anomaly, yes, but part of nature nonetheless.
Her power was the earth and plants and everything the Dread-Nymphs were.
That was what made them so godsdamn difficult.
All Fae gifts were powers of nature. But none of the three of them were just Fae.
They all had other blood flowing in them that she had hoped would help.
Foolish.
So godsdamn foolish thinking she could take on the Dreamlock Woods.
And now she stood at an impasse and the creature knew it. Her wicked smile widened, those razor-sharp teeth gleaming in the dying light, ready to devour. And maybe a piece of her was ready to let it.
But not until she saved that child.
She turned on her heel and ran, racing back the way she’d come, praying to anyone but the fucking gods that she was going the right way.
The trail of saplings was still there though, and it led her right back to her pack.
She frantically dug through it, throwing items to the side without thought until she found the dagger she’d taken from Raven Harbor.
Then spun, ready to hunt down the creature, but she didn’t have to. It had followed her.
So had her nightmare.
“You can’t kill me, Eve,” he sighed, reaching for her. “You are mine. My Source of power. Mine to do with whatever I please.” Those long fingers wrapped around her wrist while his other hand reached for the weapon.
But then she cocked her arm back and threw it.
It sank into the Dread-Nymph’s torso, just below her heart.
She tipped her head back, a screeching wail coming from her mouth that had Eviana dropping to her knees and clamping her hands over her ears.
It did nothing. That piercing cry tore through her, nightmare after nightmare flashing before her eyes.
Mansel at the Villas.
Correction with Valter.
Torturing innocents.
A babe being snatched away from her.
She didn’t know if it was the creature’s wails or her own screams anymore, and gods, it was never going to end.
It felt like hours when it stopped. Her throat was on fire, and she could feel scratches on her face from her own nails. She was curled into a ball on the ground, mud and debris in her hair, and any daylight was long gone. There was no fire. No stars.
Only two glowing feline eyes staring down at her.
Corbin.
With a soft flash of light, he Shifted, thankfully still fully clothed. The male crouched down, arms resting on his bent knees.
“I think you killed it,” he said somberly.
“I think it tried to take me with it,” she bit out, pushing up onto her knees.
“No more splitting up,” he said, standing once more and stretching out a hand to her. “They know we’re here now.”
Her eyes darted from his face to his outstretched hand and back again.
Corbin sighed. “I’m helping you stand. That’s all. There’s no debt to be owed. It’s a simple kindness.”
“Nothing is simple in Devram,” she retorted.
“Nothing is simple with you, nightmare,” he said, but there was no bite to it. “I just watched you thrash on the ground, screaming to the Pits of Torment, for nearly ten minutes. I doubt you can stand by yourself.”
She huffed, but he had a point. So she placed her hand in his, letting him pull her to her feet. Then an arm slid around her waist when her legs nearly gave out.
“See? Help isn’t so bad,” he said, a teasing note to his voice as he led her back to the clearing. When had she even left it? The last she remembered, she’d been here throwing things out of the backpack.
“It’s rather pathetic that I can’t even stand properly,” she replied flatly.
“You look pathetic,” Lange said from where he sat beside a small fire, feeding it more kindling to help it grow.
“Thanks,” she rasped, slowly lowering beside him with Corbin’s help. Her entire body ached.
They were silent as Corbin continued to set up for the night, and she and Lange just sat, lost in their nightmares. Because that was what the Dread-Nymphs did. Forced you to live out your greatest fears. Paralyzed you so they could devour you.
It was only after Corbin had passed her a cup of hot water heated over the fire that she said to Lange, “So, one of your greatest fears is that I will betray you.”
It wasn’t a question; she’d witnessed it with her own eyes. Heard the words he’d hurled at her.