29. Willow
Willow
I slept for three cycles. When I woke, my mates were nearly beside themselves with worry, bouncing off the walls with the sheer amount of pent-up anxiety.
Now, Rhune won’t stop hovering, and Nyx keeps checking my pulse every few minutes like he doesn’t trust his own eyes to tell him I’m still breathing.
And the worst part is, it feels like I didn’t sleep a wink.
I’m just as tired as when I passed out, and my body aches in places and ways I never knew it could.
My head feels like someone is slowly hammering a rusty nail into the center of my brain, and my skin is crawling with ants.
I’m burning up and freezing cold all at once, and my nailbeds itch something terrible.
Rhune has caught me several times trying to claw off my own nails in my sleep, and the only way he got me to stop was by bundling my hands into mittens with some fur scraps.
On the bright side, when I woke, I found that Dravik was able to salvage some necessary items from the lair.
He managed to pull some furs and bowls from the wreckage, plus a few bottles of welwig sap and an ancient tome that Nyx specifically asked him to look for.
In addition, Dravik has kept himself busy foraging, so now I have a good supply of healthy, hearty foods that I enjoy.
Not that I’m all that hungry. I’m mostly just counting down the minutes until my mates deem it acceptable for me to fall back asleep. It’s all I want to do lately, though it worries them terribly. I’d probably worry too, if I wasn’t so damn sleepy.
I raise my head, finding all four demons staring at me like I’m a fragile piece of china that might fall to pieces any moment.
I let out a deep sigh. “What’s wrong, guys?”
“Your eyes…” Nyx’s brow narrows in a frown.
Oh. Shit. “Are they bleeding again?” I reach up and touch the skin around my eyes, but there’s no fluid leaking from them. Silver lining, I suppose.
“They’re not bleeding. They are glowing, though.” Nyx’s lips press into a thin line. “How do you feel? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
“Honestly? I’m just so damn tired.” I reach out, stretching in a wide yawn. “I feel like I could sleep for a year.”
“Please don’t.” Rhune leans in, a low whine echoing from his throat. “I am so worried about you, pup. I don’t like how much you’re resting.”
“Maybe I need some fresh air? That actually sounds really good now that I think about it…”
The demons exchange nervous glances.
“I don’t know,” Dravik says slowly. “What if we encounter another arachnyx?”
“If we do, we can run down into the tunnels again.” Now that I’ve said it out loud, the thought of tasting the sunlight and breathing fresh air has taken root, spreading through me like wildfire.
I’m obsessed. I need to go outside. I have to see the sky, feel the fresh air in my lungs.
Be anywhere else other than this small cave that reeks of ancient magic.
After a few more minutes of hushed, worried muttering among themselves, they finally cave.
“Okay,” Dravik grumbles. “We will take you to the surface. But only for a few minutes.” He lobs a pointed glare at Rhune, and adds, “That is an order for you too, Rhune. I know you will cave if she so much as looks at you. Remember, this is for her safety.”
Rhune huffs like he’s offended, but I don’t miss the guilty smile tugging at his mouth.
Pushing on my toes, I press my lips to Rhune’s cheek.
As soon as I make contact, the bond thrums, and a delighted purr rumbles in Rhune’s throat.
He curves his wing around my shoulder, pulling me in tight to his side. “What can I say? I am weak for you.”
I chuckle, leaning my head on his broad chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”
Rhune scoops me into his arms without asking, and the four of us fly through the tunnel and up toward the surface, Cin following far behind and checking for threats.
When we finally emerge, I have to blink hard against the assault of light.
The silver sun hangs high overhead, casting everything in that strange, shimmering glow.
Rhune holds me in his lap as he settles at the edge of the cliff, and for a moment, I just sit there, soaking it in.
But it doesn’t take long for the unease to creep back in.
Today, there are no birds to speak of. There is no animal life at all, really. Even the creepy tentacle creatures I saw the other day don’t seem to be active.
I gaze around, noting the stillness in the air. It presses against my skin, heavy and wrong, and for a moment, it feels like I can’t breathe.
Wasn’t it just storming? The flurries seem to have stopped entirely, like the sky is holding its breath.
Maybe it was a bad idea to come up here after all…
I grip Rhune’s arm, my nails digging into his skin.
My fear is cresting in my veins, filling my head with a violent whooshing sound.
My mind drags me back to the arachnyx attack—how fast it all happened, how close I was to death.
Would we even be able to hear a spider approaching?
What if it’s crawling up the cliffside now, as I think about it?
Paranoia creeps up my spine, and I whip my head over my shoulder, certain I will see those beady black eyes and chittering jaws once more. But there’s nothing.
“You okay, Willow? Your heart is racing.” Rhune presses his warm palm to my chest, his eyes wide with worry. “You look terrified.”
“It’s nothing.” I shake my head, trying to get a hold of my breathing. “I just… I just need a moment to calm down…”
An iron poker pierces my temple, and I suck in a sharp breath as pain lances through me. I reach up, cupping my head with both hands, but it does nothing to stop the fire spreading through me. It licks down my spine and tears through my veins until I’m choking on an agonized scream I can’t release.
“Willow? Willow!”
I’m vaguely aware of hands on my body, gripping, shaking, and desperate, but I’m too lost to the pain to pay them any mind. It’s like I’m being ripped apart from the inside out, like my soul is on fire, and I don’t know how much more I can take before I pass out from the sheer agony of it all.
What is happening to me?
The sky opens up above us, releasing an onslaught of snow and hail.
They whip through the air in violent, stinging sheets, tearing at my exposed skin and adding to the pain pulsing through my system.
Within moments, the snow is too thick to see through, and it’s so cold I swear I can feel the blood freezing in my veins.
The pain crests, sharp and blinding, and my vision fills with black spots, consuming my sight and filling me with dread. I fight to hang on, but there’s a real, terrifying possibility I won’t be able to much longer.
Don’t fight. Give in.
I rail against that little voice in the back of my mind, refusing to listen to it.
I’m a fighter. I’ve made it this far. I’ve made it through Nathan’s betrayal, through ice storms and nightmarish creatures and things that should have killed me a dozen times over.
I’m not going to let a little headache take me down.
A debilitating, skull-splitting headache, sure. But it’s just a headache. Just a headache…
“Willow! Willow, it’s okay! Just breathe!”
What do you mean? I am breathing?
“Come on, Rhune! We need to get her out of this storm!”
“We can’t move her like this!”
“If we stay out here, we’ll all die!”
Their voices sound so far away. So very, very far away. I want to reach out and hold on to them, to let them drag me back from the brink I’m teetering on, but I fear that I’m already too far gone.
“Hold on, Willow! Hold on!”
I can’t… I can’t…
A gentle pressure closes over my mouth, and the pleasurable warmth that follows soothes some of the raw ache burning deep in my soul. I breathe out a shaky sigh of relief, leaning into the sensation and letting it draw me back from the edge.
Slowly, my eyes drift open, and I realize I’m kissing Dravik.
Wait? What!
Startled, I try to pull back, but I’m flat on the ground with nowhere to go. It’s only then that I realize what’s actually happening. Dravik isn’t kissing me. He’s breathing air into my lungs in slow, measured breaths. Shame floods hot and fast across my face at the understanding.
Thankfully, Dravik notices that my eyes are open, and he pulls back from the embrace. Four horned heads peek into view, their mouths turned down and multicolored eyes swimming with concern.
“How do you feel?” Dravik asks. “Can you talk?”
“I… yes.” I clear my throat, nervous at the intensity in their gazes. “I can talk.”
“Are you thirsty?” Rhune asks, shoving a cupful of water toward my lips. I take a small sip, nearly choke, and Nyx has to physically pull Rhune back to stop him from waterboarding me.
“I’m sorry, pup,” he whispers, whining pitifully. “I wasn’t trying to drown you.”
“I know, Rhune,” I croak. “You’re very sweet. I appreciate you.”
Nyx leans in, tapping my chest with a clawed finger. “Your heart stopped, Willow,” Nyx chokes. “We thought… We were certain that we lost you.”
I shake my head, unable to believe it. Looking around the room, I realize we’re back in the cave, but I have no memory of us coming back here. The last thing I remember is being on top of the cliff, barely holding on.
“I don’t remember.” I hug my arms tighter around my middle, and despite the furs piled around me, I’m frozen straight to the bone. Kevin nudges my arm, his flat little face pressed close, and I reach over to scratch behind his ear, wanting to reassure him. Wanting to comfort myself.
Nyx and Rhune settle in close on either side of me, their large bodies crowding into the nest of furs and wrapping me in their heat.
Rhune tucks his wing over my shoulders like a blanket, and Nyx presses his forehead gently to my temple, humming a soothing, strangely familiar tune that lulls me to sleep.
Part of me wants to stay awake and ask what happened, but my eyelids are so heavy, and the warmth surrounding me is so overwhelming. I can’t fight it much longer.
Slowly, I drift back into the dark, listening to the worried whispers of my mates from somewhere far, far away.