31. Willow
Willow
My knees protest as I crouch low to the ground, and I have to bite my lip to hold back a pained groan.
Over the past few cycles, my body pains have progressively gotten worse, and no matter how many healing baths I take, I’m filled with a deep ache that’s impossible to ignore.
I don’t know what to do, and I want to get rid of this pain more than anything.
It’s in my bones, in my blood, and I’m starting to worry it will never go away.
At first, I thought it might have been all the sex I’ve been having lately, and that my mate’s appetites were too harsh on my human physique.
But even when they gave me a break, the ache still remained.
Once that was ruled out, I thought it might be the cold, but even while lounging in the heated pools and curled up in warm furs, the pain pounds in my ears.
Pushing my discomfort to the back of my mind, I reach for the wrinkled palepear hiding within the thin fissure of ice, struggling to get my frozen fingers to grasp its soft flesh.
“Would you like some help, pup?” Rhune holds his hand up, gesturing to his large pointed claws. “These were made to pluck palepears for my beautiful mate.”
I laugh under my breath, a pleasurable warmth in my belly replacing some of my aches. “You’re sweet, Rhune. I almost have it, though.”
Determined now more than ever, I shove my hand deep into the crevice, ignoring the slice of pain across the back of my palm as the ice cuts into my skin. “Aha!”
I yank my hand from the fissure, holding the palepear high above my head with a whoop of triumph. “I did it!”
Rhune claps his hands together in a raucous round of applause. “I knew you could! I’m so proud of you!”
“Didn’t you try to do it for her, though?” Nyx’s mouth tugs into a teasing smirk as he reaches out, poking Rhune’s cheek with his claw.
Rhune huffs, slapping Nyx’s hand away. “I knew she could, but I wanted to do it for her anyway. There is a difference. And I am still proud of her.”
I laugh under my breath, stepping up to Rhune and wrapping my arms around his middle. “You’re too cute. Did you know that?”
“Yes. I never tire of hearing it, though.” His arm curls around my shoulders as he leans down, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “As long as you are the one saying it.”
I press my cheek to his chest, listening to the steady drum of his heart. I’ve never been this happy, never felt this safe or this loved. I didn’t know it was an option before, but now that I have it, I’ll do anything to keep it.
“Do you want to go look for more shells?” Rhune asks, taking the palepear from me and tucking it into the pouch at his waist. “I saw a pretty purple one earlier and noted its exact position. I thought you might like to add it to your collection.”
I grin, nodding, my heart swelling at his thoughtfulness. “I’d love to. Show me what you found.”
He takes my hand, leading me along the base of the cliffs toward the coastline, and I breathe in the fresh air, grateful I asked him and Nyx to bring me up here while Dravik and Cin are off hunting.
The storm has finally settled, and between my protective suit and the extra layer of fur draped over my shoulders, I actually feel almost cozy.
That, or my fever is worse than I thought.
We’re just about to step past the shelter of the cliffs onto the open beach when Kevin loses it. He wails, stomping his hoofed feet, and darts in front of me, blocking my path entirely.
“What’s wrong, Kevin?”
Kevin lets out another frantic bleat, nudging his head hard against my leg. When that doesn’t work, he shoves his whole body against me until he’s forced me back behind the safety of the cliff wall.
“What is he doing?” Rhune wonders.
“Something’s scaring him. He acted this way when the arachnyx was near.”
Fear hardens in the pit of my stomach as Nyx tips his head back, his gaze lifting skyward and searching for threats. Suddenly, his face slackens, and his turquoise eyes flash with undeniable fear.
“Nyx…?”
Before I speak another word, his wing snaps out, and he yanks me hard against his chest, curling his whole body around mine as he drags us behind a jagged outcropping in the rock.
Rhune follows without question, crouching with his back to us in a protective stance, wings half-flared and teeth bared in a vicious snarl.
“What’s wrong?” I whisper. “What did you see?”
“Demons,” Nyx answers, his muscles tensing around me. “None that I recognize.”
My mouth falls open. “There are other demons here?” I suppose it makes sense when I think about it, but the thought never occurred to me until now. “Are they dangerous? Is that why we’re hiding?”
“I don’t know.” Nyx’s jaw tightens. “I’m not going to risk it, though.”
We stay pressed together behind the rock for what feels like forever, my heart hammering loud enough that I’m worried it’ll give us away. Finally, Nyx eases up just enough to peek over the edge, and I feel some of the tension bleed out of him. “Okay. I think they’re gone.”
“Are you sure?” Rhune asks. “What if they are waiting to ambush us?”
Nyx shakes his head slowly, though I catch the way his eyes keep flicking back toward the open sky. “Their scents have dissipated entirely. They’ve gone—likely in the direction of the welwig forest.”
After several more assurances, Rhune relaxes his stance, his wings settling back against his shoulders. Nyx unwinds himself from around me a moment later, and the three of us step out from our cramped hiding spot.
Rhune’s gaze sweeps the horizon, his brow still pinched with worry. “We haven’t come across any other demons in decades. Are you sure it was not just a trick of the light?”
“I’m positive they were demons. Six males and a female. One of each color—red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and onyx. And the woman… she had black feathered wings.”
“Feathered?” Rhune’s voice rises with surprise. “She was not our kind, then.”
“No.” Nyx’s frown deepens as a distant memory creeps into his eyes. “Something about the males seemed to tug at my memory… Slaine’s memory, that is…” He shakes his head. “It does not matter. With any luck, we will not run into them again.”
I shiver, and Rhune wraps his wings around me, tucking me in a comforting embrace. “Do not worry, pup. We will protect you. You are safe as long as I am by your side. I will be your faithful guard dog.”
I can’t help but smile, and some of the tightness in my chest loosens. “Okay. I believe you.”
We go back to looking for shells after that, though the mood has shifted into something far more somber, and Nyx and Rhune refuse to stray more than a few steps away from me, their eyes scanning, wary.
Wanting to salvage something about our outing, I walk along the coastline, careful to keep a safe distance from the water so I don’t get snagged by one of the tentacled creatures lurking beneath the surface.
I pick through the treasures scattered along the shore, marveling at their beautiful iridescent hues and trying to take my mind off the feeling of dread in my stomach.
I’m bending down for a particularly stunning pink shell when a low, monotone horn sound fills the air, deep enough that I feel it reverberate in my chest. I straighten, looking out toward the ocean just as a spiked, whale-like tail crests the surface, sending a spray of water arcing into the sky.
The droplets catch the light of the silver sun, scattering into a thousand tiny rainbows before they fall back to the surface of the choppy waters.
I open my mouth to ask Nyx what the animal is when my vision shifts, sending me teetering off-balance. For a split second, I swear I can see the outline of a welwig tree far out on the horizon. It’s glowing, pulsing an angry red hue that warns of death and destruction.
But when I blink, it’s gone. There’s nothing out there but open water and ice.
“So weird,” I whisper.
A shiver races down my spine, and I take a step back, my eyes still fixed on the empty horizon. Because I’m not paying attention, I step into a deep crevice of icy sand, and my ankle rolls, sending me straight back onto my ass.
I sit there in stunned silence for a second, then huff a laugh. Smooth, Willow. Real smooth.
“Willow! Are you hurt?”
Rhune and Nyx are at my side before I can blink, their hands running over my arms and shoulders and checking for damage.
“What happened?” Rhune asks. “You went down before either of us had time to move.”
“Nothing happened. I’m just clumsy. I’m okay, I promise,” I say, hoping to soothe his worry with a bright smile. Though, it doesn’t seem to work the way I hoped.
“Your palm is bleeding,” Rhune notes, his frown deepening as he reaches for my wrist.
“Is it?” I pull my hand up to my face, and my heart skips at the sight of blood coating my palm.
At least… I think it’s blood. It’s oozing from a gash in my skin like blood should, and it has the same texture and thickness.
But… It’s black.
My stomach lurches, and I blink hard, certain I’m imagining it or that the light out here is somehow playing tricks on me. But blood continues oozing black from my palm, and no matter how I turn my hand or how many times I blink, it stays the same.
That same low, monotone horn sound rolls across the water again, and my head snaps toward the ocean. The welwig is back, and it’s closer now. Not only that, but its outline has sharpened like it’s something solid—real.
I try to say something, to warn my mates, but the words never make it out. A blinding pain splits through my skull instead, so sudden and powerful it steals the air from my lungs.
The vision drags me under.
Blinding light swirls in front of my eyes, vibrant shifting into a kaleidoscope of magical energy.
The colors shift, converge, and wings of lightning fill my vision.
They’re impossibly vast, unfurling against a sky torn open with storm and raw magic, and they reach for me with powerful tendrils of energy, seeking to mend me and tear me apart in the same breath.
There’s Blood, and Death, and Something tearing itself apart just to be born again in an explosion of raw, ancient energy. And at the center of it all, a face flickers into focus.
It’s ethereal, terrifying, and almost too beautiful to look at, with eyes of the deepest, most impossible shade of red I’ve ever seen. The mouth opens, and a scream tears free that rattles straight to the marrow of my bones, freezing me to the spot and filling my head with searing, fiery pain.
Wake up! it screams. Wake up!
My vision shatters, the colors explode, and everything goes black.
I’m floating, weightless, swallowed whole by the dark, happy to drift into nothing.
That is, until I catch sight of a single dot of blue light glowing in the distance.
Desperately, I reach for it, but the harder I chase it, the farther it seems to drift.
Then I hear Rhune’s voice, low and steady, cutting through the dark like a lifeline.
“Willow! Willow!”
I follow the voice without hesitation, letting it lead me toward that pulsing blue light, allowing it to bring me back from the brink.
When I finally open my eyes, I’m greeted with the pale light of the silver sun and Rhune’s handsome face hovering above mine.
I’m lying flat on the ground, my head cradled in his lap, his wings curled around me like a shield.
For some reason, I can’t remember what just occurred or why I’m here. It’s all just… blank. “What… what happened?” I ask, my voice unusually hoarse.
“You had an attack,” Rhune whispers, his voice pitched with worry. “As soon as you saw your blood, you passed out and started convulsing again. Only this time, your eyes were wide open, and you were saying… things.” His grip tightens on my shoulders. “Do you really not remember anything?”
I shake my head slowly. My body feels heavy, and there’s a horrible itchiness between my shoulderblades that’s making it hard to focus. Not to mention the fact that my head feels like it’s about to explode.
I glance down at my palms and freeze.
My skin is luminous. Glowing faintly from somewhere underneath the surface, like there’s silver light pooling just beneath my skin with nowhere left to go but out.
What the fuck…
Before I can even try to make sense of it, a sharp pain lances through my skull, so powerful it doubles me over into a dry heave. It’s worse than anything I’ve ever felt before, and for one horrible moment, it makes me want to beg for death.
Then, all at once, it stops. I’m left breathless, hollowed out, and strangely, terrifyingly complete.
That’s when the voice speaks.
It doesn’t belong to Rhune. It doesn’t belong to Nyx, or Dravik, or anyone I know. It doesn’t even belong to me.
Hey girl.
I scream, stumbling back while my mates stare at me like I’ve lost my mind. I slap my hands over my ears, gaping at them. “Didn’t you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Rhune demands. “What is wrong?”
This convo is just between us, Willow. No boys allowed.
“Who the fuck are you?” I demand, looking around for the source of the voice, refusing to believe I’ve gone crazy and it’s all in my head. “Show yourself!”
The voice sighs, tinged with something that sounds suspiciously like irritation. Stop whipping your head around like an owl. You look ridiculous.
My mates crowd around me, alarm written plainly across every one of their handsome faces. “Willow, what’s wrong?”
Gods, they’re dramatic, aren’t they? I could snap your fingers and turn them to ash, and they dote over you like you’re made of glass. There’s a low chuckling sound. Actually, it’s kind of cute. I will let them live. For now.
“For now?” I demand, shaken.
Yes, the voice says. When I inevitably tire of their antics, they can be disposed of. Males irritate me greatly, you see. In all my millennia, I have yet to discover one who is good for more than a romp or two in the furs.
I shake my head, all the blood rushing from my face. “This is insane,” I whisper, reaching up to press a shaking hand to my lips. A murderous, disembodied voice living rent free in my head until I croak? An awakening? What on earth is happening?
“Willow? Talk to me, please. Tell us what’s going on.” Rhune’s desperate plea attempts to pull me out of my thoughts, but it’s no use.
“I’ve gone nuts,” I whisper. “I’ve officially snapped.”
A laugh breaks out in the back of my mind, high-pitched and powerful and cruel. Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not crazy. You’re a serafyn, Willow. We are serafyn.
“A what?”
Another laugh, this one far more malicious than the first. Something born to destroy this entire world. And everything in it.
The End