Chapter 31
As a member of the Guild of Diafol Hunters, you have sworn a solemn oath to Evella and The Alliance to protect our methods and secrets.
You’ll be highly sought after, receiving lucrative payments for your services.
Any who share our secrets outside the Guild will be punished by immediate death. Even royalty are not privy to our ways.
— LORD SILAS VANCOURE, SELECT INSTRUCTIONS FOR DIAFOL HUNTERS
The pain convulsing through my broken form told me I still lived.
My eyes creaked open. Was it dark? Or had I cracked my skull, losing what little sight remained.
Gasping, I breathed deeply, forcing myself to focus on what was real.
What was tangible. The smell of rich earth floated up.
My cheeks were damp, most likely from fallen leaves, so I was still in the woods.
I swallowed and blinked, trying to wiggle my fingers.
They obeyed, but fuck did they hurt. My arms followed.
Each move was met with a fresh wave of sickening torture.
I lay, immobile, panting for a few moments.
My ribs screamed as though a knife stabbed into my lungs with each breath. But still I breathed, still I lived.
Toes wriggled. Legs slid. I hissed as one ankle twisted. Methodically, I tested each shaking limb, before forcing myself onto all fours.
I remained there, my tangled hair hanging in clumps, saliva dripping from my mouth. I spat. I should check for blood in my phlegm, but I didn’t need any more problems.
I lived. I breathed and I moved. How? I couldn’t comprehend. My last memory had been rolling down a slope, striking saplings and rocks, as my arms twisted, desperate to lock on to something and hold on. Then, nothing. Till now.
Strangled shards of dim light illuminated the scene.
I’d landed in a half-dead forest. Starved trees spread desperate boughs towards an indigo sky.
Damp leaves rotted beneath my quivering palms. Dark, misshapen rocks littered the ground.
And the wolf? Where was the wolf? I sobbed as the sound of his skull striking the tree echoed through my mind.
Perhaps he was unhurt. Perhaps he searched for me. I called his name but barely any sound came out. Shoving myself onto my thighs, I sat back, calling again.
The wind whispered secrets through the tumbling leaves, a solitary bird sang of love from the half-naked boughs, but there was no hint of the wolf.
A sob racked through my body, stealing my breath and focus.
Sitting on the damp earth, the chill biting my limbs, my ragged voice cried his name over and over, till the sun glowed her last through the creaking trees.
As darkness descended, I shuffled over to a silver birch and, gripping the trunk, hauled myself up. I could only hope he was injured and had crawled away to heal.
Putting weight on my twisted ankle, I stumbled, crying against the brittle tree trunk. There was no way I could stay here. I had to get away. Had to find Matthias before his treacherous brother did.
Why the prince had thrown me over the ledge was another matter entirely, and one I didn’t have time to consider now.
What had he told Matthias? Would he even look for me if Ifan lied?
Would Ifan console his brother? Wrap his arm around his grieving king with one hand, a dagger poised to rip his back open in the other?
‘I’ll kill him,’ I muttered, taking a shaky step. My ankle collapsed, and I gripped the trunk again, panting through the pain. A thick, gnarled branch caught my eye and a desperate laugh tumbled from my lips. Without the wolf, I truly did need a stick.
I limped over, falling again as I grabbed it, before hauling myself up once more and setting off through the trees.
Muttering, ‘I’ll kill him,’ like a mantra was the only thing keeping me going, and I imagined more violent and gory ways to end the prince.
I pressed a hand against my tender side, hissing at the pain, determined to break some of his ribs in return.
I pressed on, each jarring step sending a flash of pain through me as the trees thinned, the ground devoid of plants.
The quiet swelled, pressing in and stealing my breath.
Every few steps, I halted, straining for the barest hint of Matthias.
Nothing. Not the cry of a crow or scamper of a mouse, the skitter of a bug.
My rasping breath and the slide of my bleeding feet on the sodden ground, the only sign of a living being.
The night fell completely, and I faltered. The stick pressed into the ground, testing for obstacles, but I still stumbled every few steps. With a final cry, my body gave in and I propped my back against the rotting corpse of a long-dead tree.
I slipped in and out of a dreamless sleep. My mind constantly wandering back to the wolf and Matthias. I breathed against the ache of their loss. The dryness of my mouth, the gnawing knot of my empty stomach told me I wasn’t going to last long out here.
I barked out a laugh. All those times I wanted to prove how independent I was… and now look at me. An all-powerful Deviant about to die of a myriad of afflictions – none of which were caused by the blight!
The waning moon crawled out from behind a tattered cloud, casting the land with her silvery glow.
Sitting there wasn’t going to get me anywhere, but the thought of forcing myself back onto my feet, feeling the skin split with every step?
Tears streaked through the dirt of my face.
Staying put was surrender. I had to get to Matthias, warn him Ifan couldn’t be trusted.
Every few minutes, my attempts to stand were thwarted by a body stubbornly refusing.
My breath misted in the frigid air as fragments of laughter carried on the breeze.
I cocked my head, trying to silence my ragged breathing.
For a few moments, the only sound was the thundering beat of my heart. Then I heard them. My pulse spiked.
Voices!
Matthias! It had to be Matthias. My clammy hands slid down the branch. This was my chance.
I screamed his name. My raw voice splitting the night. For a few, painful moments, there was nothing. As I prepared to cry out again, faint shouts carried across the midnight air.
It was him! I stifled the sobs as I sank against the trunk. There’d be plenty of time to weep when he found me.
‘I’m here. Here. By this tree.’ My voice broke at the thought of seeing him again. That damned gorgeous smile. Shouts grew. A myriad of voices sweeter than bird song. I should have known they’d come for me.
‘Here,’ I yelled once more, sobbing as boots pounded the dry earth, growing louder with each second. I closed my eyes imagining the kisses I’d smother him with, after I’d downed a skinful of water first.
The boots pounded louder, and my heart stuttered. He’d have been on his horse. Why wasn’t he on a horse?
‘She’s here,’ a voice called, ‘behind that stump.’
My smile faltered. That wasn’t my husband, or Asher, or anyone I knew. As the footsteps crunched and thudded closer and closer, the sweat on my forehead chilled.
Three figures rounded the rotting stump. One held a Vyrium lamp so bright it took out my sight. Placing a shaky hand over my eyes, I peered up.
‘What the fuck is a pretty little thing like you doing out here?’
My guts knotted at the deep, slurred tone.
‘Dying, obviously,’ replied a woman’s voice, clipped and cruel.
One of the figures crouched but there was no way I could make out their features. My only hope was that they’d be friendly.
‘I’m lost…’
They laughed. ‘No shit.’
Definitely not friendly.
‘I-I need help.’ My chest cracked as the words left my mouth.
The crouching figure stood. ‘What d’ya reckon?’ he asked his fellows in a low voice.
The other male sniffed. ‘Bring her back. She looks like she’s done ten rounds with a ’fol.’
‘D’ya reckon she’s one of us?’
‘Nah, but what sort of bastards would leave a lovely young lady out here to turn to dust?’
Rough hands grabbed me. I’d used up all my energy getting this far. I dug my nails in, screaming as I tried to kick them with my sprained ankle.
My face crashed to the side as a palm slammed into it, and I stilled. They threw me over a shoulder and dragged me even further away from those I cared for.