Page 26 of Of Wind and Terror

“Whatever do you mean?” I ask, craning my head back to stare up at the sky.

Directly above me is a sky so blue, I swear the color doesn’t actually exist in real life. It’s riven here and there with white, fluffy clouds that I just want to touch. In the distance, however, the sky turns pitch black, and a few stars wink into existence.

Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter.

Night. Day.

All of them existing in uncanny yet beautiful harmony.

“You’ve been branded, my child.” Feather-like fingers trail down my bicep, and I turn to see the rigid outline of a strange mark. For some reason, I feel like it’s important, but I can’t put my finger on why. “With the Mark of Chaos on you, he’ll be able to track you wherever you go.”

“Mark of Chaos,” I repeat slowly, testing those words out on my tongue.

I sound strange, even to my own ears, as if I haven’t used my voice in some time.

Wait…

A memory niggles at my subconscious.

This is wrong.

I can’t speak.

But even as I think that, I struggle to wrap my head around the implications. Instead, I focus on the strange, disembodied, feminine voice.

“What do you mean? Who’s after me? What did he do to me?” I rub once more at my arm. I swear the skin there feels as if it’s burning.

Prickles of unease and trepidation skate down my spine.

All around me, the wind begins to blow even faster. I desperately shove strands of golden curls out of my face.

“What…?” I whisper, tilting my face up.

The white clouds from before have turned gray and bloated. They move across the sky like an army preparing for battle, just waiting to unleash their torrent on the unsuspecting paradise below.

Something wraps around my throat, and I gasp in surprise. The pain is almost unbearable, and I kick out fruitlessly and struggle to get in air. The pressure intensifies as tears prick the backs of my eyes.

And then a new voice echoes through the clearing—deep, husky, and laced with madness.

“I found you.”

I jerk upright in bed as my fuzzy memories begin to become clearer.

Heat unfurls in my cheeks when I think about what happened the night before.

Blaze.

Oh my Gaia.

His fingers on my skin…

His lips melding with my own…

His mouth on my most sensitive area…

I expect to feel his strong arms around me or maybe even see him lying beside me. It takes me a tick too long to realize that I’m not in the same bed I fell asleep in.

I survey the large room with the four-poster bed, midnight-colored canopy, and mahogany dresser.

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