Page 55 of Facet

After I crossed through the second gate, I heard Damien cry out. I rushed through the trees, unaware of the branches that grabbed at my clothes and scratched my skin. When I was near the edge of the wooded area, I froze.

What I saw almost crippled me. Damien was strapped to a tree, knees buckled and bleeding. Séamus seemed to be locked in a space that had walls I couldn’t see.

But the most horrifying part of it all was Maeve.

She was walking away from where Damien was bound and was moving toward Séamus. She had blood on her lips and chin, but the look on her face was what stopped me from rushing out there.

Her eyes glowed silver, a cruel smile distorted her mouth, and pure malice seeped from hereverywhere.

I needed something. I needed help, but I didn’t know if I’d make it all the way to the clubhouse and back in time. Whatever Maeve was up to was bad enough that Séamus had found a way to reach out to me. And the necklace Damien gave me had certainly gotten my attention.

Each step away from them brought the pain back. “I fucking get it,” I gritted out. “I’m going back!”

It seemed to ease up a bit, but I certainly still felt it. I trudged back the way I came, looking around for something I could use as a weapon.

There, by the gate, half covered with overgrown grass and weeds, was an old shovel. Rusted from being left out in the elements, and the handle weathered and cracked, it didn’t look like much. Yet it was all I had. I needed to get back.

By the time I burst through the edge of the trees, my feet were burning and throbbing, but I ignored them as I closed in on Maeve.

Where before, Séamus had been glaring at her and fighting to get free, suddenly he stood stock-still. Maeve didn’t see me sneaking up because she was too busy leering at Séamus like she wanted to eat him—or fuck him.

I shuddered.

In horror, I watched as he undressed, then lifted her long flowing dress off her and tossed it to the side.

Talk about awkward. Though I didn’t want to interrupt a lover’s tryst, with Damien stuck to a tree, I didn’t think that was what was going on. Something was incredibly off about this, and I was ready to kill her for what it seemed she had done to Damien.

When Séamus lifted her and drove his length into her, he looked enraptured, but his eyes were angry. He dropped to his knees, and they rolled until she was riding him. With each undulation of her pale white hips, Séamus seemed to wither.

“No,” I whispered under my breath. I took off running, and as I got closer, I brought the shovel back. When I was in reach, I swung it as hard as I could.

It hit her head with a sick thwack, and I thought something crunched. My arms ached and my joints damn near shattered.

Still, I brought it back and swung again, but her hand shot out, and she grabbed it mid-swing. It hit her hand so hard, I cried out because it jarred my already damaged joints.

Maeve stood and used the shovel to push me back. I stumbled and fell to my ass on the rough ground. She stalked toward me, and I scrambled backward like a crab as I tried to get away. Naked and bloody, she stalked toward me. She slammed the end to the ground, and it broke off at the collar.

“You little fucking bitch. You thought you could attackme?”

My eyes went wide at the now jagged but pointed end she was coming at me with. She stabbed down and I rolled to the side. Again and again, she tried to spear me with the broken handle.

I couldn’t get to my feet because she kept on me. It took everything I had to stay away from her attack. She brought it down again and a shrill cry was rent from my lungs as it broke through the flesh of my thigh.

She ripped it out, and I almost passed out from the excruciating pain. I threw my arm up to block her when she swung it at my head like a bat. The crack of it snapping my bone seemed to echo, and I shrieked at the indescribable agony.

Then she grabbed me by my hair and threw me. Her strength was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It was like as Séamus had withered, she’d been sucking the life and power from him.

One scream ran into the other as she dragged me and slammed me to the ground. I knew more bones broke, but I could no longer fight back. Any further noises I made were cut off when she picked me up by the throat and squeezed.

With one good hand, I dug and clawed at her fingers. Darkness closed in at the edges of my vision. Spots swam before me and my lungs were on fire. Right before everything went black, her eyes went wide in shock.

Slowly, she looked down to see the jagged end of the wooden handle sticking through her chest. She dropped me and I sucked in a ragged breath that only brought utter anguish raging through my battered body.

Writhing on the ground, I couldn’t speak.

“Are you okay?” Squirrel frantically asked as he crouched near me.

Unable to speak, I shook my head.

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