Page 92 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

“You weren’t wrong.” Aldronn chuckles.

I huff in amusement and turn toward Naomi, ready to discover why she can’t stand.

Another sluagh flies out of the door and arrows straight for where she lies on the ground.

“No!” I leap forward, but it feels like I’m running through thick mud, everything slowed to an unbearable sluggishness.

Fear fists my heart. “My bride!”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Naomi

The waves of fatigue just keep coming. Even the adrenaline jolt of watching Wranth battle the soul stealer can’t keep it away. But I don’t need to worry. I know deep in my bones he’ll keep me safe. The red crystals held off the worst—my magical nerves don’t feel fried—but I still feel worn out, wrung of every little drop of energy.

I just need to sleep for a little bit. The pavement’s so comfy. Does Hannah know how comfy it is? Is that why she spends so much time fixing the roads? A yawn cracks my jaw. God, I’m thinking nonsense, but I’m too tired to care.

Murmuring conversations tug at me. I peel an eye open to roll my head to look down the street to where half the town stands, phones raised, videoing everything. Maria pushes tothe front, almost elbowing Trevor to get her phone into better position.

Oh, shit. I should probably be worried about all those videos.

Another yawn.

A high shriek slices across my nerves, pulling up one last jolt of adrenaline. My eyes fly open right as another soul stealer flies through the door.

A shirtless Wranth bounds to intercept it, a whirling tornado of green arms and steel blade.

The sluagh angles over to the far side of the street, the birds spiraling down and merging into the creepy cloaked figure that came after me before.

“You!” Wranth bellows, his sword pointing straight at the soul stealer. “I told you you’d never touch her again!”

“But her souls shines so brightly, orc,” its chorus of voices says. “That one little taste could never be enough.”

“Naomi,” Shadow’s voice whispers from close by.

I jolt, my eyes darting around, but I can’t see him.

“I’m hiding at the border of a shadow road,” he says. “Now, quickly. We need a net.”

Fuck. A net? I try to shove away the fatigue so I can think. There’s the closed ice cream shop, nope. My bookstore, nope. The old hardware store was one of the first places to close—it’s been stripped down to the bones for years.

No, wait. I snap my fingers, or I try to, but my noodle muscles make only a whisper of a sound.

“The hardware store.” I point. “It was a Halloween pop-up last autumn. My friend hung a big net across the ceiling and dangled decorations from it.” Hannah was so proud to bring a new business to Ferndale Falls, even a temporary one, that she did part of the decorating to attract them.

“Thanks.”

Wranth’s still trading barbs with the sluagh, and when the nasty thing darts forward, his sword pierces its chest.

But the soul stealer only laughs as a single bird appears skewered on the sword. Then even it fades away, one of the victims finally released to peace. “Foolish orc, you know that can’t hurt me.”

“It can if I do it enough,” Wranth growls, his shoulders flexing.

“Let me have the witch, and I’ll leave this world alone.” It takes a step backward and throws out an arm, its tattered cloak sleeve flaring wide. “Or I suppose I could eat my fill and grow so powerful I will live forever. I sense more witches all around us. They may not burn as brightly, but they’ll do.”

Who the hell is the soul stealer talking about? Witches? Here in Ferndale Falls? But it doesn’t matter—whoever it is, they’ll be someone I know.

“Naomi!” Hannah yells, pushing through the small crowd to the front, her beautiful face wearing the stubborn frown she gets when she’s determined to fix something. But she can’t fix this. “Oh, my god, Naomi. Are you okay?”

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