Page 10 of Moon Cursed

Think,my internal voice called through the pain.You can get out of this, you just have to think!

Sluggish, groaning brain cells struggled to come together and form a coherent plan. I was on my feet, but now what? There was nowhere to go!

“Reach,” I rasped. If I couldn’t go forward, maybe I could go up.

Stretching my arms as high as they’d go, I reached with the vague notion of finding the surface and pulling my way up. It was possible that could work, and I needed possible.

Stretching, reaching, groaning, crying—I felt for the barest brush of air on my fingertips.

Nothing.

Desperate, I grabbed fistfuls of dirt—trying to heave myself up that way—but the loose dirt shifted and crumbled in my grasp—giving me no purchase.

“Help!” I screamed, white-hot terror taking over. I swiped and flailed uselessly through the dirt. “Oh gods, help me! Help!

“Heeelllllppppp—!” My fingers caught on something soft and warm.

Is that—? Can it be—?

It closed over me, holding me tight.A hand.

Hope lodged in my heart. Someone was there. Who? How? Was it Edric? Had he woken up and found me? Did Badr’s wolf force him to come back and save me?

I felt the dirt shifting and moving. Cool air washed over my fingers, then my palms, then my forearms. The phantom hands clasped mine and pulled. Without word or instruction, I knew what to do.

I phased, leaving only my hands solid, and they heaved me out of the dirt—tugging me free and whole into the moonlight.

“Holy shit!” Nyx cried, his handsome self even more disheveled now that he was covered in dirt. He tumbled back, bringing me down on top of him. “What were you doing in there? Did someone do this? Are you...?” Nyx quieted down as my tears reached his ears.

Clinging to him, I buried my face in his chest, and sobbed my heart out.

“Whoa, whoa,” he whispered, rubbing my back. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

They were sweet words. They were true words. And still, my tears wouldn’t stop. Was I crying because of the trauma of losing Mom? Was I crying because my fated mate rejected me in the most horrific way by trying to outright murder me? Was I crying because my too-short time with my daughter almost ended with me slowly wasting away in the ground? Or was I crying because every day without Castor was so fucking hard! And time only made it harder.

I was crying for all of it, or I was crying for none of it. It didn’t matter, because either way, I couldn’t stop.

I held Nyx tighter—expecting him to push me away, call me out for being the bitch who ruined his life, and gloat in my face for finally getting the dose of revenge I deserved.

Nyx did none of that. Instead, his arms slid around me, and held me close. “It’s okay, Daze. You’re safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I don’t know how long we lay there on the disturbed dirt, me bawling like a baby and Nyx whispering sweet, soothing nothings in my ear, but a sharp spike of pain suddenly went through my skull—bringing the moment to an end.

Groaning, I sat up, clutching my head.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I felt two fingers under my chin try to raise me up. “Are you okay?”

My response was to tip over and vomit in the grass.

“Not okay.” Nyx got to his feet and I flashed out, grabbing his arm.

“No,” I cried.

“Don’t worry.” Bending over, he scooped me into his arms. “I’ve got you.”

My stubborn badass side might’ve said something about me not being some weakling who needed to be carried around like a newborn kitten. My lips parted to say just that when a dizzy spell struck me down, making my head loll against his arm. I told that side to shut up before Nyx inevitably did.

“H... How?” I rasped.

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