Page 22 of Moonmarked

My heart stood still. Eurith stopped abruptly, looked at her friend.

“Unless the werewolf was an alpha.”

Laughter—this from Eurith, and it sounded bitter as fuck.

“Look at her, look at her—tell me, what do you see? Doesthatlook like an alpha to you?!”

They had both stood up, and they were looking somewhere behind Eurith—the dog.

Thewerewolflying some ten feet away on her side, still as the dry earth beneath us. Not breathing.Dead.

“No,” said the sorcerer. “No, it does not.”

My eyes closed.

It was over—now for good. I had been scratched by a werewolf,infected,which I absolutely believed because of the burning pain that had taken over my entire right side now. I’d been scratched, and I’d fallen from that cliff, and now I was going to die. I would not be used by sorcerers—I would simply die, just like the werewolf had.

And that was okay with me.

The sorcerers retreated, mumbling amongst themselves, cursing, then laughing, then speaking in that strange language that might have been Veren, the first language of this realm. They walked away, and minutes later, only the sound of the slow wind filled my ears, in rhythm with the wild beating of my heart.

Death was so close I felt it, and my mind went to my family. To dad and to Fi, to Betty.

To Rune.

It felt like being torn apart all over again to remember his face, his beautiful eyes, that full smile he only gave me a handful of times.

I’d miss him no matter what became of me after this. I’d miss him whichever form I took when I died. I’d think of him forever.

eight

Death felt strangely like living.

I felt my body, all of my limbs, and my lids, too, as they tried to push up, guided by my instincts.

And I never knew one still had instincts when they died, but here I was. Eyes half open, the sound of my heartbeat in my ears, and this weird smell filling my nostrils, coming from somewhere on my left.

Yes, death feltexactlylike living. So much so that for a moment I allowed myself to consider I might be alive. Somehow, in some way, I might still be on Earth—or rather, in Verenthia.

My eyes eventually opened. I heard movement from close by, but I couldn’t turn my head just yet. Instead, I watched the sky, a deeper blue than the last time, and there were a few clouds dotting it here and there now as well.

The same sky as before I’d passed out, when those sorcerers had been at my sides, analyzing me. Telling me that I was infected. That I was going to die soon—within minutes.

Yet…I hadn’t.

This couldn’t possibly be death, no. I was very much alive—and the strangest part? All that pain that had made me scream the last time I was awake was gone. A stinging sensation remained on my right forearm, but the pain in my legs, in the rest of my body had disappeared.

Maybe if I moved a little, I figured. Maybe if I moved, I’d feel it because it simply made no sense that all that pain would simply vanish. So, I did. I moved my leg, just slightly, and braced myself for the pain.

It never came.

Then I heard movement again, coming from the same place as before. Somebody was there with me, all right, and I did feel the fear. I felt it deep in my bones as I tried to get my head to turn to the left, to see what was moving, how screwed I was. Because I was in Verenthia still, and in this place, anything went. I wouldn’t be surprised to find some twisted version of a fucking lion stalking toward me right now, preparing to sink his teeth in my neck.

But my head turned eventually, and I saw what was moving, and lucky for me itwasn’ta lion.

It was the dog I’d set free from the cage, who was ashe,and who wasn’t a dog at all, but a werewolf, apparently.

Thedeadwerewolf who’d thrown me off the edge of the cliff and scratched the hell out of my forearm in the process, too.

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