Page 16 of Unraveled
“I tried to leave you behind tonight, after you burned me,” he admits, not looking at me as he leaps into the sky.
“And w-what do you expect from me? A thank-you?” The spell is making me stutter. I narrow my gaze at him.
He smirks, and the expression transforms his features. It’s almost like he’s slowly losing some of the feathers on his face. “Why yes, a thank-you would be appreciated. After all, I put my life at risk to save you by entering the forest during the blood moon.”
My lips part. “A-are you mad? Y-you are kidnapping me from my city, against my will!”
He shrugs and looks away. “Only after you tried to kill me.”
True, but I’m not about to agree with him. “Because you were trying to take down the v-veil!”
And if the veil failed, Penumbra’s citizens would be at the mercy of the creatures that almost killed me tonight. Whatever guilt churned within me for shooting at this beast vanishes.
While he had saved me, it’s also his fault I was in danger in the first place. He went into our city and tried to get innocents killed.
The pleasant expression on his face changes into something horrible. It matches my feelings exactly. I suspect this beast hates me as much as I do him.
When he looks at me again, the magic lulling me to sleep grows thick enough I can taste it on the back of my tongue. Blackberry and vanilla.
Fear courses through me, and my vision dulls at the edges.
“Go to sleep, Mia.”
And then, darkness takes me.
Chapter 7
I’m notdead and it wasn’t a dream. A beast of nightmares took me from my home.
My eyelids are heavy when I open them, like I’ve been asleep for days—months even. The only reason I know I’m alive is because every cell in my body fires with pain.
The surrounding room is dark, with tall ceilings and bleak wallpaper. My blurry vision does little to gather more details. I’m not in the forest anymore, but I’m far from home.
I hold in the groan that almost spills past my lips and shift my body over the soft surface I lie on. It smells smoky, like a campfire in the woods and fine tobacco.
Blinking rapidly, I take quick breaths in an attempt to ease the pain in my side. I’m keenly aware I should remain still—and quiet—to figure out where I am and why I’m alive.
There’s something cold and wet running down the side of my torso and sticking to my dress. I don’t think I’ve got it in me to check how bad my injury is, so I focus on everything but that.
Other than the sound of a crackling fire, I’m surrounded by silence. I tilt my head and find I’m lying on a tufted couch of forest-green velvet. In front of me, there’s a massive fireplace crafted of black marble.
Wooden bookcases line most of the walls, and the scent of leather fills the room. A study, perhaps? No matter, at least the familiarity of books around me soothes my soul.
There are magical grimoires in this place, and they whisper to me. I struggle to find the threads of their power under the layers of my pain. Their voices are far from gentle. It’s almost like these specific tomes don’t want to speak with me but are disgruntled by everything around them. I reach for my amulet and... it’s gone.
Did I drop it back in the forest? I grip the sofa and push myself up with shaking arms, searching the tile floor around me. The room begins to spin. Where did it go?
Loud steps come from outside the wooden doors, stopping me before I rise from where I sit. The doorknob twists, and I lie back down in the same position I was when I woke, doing a remarkable job at ignoring the pain shooting from my wounds.
The door cracks open, bringing in the frigid winter breeze. A spicy-fruity scent wafts in, reminding me of roses.
“You know what this means, Ash. She can’t stay.”
I shut my eyes right as I glimpse the beast’s massive wings. They block what little light might seep in from the outside.
“I know.” The beast’s voice rumbles as their steps move inside. The door closes behind them, and the room grows warm again. “It’s not like I had a choice.”
My heartbeat thrashes in my ears, and my thoughts run wild. Who is the second voice, and why did the beast bring me to this place?
