Page 12 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

“You’ll need to communicate with Gleam mentally while she’s running,” he told me, lifting me forward about a foot and then pushing me down until my chest was pressed to her back. He gave her a friendly rub, and she made a happy noise. “Not all beasts can or choose to speak mind-to-mind with someone who isn’t their companion, but Gleam does. You and I can communicate mentally too, but I’d rather not. Just tap my knee if you need to stop.”

I nodded, and he leaned down with me until his chest rested securely against my back and his arms wrapped around me. I noticed a mark glowing crimson on the back of his hand, but the glyphs embedded in the marking were in a language I couldn’t read, so I assumed it was some kind of fae magic.

Gleam walked for a moment, before she started to run.

Veil, she was even faster than I’d realized. The wind whipped my hair behind and around me, and my lips stretched into a grin as my exhilaration grew.

A few hours earlier, I’d been trapped in a small stone room with dirt floors… maybe my luck had actually started to turn around.

We ran for hours.

The excitement of it died down as my back started to get sore. The blissful comfort of having Ravv pressed against me didn’t fade, though. He braided my hair for me and tucked it in the back of my undergarment at one point, but neither of us commented on that.

When my stomach rumbled, we slowed long enough for me to gorge myself on some fruit and crackers he pulled out of his bag, and then started running again.

By the time we stopped for the night, I was absolutely exhausted.

“Do we just sleep on the dirt?” I mumbled to him, as I plopped down on my ass and stretched my legs out in front of me. My face scrunched as I reached for my toes, pulling on my tight muscles.

“No, you’ll sleep in an ice shelter.”

I nodded, my eyelids growing heavier.

Hopefully the ice didn’t feel cold.

I’d probably melt it whether it did or not.

“Do you catch fire in your sleep?” he asked.

“Nah.” I lowered my head to my knee, letting my eyes shut just for a minute.

“Laeli.” There was a slight growl to Ravv’s voice, and his huge hand landed on my shoulder. I thought the touch was gentler than I would’ve expected, but I could’ve imagined that.

When I didn’t lift my head, a thick arm slid under my legs.

I felt the ground disappear from beneath me, and leaned up against the fae’s warm chest as he carried me.

Something hard met my back. Some part of me registered that it wasn’t my stone bed, but it was a small part.

I relaxed against the ice, drifting off quickly.

I woke up in a pool of warm water… with an ice wall above my head.

A huge drop of water plopped onto my eye.

I attempted to wipe it away, but another one landed in the middle of my forehead when I did.

“Guess it’s time to get up,” I mumbled, lifting myself up onto my forearms in an attempt to find a way out.

I saw… five walls.

Panic swelled in my chest. “Ravv!”

The wall over my head slid away, and an exhausted, scowling man appeared above me.

“I thought I was trapped.” I dropped my head back into the puddle. Water flooded my ears, but at least I could see the trees above me.

“You wrecked my shelter.”

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