Page 60 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

With the door secure and my body still blazing fire, I finally stumbled over to the bathing pool and slipped inside.

Tears trailed down my cheeks, and my body shook with the weight of my terror.

My chest rose and fell rapidly, my heart beating like a drum in my ears.

I was fine.

But the memories the fear brought back…

They were not fine.

My family’s home on fire.

The burns on my father’s skin as he dropped me in the hay, staring at me with fear in his eyes.

The swords that had cut down the people I loved.

The dirt and stone cellar I’d been thrown into all alone, after losing everyone and everything I loved.

I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed—I prayed to the veil, to any of the lost gods who might still be listening, to anyone who could possibly hear me.

I prayed that they’d take my memories, that they’d erase my past, that they’d finally let me forget the horrors I had lived through.

But the memories didn’t fade.

The tears continued to fall.

And the agony in my mind, in my heart, in my chest… it lingered.

Eventually, my fire burned through the remainder of my energy and knocked me out.

Through the haze of my exhaustion, I thought I heard someone pounding on the door.

Then I thought I heard Ravv snarling into my mind.

And then there was just warmth, and silence.

Everything was blurry when I opened my eyes.

I found myself cradled in Ravv’s arms, tucked beneath blankets that smelled like us.

Memories flooded my mind again, and water pooled in my eyes.

“Lae,” Ravv’s voice and chest rumbled.

I squeezed my eyes shut and said nothing.

He lifted me to a seated position. I opened my eyes just a crack, and my amber orbs met his worried, intense purples as he growled, “You need to eat.”

I wasn’t hungry.

It might’ve been the first time for that, ever.

I didn’t say a word as he set a plate on my lap.

Or as he lifted the food to my mouth and commanded me to take a bite.

Or as I noticed the broken doors positioned over the doorway.

---