A Strange Hymn by Laura Thalassa

Author:Laura Thalassa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2022-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

I wake to the rustle of oak trees and the cold chill of dew on my skin. My hip bone hurts from sleeping on a hard surface, and the scent of moist earth fills my nostrils.

Where am I?

Blinking sleep away, I sit up, running my hands through my hair and pulling out several leaves and twigs. My dress still glows softly, and at my back is the tree Des and I thoroughly sullied earlier.

Des.

I glance around, but he’s nowhere in sight. I rub my temples, trying to remember through the beginnings of a hangover just how the night ended and why I’m now alone.

Off in the distance, a branch snaps.

I go still.

What are the chances that’s my Night King?

Zero, my mind whispers.

I rise to my feet, trying to be as silent as possible. Not that I’m doing a great job being innocuous. Kind of hard to go unnoticed when you’re in a dark wood wearing a glowing dress.

I begin retracing my steps. I think I can figure out a way back to my suite; I just have to get out of this forest.

Another branch snaps, and I jump at the sound.

Is someone following me?

And where’s Des?

Just when I’m sure I’m heading in the right direction, the forest seems to deepen rather than give way to the Sacred Gardens.

I massage my forehead. Did I really get it all backward? The smoky remnants of the bonfires seem stronger here than where I woke up…but there’s no music, no laughter, no sounds of any revelers.

I’m utterly alone.

Behind me, leaves crunch.

I tense.

Maybe I’m not alone…

Slowly, I swivel around.

Off in the distance is a broad-shouldered man with a shock of white hair.

“Des!” I instantly relax. I head to him, first walking, and then, when he doesn’t come any closer, I begin to run. “Des!”

Before I can get to him, he disappears.

That stops me in my tracks.

He’s coming for you…the trees whisper.

“Des?”

I feel the press of metal against my throat, and from the edge of my vision, I can just make out Des’s white-blond hair.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

If this is his idea of training…

But it’s not training. It’s not. I sense the malicious intent in the rough grip he has on me and the way the blade digs into my flesh, like it wants my skin to split.

The Bargainer’s supple lips skim over my cheekbone. “Fear me, mortal,” he whispers, “for I will be your undoing.”

Des brushes a kiss against my skin and then drags his knife across my throat.

***

I wake with a choked cry, holding my neck.

Not dead. Just a dream. Just a dream.

Des has my body cradled in his arms.

“Callie,” he says when he sees I’m awake, relief coating his words. He pulls my head in close. “Callie, Callie, Callie,” he murmurs—more, it appears, to reassure himself than to get through to me.

The Bargainer and I are tangled in soft sheets, our bodies naked.

I pull away from him long enough to look into his eyes. He has no idea that right now I’m coaching my mind to not see him as a threat.

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