It Sleeps in Me by Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Author:Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

15

RAIN PATTERING LIGHTLY ON THE ROOF WOKE HER.

She fought her way up from a horrifying dream where she was running, running through a dark forest, utterly lost and alone.

When she opened her eyes, she blinked in shock at the familiar walls of the temple chamber in her house. A pile of hides covered her body, so many that she felt too warm—but she didn’t shove them away. Not yet. She fought to remember how she’d gotten home. Had he let her go? She didn’t remember anything after blacking out. High above her, the deep blue light of predawn streamed through the smoke hole. It was almost morning. Several hands of time had passed since Flint had had his fingers around her throat. The fragrances of wet thatch and bark walls filled the room.

When she heard hushed voices in the hallway outside, she started to shake. Men’s voices.

Where is he?

With the stealth of a shivering rabbit, she remained still. Only her gaze roamed the temple, landing on the magnificent carving of Black Falcon that hung on the wall, then drifting down to the Eternal Fire, and finally to the swaying door curtain at the far end of the temple. The main door curtain at the front of the house must be hooked back, allowing a breeze to flow down the corridor. As the temple curtain fluttered, she caught glimpses of men in many-colored capes. At least two. Maybe three.

She sat up.

A new scent came to her. Bitter. Like poison.

She slowly turned to her left.

And looked straight into Skinner’s eyes.

For a moment, she was too shocked to move.

He lay on his stomach with his arms and legs twisted at impossible angles. As wind gusted into the temple, he didn’t blink. Still, were it not for the coagulated blood that had pooled in his mouth, she might have thought him alive.

As the truth sank in, she leaped to her feet and stood over his dead body trembling like a leaf in a powerful gale. Her teeth chattered. Her fists twitched.

“What happened?”

The voices outside stopped.

“Chieftess?” War Chief Feather Dancer drew the curtain aside and looked into the temple. Tall and muscular, he’d seen a great deal of raiding in his twenty-six winters. His heavily scarred face proved it. But he had kind brown eyes.

Feather Dancer hurried toward her, his red cape fluttering around his long legs. He wore his black hair in a bun over his left ear. “Forgive me. You were hurt so badly, we didn’t think you’d wake for several hands of time. We just brought you here moments ago. Please believe me, if we’d thought you might wake so quickly, I would have never left you lying beside the criminal.”

Almost without her knowing, her hand lifted to rub her swollen throat, then moved to the back of her head. A lump the size of her fist met her probing fingers.

She croaked, “What happened? I—I don’t remember very much.”

“You wouldn’t, not after that blow to your head. Priest Teal woke me shortly after midnight.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.