Darling, There Are Wolves in the Woods by Lydia Russell

Author:Lydia Russell [Russell, Lydia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781090569899
Published: 2019-05-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

The blackness was meant to be absolute; that was what I expected...a void that was free of pain, worry and fear. I never really stopped to think what lay beyond that, but I wasn't expecting pain.

Something crushed against my chest, sending my body into a spasm that felt nothing like death. Heat brushed against my lips, again and again and again. I heard my name, a whisper. A curse, then the pain of something crushing me once more.

“Teya?”

Warmth at my lips.

Pain and darkness.

Nothing.

“Damn you!”

More.

Again,

And again...

“Teya, please.”

Another breath, another whisper, then more pain as my lungs suddenly constricted and forced black water from my mouth and nose. I couldn't see and I couldn't move, but I felt the cold like a swift bite, and the cool touch of fingers to my neck as someone sought a pulse with a shaky hand.

I heard the soft intake of breath, and opened my eyes, panting for air like a hungry junkie. I met his eyes, and forced my head away, choking on a sob that scratched at my throat as if it had claws.

I began to shake, my body juddering against his as he wrapped me in a warm dry cloak. He brushed against my hand, and I hissed in pain.

“Why won't you leave me alone?” I asked, my voice a trembling whisper.

“I heard you scream,” Laphaniel answered, raking a hand through his sodden hair. “I thought I was too late.”

His warm breath was against my ear, the wicked certainty gone from his voice, leaving it raw. I turned away and caught sight of the bobbing body of Lily abandoned near the water's edge, her black eyes huge and unseeing, blue lips bleached white in a permanent twist of horror.

“Oh god,” I spluttered, covering my mouth as I vomited up more dark water. Laphaniel rubbed my back until I finished, tightening the cloak around me when I began to shudder, my muscles tensing as they went into spasm.

“I need to get you back.”

“No!” I panicked, my throat protesting as I shouted, “No, leave me alone. Please...just go away.”

I pushed him away, staggering to my feet, forgetting my broken wrist until Laphaniel used it to pull me back. I screamed, and he dropped my hand as if it had burned him.

“How far do you think you'll get with that?” Laphaniel said, impatience chilling his tone.

“I don't care.”

“You're freezing, Teya. You stopped breathing.”

I closed my eyes, bracing myself against a lone sapling, whose leaves had left its branches to wither and die beneath it. “I'm not going back with you.”

“Teya...”

“You'll keep me there forever,” I said, choking on the words, before my legs gave way and I slumped to the floor. I held my hands over my face and sobbed on the frigid ground, the ache in my chest breaking me into tiny unfixable pieces.

I flinched when he touched me, but still buried my head into his shoulder as he pulled me close. Laphaniel held me while I cried, his hands cold and his clothes wet, but didn’t let go until I had finished hiccupping, and could breathe without gasping.

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