“You’re coming home with me.”
She wasn’t strong enough to stop him from pulling her along. Orelia fumbled through the grass, almost rolling her ankle twice. After a hard yank, she managed to get her arm free.
When Ivan came after her, Orelia slapped him hard across the face. The moon showcased the bright pink handprint she’d left on his cheek.
“You fucking bitch!” His wild eyes didn’t promise rape, they promised death.
Fear spiked through her like a geyser. In the middle of an open field, there was nothing to summon she could use to defend herself.
Orelia turned and ran.
With the restriction of her sandals and the grass thickening the closer she got to the middle of the field, she didn’t make it far before Ivan caught up to her.
He yanked her around, reared his arm back, and punched her in the face.
Pain ricocheted through her skull. Stunned, Orelia blinked through the aching throb, blindly feeling for something to hold onto.
Ivan grabbed her shoulder, holding onto her for leverage as he punched her again, and again, and again, making solid work of her face.
She was his puppet, unable to do anything other than register the waves of intense pain that sent sparks shooting behind her eyes.
He released her, and Orelia fell to the ground, coughing through agonized groans.
Ivan straddled her and continued wailing on her face, each land of his fist hitting harder.
Orelia wasn’t sure where she was, she only knew pain. Blinding. Searing. Pain.
Finally, the blows stopped, and he stepped off of her, breathing heavily.
She couldn’t see out of her right eye. Orelia groaned, tasting something metallic and feeling smooth grass beneath her hands. The ale seemed to kick in, making her numb to the attack. But when shetried to spit out the blood that had pooled in her mouth, pain lanced through her face.
“Fuck you, bitch. You aren’t even that pretty, anyway. Waste of my fucking time,” Ivan grumbled. He kicked her hip and sent her rolling into the ditch.
Orelia went tumbling down the steep decline, stopping when she hit hard dirt. She laid there in a dusty, bloody heap, and the pain she’d been numb to seconds before barreled through her body in full force. The tingling of her healing was faintly there, though it should have been much stronger.
Tears streaked through the hot blood on her face, and her right eye had swollen completely shut. She managed to move a few fingers and touched her nose, wincing.
Broken.
She should have just gone back to the cabin with Vade, then none of this would have happened. Now he wouldn’t know where to look for her. If he even bothered to come looking again.
Orelia started sobbing. Her head pulsed with each strained breath, and her skin felt like it was sliding off her face. She stayed curled in the dirt, cursing herself for not being cautious enough. This was her fault. She should have anticipated this could happen.
Snot and blood dripped from her swollen nose as she cried harder. She laid there listening to the owls hooting in the trees, marking the peak of night. The temperature felt like it was dropping by the minute. In her slinky dress, she quickly started shivering. Bloody teeth chattered as she curled into herself further for warmth.
She laid there for at least a half mark, she suspected, but the tingling of her healing was too weak. Orelia tried picturing the Omnimagia like an orb inside her core, calling to her magic, but nothing responded. She was empty. Void.Something was wrong.
“Vade. . .” A blood bubble popped between her lips with his name. He would never find her out here.
“Vade. . .” she whispered, voice hoarse and broken. Her eyes shut, the cold draining her energy, and the unhealed wounds too painful to bear. There was a sharp tearing in her chest. Whether it was the spell, or an injury, she didn’t know. She cried into the dirt, shivering, wishing it would all go away.
thirty
Orelia awoke to moreof the cold night, still only able to see out of one eye. She slipped in and out of unconsciousness at least twice, that she could remember. The moon had disappeared completely, and there were no more voices in the distance. Only the sounds of the wind and her chattering teeth.
“What the fuck?”
She whimpered at the familiar voice.
