It was toying with him.
I flung the knife, watching with glee when it sank into the shoulder of what would have been a person under any other circumstances. The horse neighed in protest, revealing a sharp set of teeth that would have looked more at home on a wolf than a horse, but with no mouth to speak, the rider was silent.
I curved Thunder around in a wide circle as the creature faced me and came to a stop, slowly pulling the knife free from his shoulder and tossing it to the sand at its feet. Blood trickled down the creature’s leg, and my gaze dropped to the wound where its chestcurved into its belly. I couldn’t say if it had been a blow Etan landed or a previous injury, but I grabbed the biggest knife from the pack and shoved the rest into the saddlebag.
Kicking at Thunder’s sides, I encouraged him to run away from the creature, to lure it away from Etan and head toward the sanctuary. The creature followed, leaving me to heave a deep breath as I patted the side of Thunder’s neck.
I had no clue if the horse could understand or would care, but it brought me some measure of comfort to speak the words andhopeit would do as I asked.
Adrenaline flooded my veins as I spoke, the feeling both terrifying and addictive. “When I dismount, you run clear and get Etan, okay, handsome?” I said, keeping my voice soft and soothing.
Thunder turned when I pulled on the reins, changing directions suddenly as his feet sank into the uneven ground below. He righted his balance, surging toward the Nuckelavee even though I knew he must feel the same terror I did.
I swallowed as I moved, swinging my leg over Thunder’s neck suddenly and leaping from his back. I narrowly avoided the swing of the creature’s spear as it swept above the horse part’s neck, collapsing to the ground between the horse’s legs and sinking my knife into the tiny wound at its chest. It neighed in pain as I dragged the blade down, using the creature’s forward momentum against it as it carved through muscle, and a fresh flood of blood spilled down to cover me.
The Nuckelavee stumbled when I finally pulled the knife free, forcing myself to my feet and blinking through the thick coating of blood that covered me. I watched as it sank to its knees in the front, organs hanging loosely from its stomach.
Thunder charged toward me, Etan riding on his back with a furious expression on his face. He held out an arm that I stretched up to reach, letting him grasp me around the elbow and haul me up onto Thunder’s back behind him.
We didn’t waste any time before turning and racing for the sanctuary, pained howls filling the air behind us as the Nuckelavee fell to its side.
“I’m going to fucking kill you myself,” Etan grumbled, turning over his shoulder to look at me with a glare.
I’d have smiled more broadly if I didn’t worry I’d get blood in my mouth.
TWENTY-ONEFALLON
The air seemed to change as we entered the haven between the mountains, Thunder’s step picking up pep as if he too could feel the change surrounding us. I stiffened against Etan’s spine as my skin buzzed with the feeling of magic kissing along it, like tiny wisps drifting through the air that I could not see. The Nuckelavee had remained where it had fallen, whether it was dead or merely injured to the point it could no longer follow after us.
The heat became balmy, slicking my skin with sweat until I became acutely aware of the pulsing heat that spread through me. But that heat didn’t come from the air entirely, instead forming in my core and forcing me to shift a little uncomfortably.
I hoped Etan didn’t notice the strange sensation occurring within me, the oddly timed arousal that I had no explanation for. It was far from the first time I’d felt it, having had my share of partners in the tunnels of the Resistance. Our public baths and limited opportunitiesfor entertainment meant that few were unaware of the pleasures to be found in the comfort of another’s body.
“What is this place?” I asked, trying to refocus my attention on my surroundings.
“There were four Primordials who once called the Summer Court home,” Etan said, his voice sounding lower somehow, deeper than I was used to. I couldn’t decide if it was something actually occurring or the haze in my head that made it seem real. “When our court was new, Diell thought we should pay homage to those who had already chosen to leave the public eye. We could no longer see them, but she knew they still existed and that their magic was present around us.”
“Fascinating,” I said through gritted teeth. I forced my jaw to relax, instead chewing on the inside corner of my mouth.
“She put sanctuaries throughout the court. Places intended for the Fae of her court to go to pay their respects to the Primordials who came before all of us. Many made offerings, and it was said that the size of your offering determined the blessing they gave in return,” he explained, continuing on as he guided Thunder down a somewhat narrow pass. It curved around the edge of a mountain, taking us away from the descent into the valley and the vague impression of the capital that I could see now in the distance to the south. I wanted nothing more than to continue on our journey, but I kept quiet as he tugged Thunder to the side of the path, dismounted, and tied his reins to a tree branch. Pulling an apple from the pack slung across the horse’s rump, he held it out with an open palm and patted the horse’s neck when Thunder took it happily. A bucket of water hung from the branch as if someone had prepared for us, and Etan reached up to grasp me around the waist and pull me down.
I swung my leg over Thunder’s rear, sliding down slowly so I didn’t disturb his snack. Etan was behind me when I landed, my back dragging over him slowly as I glided to my feet. His broad form left nothing to the imagination, making me entirely too aware of the fact that I was not the only one so inexplicably affected.
He moved away from me finally and took an extra bucket filled with water from the tree, dumping the entirety of it over my head as I sputtered. The water that ran down my skin was tinted with pink as it washed away most of the blood that had not yet had time to dry on me. My clothing would remain stained, leaving me to look like a nightmare made real, but I glared up at him over the method he’d used to clean me.
He only smiled bitterly, his anger at my risking myself still palpable between us. “Don’t ever do something that reckless again,” he ordered, cupping my cheek in his hand to gentle the words.
“I survived, didn’t I?” I asked, grinning at his irritation.
“I have to wonder where you learned to use a knife that well,” he said.
“Like I said, I had a lot of free time in the tunnels.” I shrugged, wandering away from him to explore the clearing where we stood. “What do Diell’s sanctuaries have to do with us?” I asked to bring us back to the pertinent conversation, my own voice sounding far more husky than I could ever recall.
I spun when Etan grabbed hold of my wrist, tugging me back to him. With Thunder’s bulky body behind me, they made me feel pinned between two dangerous creatures. Etan hung his head, his brown eyes holding mine and making me feel as if he stared right through me. Like he could see my arousal in the stare that held his, and his tense mouth spread into an arrogant grin. He leaned closer, bending so his mouth was only a breath from mine and his nose brushed alongside mine. “Come with me.”
He took my hand in his, guiding me away from Thunder finally and tugging me down the narrow path. It was just wide enough for the two of us to fit side by side, his hand too warm in mine and the calluses of his thumb rough as he rubbed the back of my hand where he gripped me. “Just before she said goodbye to her children, Diell created a place where those who followed in her footsteps could come and make offerings to all the Summer Primordials at once. A place where they were all present, even in their absence,” he said, pushing a tree branch out of the path so that I could move without ducking past it. The branches hung over us like a canopy, offering shade from the blazing sun of the desert where we had started our journey. “She said it would be customary for any who wished to sit upon her throne to come and make their offering to those who came before. When it became clear that Diell had no intention of returning to reclaim her court, Rheaghan came here for the first time and made his own offering. It is believed that the greater the offering, the longer you will be allowed to reign.”
We continued along the path, and I waited for the moment that we would find an altar, that we would have to slaughter some poor, innocent animal that had been left for us.
