Page 43 of Demonic Affliction

Somehow, it’s worse than it was before.

I look at my brothers, and I see the same concern on their faces that I feel sitting heavy in my own chest. Something horrible is happening to this world, and Willow and Cin are at its center.

The only question is… are we too late to try to save them?

14

Willow

I wake with a pounding headache and the gnawing sensation that something is horribly wrong. From what I can discern, I'm lying in bed, though I’m unable to open my eyes. Whenever I try, my body refuses to listen.

A dull pain pulses through me, but beneath it a pleasant warmth builds in my skin, easing most of the discomfort. Healing magic.

Again, I try to open my eyes, but nothing happens. I reach for my locket out of instinct, but my arm refuses to budge. My legs are frozen, too, but not by the same tiredness holding my eyelids shut.

I’m tied up.

As soon as the realization hits, the panic floods in. My heart slams against my ribs, and I yank against the restraints, but none of it does anything except send a fresh wave of pain shooting up both arms.

“Shh. It’s okay, my heart. You must be still.”

I recognize Dravik's deep voice, the weight of his massive palm on my shoulder, and the panic bleeds out of me as I relax back into the furs.

“That’s a good girl. Stay just like that for me, okay? We’re almost done healing you.”

Healing me from what, though? What happened?

A few minutes pass, and the warmth in my body fades. Somehow, I manage to crack open my eyes, but my vision is blurred, and I can’t make out any of my mates’ faces. I blink heavily as Dravik helps me into a sitting position, the room slowly coming into focus.

Rhune is at my side, Nyx at the other. Exhaustion is plain on both their faces, showing in the hollowness under their eyes, their gaunt cheeks, and their slackened shoulders. Below all of that, though, is pure relief.

“My Willow.” Rhune leans in close, his hand hovering by my face like he’s afraid he’ll break me if he touches me. I give him a shaky smile, closing the distance between us. As soon as his palm connects with my cheek, he lets out a massive sigh of relief, his eyes shuttering with bliss.

Nyx wraps his arms around me from behind, pressing his face deep into my lower back. I’m not entirely sure, but I think tears are leaking from his eyes.

Dravik settles at the edge of the pile, wrapping his massive orange wings around the three of us. The bond hums with bliss, and a few cracks spread through the wall, allowing me to access a small portion of the other side. It is better than nothing, though.

I press my face into whatever part of Rhune I can reach, losing myself in the pleasure flowing through the bond. Nobody says anything for a long moment. Nobody has to.

We sit like that for a long while, until my joints ache and my legs go numb. When they finally pull back, no one moves away—they all sit around me, their hands lingering on me like they’re terrified to let go.

It’s then that I remember I’m still tied up.

“What happened to me?” I ask. “Why am I…?” I raise my wrists, gesturing to the restraints.

“You don’t remember?” Nyx asks.

“Remember what?”

My mates share a look, and dread hardens in my stomach. “What am I supposed to remember?”

“Last night… you went down to that room with the pit.”

I don’t like the way he looks at me as he says it. Like he’s… scared of me. “I did?”

“You did.” Nyx’s jaw sets. “We found you standing at the edge of the pit, staring down at it in a trance. The roots…” He shudders. “They were climbing all over you. But you didn’t seem to mind. It’s like you wanted it to happen.”

“Oh my God,” I whisper. “I… I don’t remember any of that.”