Page 54 of Wraithwound

It landed at her feet and rose on its hind legs. The eleuth’s eyes flashed orange before turning black once more. They flashed several times before settling on orange, its other features shifting back as well.

Standing on the precipice of the unending darkness that pulled her in, Lena willed herself to take a step back from it, but she couldn’t. Didn’t know how to. She’d willingly let the darkness in. The wraith in. She had pulled it in, against Henry’s wishes, and he’d let her, knowing she’d had no other choice. But now⁠—

The eleuth still stood in front of her, curiosity and concern in its features and the tilt of its head.

Curiosity...

She was unable to follow the thought through as pain burst from somewhere deep inside her.

Then, she was on her knees, shards of rock digging into her skin, heaving up her dinner. Pine needles stuck to the blood on her hands along with some of her own vomit. When she was done, she looked up to see that the eleuth had scampered closer and seemed to be waiting. Lena wiped her mouth on her sleeve and felt the soft caress of fur on her face.

Was it . . . comforting her?

The eleuth set off behind her, and she turned, her heart sinking just a bit, but then it stopped and motioned again with its head for her to follow. Lena stood on wobbling legs and stumbled after it. She walked only a short distance before she saw the golden glow of firelight up ahead, and she almost sobbed in relief.

Chapter

Forty

When she reached the campsite, Cross was standing outside his tent, sword in one hand and the metal contraption he’d worn the first time she’d met him strapped to his wrist. He seemed to sag at the sight of her and sheathed his sword.

Was that relief on his face? Maybe it was the poison making her hallucinate.

Upon closer inspection, he looked absolutely furious. His blue eyes narrowed on her, but Lena was exhausted and in too much pain to care. She was also pretty sure she was bleeding from, well, everywhere. Lena stumbled towards her pack, which she’d left by the fire and collapsed in front of it. Cross lunged toward her, preventing her from landing in the dirt face first. He helped her to sit, eyes darting over her body as he assessed her injuries.

Hands shaking, Lena dumped the contents of her pack on the ground. She needed to draw the poison out.

“What happened?” he asked, barely containing his fury.

“You know what happened,” she said.

“Do you still have a death wish?” he asked between clenched teeth.

Lena didn’t look at him. She didn’t have time for his rantings. She needed to figure out if a poultice would neutralize the poison in her system after she drew it out.

“Tell me what happened?” he asked again, pure command in his voice.

“I went into the forest to find the eleuth, and I found it—plus some other Goddess-damned creatures that tried to eat us," she summarized.

The eleuth looked up at Cross as if confirming her story. It was lying next to Lena, licking its wounds.

“What did they look like?” he said, still crouching beside her.

Lena looked at him then, but he wasn’t just looking at her. He seemed to be taking in every detail of her appearance, the blood, both red and black, and the vomit stuck to her sleeves. His expression was unreadable now.

“Flying horned demons? I don’t know. It was dark!” Lena said, looking around for a stone she could use.

Cross went silent at that, appearing lost in thought. “Did you get a look at their wings?” he asked.

“Yes, there were multiple sets; leathery, grey, I think.”

“Nychtyra.” Cross said, face grave.

“Nych-what?” Lena said, reaching for a stone.

Cross reached out and intercepted her hand.

“Here, let me see,” he said, “may I?”