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Chapter 11

Icould only starestupidly, blinking at the sight, but Rhyder instantly had a hand on me, forcing me behind him, and he wrenched the post out of the ground.

There was a strange ringing in my ears, the ground spinning crazily around me with how fast Rhyder had to set me down. For a moment, there was silence, then I heard the screams.

Women’s voices loud in pain, men shouting over each other, the roars of other animals.

Rhyder knocked the bear away with the post, a hard sharp thump on its nose, and the animal roared again as I cowered behind my brother.

“Go!” he ordered the animal, swinging the post again, and the creature lurched away, grunting in thwarted anger.

There were more dark figures running in the incense haze and then I heard Eli’s voice:

“ATTACK!”

“Godsdamn!” Rhyder said sharply. “Temperance, get on my back.”

But my arms were like limp noodles, my legs like water as he attempted to hoist me onto his back.

“They gave you too much,” Rhyder growled. “Temperance! I’m going to need you awake enough to hang onto me. I’ll need a hand free to fight.”

He shook me gently, but still my head lolled, my naked body spread before him.

The noise of fighting seemed to come from far away, and I wanted suddenly to giggle as arms and legs loomed through the smoke like giant stick insects.

“Just put me under the bushes somewhere,” I gasped, and my brother had his hand spread over my jaw so fast my head spun.

“I’m not going to leave you anywhere,” he said fiercely. “I can’t risk losing you again.”

Then he yanked me over his knee by my hair and spanked me as hard as he could.

It was like being dunked in the Silver River for a baptism, the loud, sharpsmackof his hand making my ass burn immediately.

And he did it again, several more times in a row, landing on my ass and thighs without stopping as I gasped, the pain making my eyes slowly focus.

The pain burst through the lovely bubble of my incense-haze, and when I moved feebly to push him away, he finally stopped and swung me onto his back.

“Hold on tight,” he said grimly, and I could only obey, my ass and thighs aching from his painful blows.

I clung to his back as he moved into that bloody clearing, my thighs still dripping with my release as he pulled out two sharp knives.

The clearing was still choked with incense, screams and death-rattles.