Page 18 of The Wild Hunt (Sold to the Fae Duet #1)

My chest wheezes and aches as I crash through the thick foliage of the forest. I don’t know how long I have been running for, but I can feel that I am being chased. The faerie creature has finished its main course and is coming for dessert.

The high-pitched giggle is distant, but it’s closing in. Fast.

I gasp as my dress snags on an overhanging branch. It cuts the strap of my dress and bra clean off, before taking flesh and blood as its reward.

“Fuck!” I hiss.

My feet thud to an unsteady stop, and I twist to see the damage. Gods damn, it got me good.

My hands fall to my knees as I gasp for breath, my lungs desperate and dry. After a beat, I become aware of the sound of running water. A river? Waterfall? Whatever it was, perhaps the Skraeming Dhevilkin would lose my scent if I waded through it for a bit.

ClickClickClick. Your blood smells delicious, my sweeting. Let me taste you!

“Shit!” I take off again, angling for what I hope is the direction of the running water.

The muscles in my legs tremble as I push myself onwards. I would not die today. I would not become a meal to any freakish creature of Faerie.

The water is getting closer, but so is the Skraeming Dhevilkin.

Its steps are nothing but rustling leaves, yet it’s closing in.

I can feel it with the rising of the fine hairs on my arms. The Skraeming Dhevilkin giggles and clicks as it nears.

I know I am slowing. My body is exhausted, physically and mentally.

I stumble onwards. I have to reach the water.

The idea of the source of water has somehow transformed itself into a safe haven in my mind, as if I could survive this if only I were to reach it.

Is that you, my sweeting? You are so near!

I break through a final shrub that nicks and tears at my skin, and there it is.

A river. And it’s fucking wide. I was a decent swimmer, but I was exhausted right now.

My limbs were jelly, and I knew they wouldn’t carry me far.

But the water meant safety. It just had to.

If my mind has tricked me into a false sense of security over this, I would die believing myself to be a traitor to my own self.

Wait… Wait! Sweeting! Step away from the river, my precious. It sounded terrified.

The water is ice cold as my feet find the licking tongue of the river’s edge. I try not to slow as it wraps its icy embrace around my aching legs, but water does what it will, and I’m forced into a walk as if in slow motion.

No!

The anger of the Skraeming Dhevilkin inches beneath my skin and tears at my bones.

I fall, then, the gentle sweeping of the river taking my exhausted body beneath its surface.

For a moment, I let myself sink, too weary to save myself.

Too resigned to my fate to hope for even a second that the waters’ kiss has somehow saved me from the faerie creature.

When my lungs begin to burn, I realize I haven’t been yanked back out of the water by flesh-tearing nails.

The realization kick starts my fight-or-flight senses, and I fold my legs beneath me and push up.

I haven’t drifted too far, but I’m steadily being dragged further towards the center of the river, where it grows more rapid.

Gasping for breath, I face the Skraeming Dhevilkin. It has left its hood off as it paces furiously at the edge of the water. Its agitated clicking is almost too quick to follow as its eyeless face follows my drifting body.

Suddenly, it screams.

You! You selfish little whelp! Get back here!

Yeah, that was a firm no.

I tread water as my feet lose purchase on the rocky river bed, and I bob up and down like a buoy.

“The water is lovely,” stupid, stupid god’s damn mouth! Why was I like this? “You should join me.”

The beast shrieks and curses, then flips its hood over its ugly scalp and leaves. It melts into the forest as if a shadow itself, and before I can even blink, it is gone, making me question whether it was ever really there.

I close my eyes as I float on my back, letting the current take me where it will. I take deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I was safe. For now. I didn’t know how long I had been in the forest for, but eventually the males would come. The High Lord would come.

I still had a plan in place. Find Akari. Find the camp. Hide. I could still manage that. I still had time. My sense of direction was fucked, but it’s not like I ever had a clear idea of where I was headed, anyway .

After a time, I feel rocks grazing my fingertips. I open my eyes and recenter my body. Or at least I try to, but my ass unexpectedly hits the river bed. I blink and take in my surroundings.

I do not know how far the river has taken me, but it has thinned out immensely. No wonder the water was so shallow now. The width of the water was barely five meters.

I scan the tree line wearily, but there is no movement. No clicking or giggling or shrieking. The Skraeming Dhevilkin hadn’t followed me. Regardless, when I get to my feet and slog to the shore, I head to the opposite side. I did not want to risk another encounter with the flesh-devouring creature.

The opposite side of the river is an open field filled with lush, green grass and bunches of flowers in too many colors to name.

Their shapes and sizes are intriguing. I spy one flower with violent red petals as big as umbrellas encircling a tiny yellow bulb of pollen.

I blink in surprise as I spy a trio of pixies snoozing in the red folds, their tiny iridescent wings glowing in the sunlight.

I stop and stare entranced at the minuscule human bodies.

On closer inspection, I realize one is male.

He is shirtless and wears what appears to be a loincloth woven from a leaf or perhaps a petal.

I can’t help the impressed smirk that spreads across my face as I take in the firm lines of his well-defined abs.

Fuck me, was I really eye fucking a pixie right now? His ding-a-ling would have to be tiny .

I laugh softly to myself, not wanting to wake the little beings, as I take in the female’s outfits.

Again, their clothes are made from nature.

They wear little skirts and their breasts are bound in boob-tube like tops.

One yawns sleepily, and her limbs extend in a languid stretch.

I quickly walk away, not wanting to be caught eyeing them off like the fucking creep I was.

By the edge of the clearing is a cluster of tall rocks huddled in a circle.

I wander around them, idly wondering if perhaps there was a space within them where I could hide if need be.

Sure enough, as I struggle through a mass of vines, my eyes catch sight of an opening about knee height, partially hidden behind a bush with purple leaves that have orange veins bulging throughout them.

I curse as a particularly thick patch of vines holds tight against my struggling limbs. Eventually, I push my way through, my flimsy dress gaining a few extra tears from my efforts, when I see a terrified and filthy face peering up at me through the opening.

My heart stutters, and a heavyweight settles low in my belly as I meet the wide eyes. I step back quickly, my legs tangling in the stupid damn vines, and I fall onto my ass. I curse, my every muscle frozen in place as I turn back to face down my death with as brave a face as I can muster.

“Delta?”

My head swings faster, and I recognize the hopeful face that looks out at me from the shadowy recess of rocks.

“Akari!”