Page 57 of Unveil

“Orion, I’m… I’m your…” She swallows, gathering her courage, then whispers, “I’m your worstfuckingnightmare.”

My jaw drops, and she brutally bites my lip and slams her knee into my dick. Blinding agony shoots from my crushed balls to my dumbass brain, nausea rolling through me.

“Fuuuuckkkkkk,” I groan.

“I amnotyours,” she sneers with a cruel, satisfied smile, then shoves me off.

I collapse onto my back and crossbow, curling into a fetal position and clutching my junk, fighting the urge to throw up.

“Don’t chase me this time, asshole. I’m escaping you whether you like it or not.”

She breaks into a jog, but two steps in she cries out and stumbles over a root.

I can’t even check on her, because,Christ, did her bony-ass knee hurt. When I finally turn my head, she’s already climbing rocks and exposed roots onto drier land, favoring one leg.

She’s hurt.

I suspected as much, but seeing it sends a pang of guilt through my chest.WhyI have guilt while doubled over from her kneeing me in the balls, I have no earthly idea. I’m fighting delirium.

She finally hobbles onto raised land, half-naked, feather bodice in one hand, and catching herself on tree trunks with the other. There’s no way she’ll get far, and now I’m even more pissed because she’s made it impossible for me to go after her and stop my reckless little bird from getting lost—and who knows what else—in the forest.

Breathing through the throbbing ache, I crawl to my knees and unhook my crossbow from my back. How it survived those boulders slamming into me, I don’t know, but the attached quiver’s still full with a mix of real bolts and darts. The one already locked and loaded seems unaffected too. Hopefully I don’t have to use it, but if I do, it should work like a charm.

With her in my sights, I call out, my voice rough.

“Stop.”

“No!”

“Alright, but you’re forcing me to do it for you. You already proved once that you’d get yourself killed in these woods, you don’t gotta prove it again.”

“Go… fuck… yourself!” she yells, limping around a tree.

I sigh. “How about the other way around? As soon as you wake up, that is.”

“As soon as I… wait, what?”

I brace the crossbow on a root and pull the trigger.

The bolt is so fast I can’t see it, but Luna jolts with a yelp as the dart finds its target. She plucks it out and turns unsteadily on her feet to glare at me, holding it up.

“You shot me… in the…ass?” she yells.

She stumbles, catching herself on a tree trunk. Angry eyes bore a hole into me as she slides down, all the fight leaving her slower than it should with a full dose. But that’s just a testament to how strong she is.

As her eyes flutter closed, I can’t resist one more parting shot.

“Looks like I was right. Your wish won’t come true after all, birdie. There’s no flying away from me.”

My eyes snap open, finding a wood-beamed ceiling. The clap of thunder that woke me still rattles the warped window beside me.

Where am I?

A fire crackles and pops, splashing yellow and gold figures that dance across the stacked log walls. The most delicious smell tickles my nose, and I breathe deeply. My fingers twitch on a rough sheet, my head rests on a lumpy pillow, and my leg is inexplicably raised on a pile of blankets. The one on top of me is much softer, the lining of a leather jacket that smells like maple, bourbon, and pine. I almost curl into it, but the memories roll in faster than the river that got me here.

Kidnapping, murder, car chase, almost drowning…

Orion…