LOGINThe slap came without warning.Her head snapped sideways. The blow knocked her clean off her feet, sending her down onto the dusty floor. Her hip hit an iron bar on the way down, a sharp pain shooting right up her side. Blood pooled in her mouth where her teeth sliced her inner cheek.Lyra didn't move. She stayed on the dirt, hand pressed flat against her face while the skin burned.Silas stood over her, breathing heavy through his nose. His shirt was dirty with soot. He pointed a thick finger at her nose, eyes bloodshot."I am going down to the lower gate to speak with Eli," he said. His voice sounded like stones grinding together. "When I return, make sure you are ready to speak the truth. You tell me who took you into those woods, or I will break a broom handle over your back."He snatched his heavy coat off the wall hook and kicked the front door open. It slammed shut behind him so hard the iron tongs hanging near the hearth rattled on their pegs.A second later, the pantry door o
"Who did this to you, girl?"Old Dan pulled the leather reins back hard. His mule stopped dead on the dirt path, the wooden wheels of the cart grinding through loose stones before settling into the deep mud ruts. He leaned forward over his knees and stared down the slope through the morning fog, his face screwed up as he watched the shape stumbling down the path.Lyra stopped dead in her tracks. Her boots were caked in heavy black mud, making every step feel like pulling rocks out of a swamp. She reached up with a hand that would not stop shaking and pulled her woolen wrap higher around her throat. But the rough edges of the cloth rubbed right against the swollen, dark marks on her skin, and a sharp sting ran down her shoulder."I fell," she said. Her voice sounded thin, almost like dry paper tearing."Fell where?" Dan climbed down off the high wooden bench. His boots hit the dirt with a heavy thud that shook his whole frame. He walked up to her, his dark eyes looking at her torn skir
"You left me naked in the dirt..."Lyra said the words right out loud to the empty clearing, but her voice was weak, breaking apart in her throat before it could even reach the nearby trees.She sat completely alone in the cold mud, clutching the shredded pieces of her cloth dress against her stomach. The morning fog hung thick and heavy around her, sticking to her damp skin like a blanket of ice. Everything hurt. A dull, heavy throb pulsed deep between her hips, spreading outward through her lower back and down into her legs. It was a deep, bone-tired ache that made every tiny breath feel heavy and sharp.She turned her head to scan the quiet forest again, half-hoping to see a shadow move between the tall pine trees, but there was nothing. No footsteps echoed on the trail. No heavy breathing broke the quiet. No massive man was walking back through the brush to claim her or see if she was still breathing.He was really gone. Valerius had vanished like a ghost the moment the sun began
"Where did you go?"Lyra’s voice was barely a whisper. The cold morning air swallowed her words right away.Her eyelids were heavy and stiff from crying all night. A pale gray light crept through the tall pine trees, making the woods look grim and lifeless. The morning cold bit deep into her skin. She shivered so hard her teeth rattled.She was lying on her stomach in the wet grass. Every muscle in her legs and back ached with a deep, throbbing pain. Her skin felt tight and filthy, covered in dried mud, sweat, and flaking blood from the night before.She reached out her right hand without opening her eyes.Her fingers dragged across the ground, looking for the warm, heavy body that had held her down for hours. She thought she would feel his broad shoulder or his hot chest. She thought she would hear that weird, terrifying double heartbeat pounding against her ear, or feel his hard fingers grab her waist to pull her back down.Her palm touched nothing but cold, wet dirt.Lyra’s breath
"You whisper sweet things, but your eyes are cold."Her voice trembled against his chest, barely louder than the wind rustling the pine needles in the dark canopy above them.Lyra stared up into his face through the thick shadows of the midnight forest. The golden fire that had burned in his eyes earlier was completely gone, replaced by a dark, glassy film that reflected the cold silver light of the moon. He was half-conscious, floating in a dangerous space between deep slumber and violent fever, his massive, heavy jaw resting against her forehead.Even though he seemed barely aware of where he was, his massive arm remained locked around her waist like a band of forged iron. Every time she tried to shift her body by an inch, his hold tightened, pressing her soft frame flush against the hard, scar-pitted plane of his chest.His head shifted slightly, his dark, matted hair brushing against her tear-stained cheek. His heavy eyelids fluttered open just enough for her to see those dark, gl
"I can't stay here with a monster."The words tasted like bile in her mouth, whispered into the cold darkness as she clutched the torn, damp linen of her dress to her chest.She turned her eyes away from the silent figure lying in the mud. Whether he was a dead corpse or a sleeping demon, it did not matter anymore. Staying beside him meant death, dishonor, or something far worse if whatever cursed spirit inhabited his body decided to wake again. Every second spent breathing the air near him felt like tempting a sleeping beast that could snap her neck with a single twitch of his fingers.On her hands and knees, she began to crawl away backward into the deep shadows of the brush. The sharp stones and jagged pine needles bit into her bare knees, leaving thin trails of dark blood behind her on the damp leaves, but she ignored the sting. Her breath came in quiet, terrified hitches, her chest heaving as she put inch after inch between her trembling frame and the giant lying beneath the fall







