It bounced off the rocks on its way down, making a click clack click sound. I froze, ground my teeth, and knew the moment Torvic was aware of me.
He cocked his head to the side, then slowly turned around.
I reacted.
I darted toward the left, but he was fast, even for his massive, stumbling size. He swiped out and I felt the wind from his hand brush along my hair.
I didn’t know if he’d meant to hurt me, but it didn’t matter one way or another. I refused to let him get ahold of me.
He might be big and strong, but I was a Fae and fast and agile in my own right.
I ducked and turned, making sure to keep my front to him so I could watch what he was doing at all times.
He snarled and cursed, clearly pissed I’d slipped out of his grasp.
Unfortunately the new position had his back toward the bend, successfully blocking my escape.
He huffed out in annoyance, and I swore if he could’ve rolled his eyes in that moment, he probably would have. But they were still completely black, no sign of red seeping through them, which told me he found this more of an irritation than anything else.
I backed up, holding the long bone in my hand and pointing it at him.
Torvic took another step closer, and another, holding his hand out and curling his fingers, beckoning me. “Come here, female. There’s no need to fear me.”
Hysterical laughter bubbled in my throat, and I shook my head. He came closer. I swung the bone out, imagining the sharp end tearing at his flesh.
My foot caught on some larger pebbles, and I almost tripped backward but righted myself at the last moment. My heart was thundering as I kept that femur bone out in front of me, using it like a sword.
I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see I was precariously close to the edge of the mountain, the drop something I would not be able to survive, not even as an Otherworld.
My heart was thundering, my throat was tight and dry, and the only thing going through my mind was how all I wanted to do was see Sebastian again.
All I could think about was how I wished we hadn’t gotten into that fight. I wished I could just feel his arms wrapped around me as he pulled me close.
But I’d rather die, fall right over the cliff before I allowed this beast to take me farther away from my mate so there was absolutely no hope he’d ever find me.
Torvic said he didn’t want anything physical with me, but just because his body wouldn’t react in that way because I wasn’t his mate, didn’t mean there weren’t other disgusting, volatile things he could do to me.
“Come here, female. Being melodramatic was never something I had patience for.”
I couldn’t back up any more without the risk of losing my balance and falling over. And as much as I wanted to get away from Torvic, I didn’t want to die.
Not that the winged fucker wouldn’t just be able to swoop down and snatch me out of the air.
He took another step forward and his wings unfurled. He moved them up and down, stretching them out, the wind picking up and whipping the strands of my long hair across my face.
The force was so strong that I was having a hard time with my balance. And then he started forward and I screamed.
I kept swinging out, the bone hitting him a few times, but he didn’t even react.
I screamed and screamed, cursing him out, but it was when I heard a familiar roar in the far distance that my heart faltered mid-beat.
Oh gods. Could that be… could that be Sebastian?
“Ada. Don’t be foolish.”
When I turned back and faced Torvic, instinctually stepping back from the threat, I lost my balance, my arms spreading out as if I could catch something and hold on.
But I didn’t. In my fear to keep him away, I lost my balance and fell right over that damn mountain.
I screamed so long and loud my throat felt raw.
The wind whipped around me, almost feeling like it pillowed me from underneath as I fell and fell and fell.
I heard that roar again and cried, but the tears didn’t reach my cheeks as they were whisked away the faster I plummeted.
I heard a loud growl a second before Torvic nosedived off the cliff, his gaze trained right on me. He opened up his black wings, and I could see how he twisted and angled them to control his fall.
I looked over my shoulder, the ground rushing up faster and faster. I spotted Sebastian at the tree line, his horrified gaze locked on mine as he tore forward again, running full speed.
I felt this change in the air, that same thickness that suffocated and felt oppressive back in the cave. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t cry, and just as I opened my mouth to try and scream for Sebastian, to let his name touch my tongue one last time, Torvic curled his clawed hand around my wrist.