Cursed by the Gods

Chapter 16

Shouting was the first thing my subconscious registered. "How did Rau even make it past you two?" Yael was angrier than I had ever heard before, his voice thundering around the room.

I was afraid to open my eyes and bring attention to myself my body ached all over and I couldn't be stuffed moving. What happened? Had I fallen asleep again? Why did my chest ache and crap ... Rau had been there! And a weird, glowing smoke-ball. The Abcurses had been about to fight him, and I had ... tripped? Fallen? Did I fly?

My eyes snapped open and I was up on my feet in an instant. Everything spun around me but that didn't stop me from scanning my surroundings, my heart rate only settling when I realised there were five sols standing in a wall of muscle across the front of the cave. Rau had not hurt any of them. Safe. My Abcurses were safe. I mean—someone else's Abcurses. Their mother's Abcurses.

They all had their backs to me, forming a line of defence between me and the outside world. Aros, Yael, and Coen were shirtless now, and I realised I had been laid across the soft surface of their clothing. Looking down at myself, I blinked a few times as I tried to remember what had happened after I had tripped over the firewood.

My hand dropped to rest against my chest, right above my heart. The pain had been excruciating, I wasn't surprised that my mind had blocked it out. Right then, as the memories crashed back into me, my stomach heaved and I leaned over to dispel whatever small amounts of food had been left in my body. Thankfully it had been awhile between meals, so there wasn't much for me to lose.

I felt the five Abcurses as they moved toward me ... what the crap? I literally could feel them. In my chest, their energy moved closer and I had no idea how that was possible. As soon as they were around me, the pain stopped. One moment I was suffering, and the next, I was standing confusedly, feeling completely normal. No, no, no this was not happening.

"Speedy?" Siret's hand was on the back of my neck, turning me around to face him. "You okay?"

He was holding out one of the shirts from the ground and a hollowed-out rock filled with water. I didn't ask about the rock. It held the perfect imprint of a pair of knuckles. So I wasn't getting into a fight with Rome anytime soon.

"Thanks," I muttered, taking the rock and the shirt.

I wasn't sure what the shirt was for, but I made good use of the water to wash out my mouth, before walking past them to the entrance of the cave. I needed fresh air. I needed to see that the world was still whole and beautiful, and not burning to the ground in a fit of godly rage. I took a few steps and then stopped as a small thrum of pain fissured through my chest. I frowned, dropping the shirt and curling all of my fingers around the rock, as though I needed something to brace myself with. I took another step, and it happened again. I sucked in a deep breath and shook my head, hurrying to the mouth of the cave. The pain grew worse, and then it suddenly disappeared. Aros was at my side.

"Do you feel any different?" he asked me, his stunning features dark with emotion.

Maybe he was concerned, or suspicious. Maybe he was trying to determine whether Rau's ball of smoke and light had altered me in a dangerous way. The question was ... if it had, what were they going to do about it? Would they put me down, like a rogue bullsen?