[THIS STORY WILL BE TAKEN DOWN ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2024]
He had hunted me, captured me, and locked me in a tower.
Season 3 'Of Crows and Thorns'
***
While in RISING, Tabitha discovers something peculiar that may assist Nelle in her plan to escape the...
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My heart jolted. I jerked back. Stumbling against the bookshelves.
Varen's rough voice boomed. "Jett!"
Graysen lunged—
Grabbed Jett by the throat—
His momentum spun them both around and he slammed Jett into the wall of bookcases. The viciousness of the move shook the wall and pictures of Tabitha jostled and fell over. A few books thumped upon the floor.
Ferne cried out—
Kenton and Caidan moving fast to flank Graysen—
Graysen pitted his entire weight against Jett. He'd let go of his younger brother's throat and crossed a forearm across his chest. They were locked in a death glare, breathing hard, as Jett struggled against his older brother's strength. The other brothers hovered close, tense and ready to intercede.
"She killed them! They're dead because of her!" Jett roared.
"And if the roles were reversed?" A voice cut across the room. Varen surprised me by saying, "What would you do if you found yourself cornered?"
Graysen hadn't said a thing, simply keeping those animal-bright eyes fixed on his younger brother.
Jett's gaze snapped to his father, his nostrils flared, and then he slowly and reluctantly relaxed in defeat, his shoulders slumping.
Graysen shoved himself off, keeping himself between Jett and me.
Kenton and Caidan backed away, retaking their original positions—on the couch, leaning against the table—but both of them were now wary. Jett kneaded his throat where bruises bloomed, and went to stand near his aunt while Graysen, his unblinking gaze fixed on his youngest brother, stepped back until he was positioned in front of me but slightly to the side.
The atmosphere in the room crackled with tension, and my heart pounded so loudly I was sure every single one of them could hear it.
Valarie swept her skirt to the side and rounded the table. She approached slowly, and I steadied my frayed nerves against her. Valarie's mouth parted and there was the slightest of pauses before she spoke. "Danne Pelan."
My body swayed at the sensation of the ground tilting beneath me.
That name—that insidious name—wrapped around me, splintering through my mind. The feel of Danne's greedy hands pawing at my skin, a phantom memory branded on my flesh. Hatred and revulsion curdled my gut and sweat broke out across my palms.
The things Danne wanted to do, had tried to do to me if Graysen hadn't arrived as he did, right when I needed him the most.
I pushed hard at those memories that had my nerves twitching with the desire to slough the skin from my body like a snake.
For a brief moment, as my grays met Graysen's stormy blacks, it was just him and me in the room. Surrounded, not by his family, but by the shared terror we'd both been under...what Danne was trying to do to me.
