Page 21 of The Hunted

Not to mention, the effort it took.

The pain he felt.

He didn’t guide his horse back to the estate where his father and the rest of the court were staying the night. Frankly, he didn’t have the wherewithal to do anything at all when he was barely able to stay atop his goddamn horse.

No, the animal took them back on its own. Eryx simply focused on staying atop the beast because even that was a challenge.

Not because of the raging storm, although it didn’t really help, but rather, everything else. The agony still ripping through his heart over the woman he’d been forced to leave behind and hadn’t even seen rise out of the waters after watching her fall into its depths.

If that weren’t bad enough, the water had nearly taken him, too. As he’d tried to climb out of the sea, still looking over his shoulder to watch the spot where the red-headed mermaid with the violet eyes had been only seconds before—he would never forget her face, now—the waves had come rushing in higher. He’d lost his step and was dragged out to where he couldn’t even touch down in the sea. With the water churning so forcefully, he’d been sure he was about to drown much the same way he’d just witnessed his mother do.

It’d taken every ounce of his effort to get back to the shore; never once had he been sure that he would even make it, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of water when he’d tried to suck in a breath of air. Yet, he somehow had, before promptly passing out on the side of the canal until the rising waters brought him back to consciousness. The threat of being pulled back out to sea was enough to get him up on shaky legs, struggling to find where he’d left his horse.

“There it is,” he told the horse, seeing the gates leading to the estate finally taking form on top of the hill. “We’re almost there.”

The horse snorted as though it could understand him and wanted to respond in some way. Who was Eryx to say the beast didn’t understand its human counterpart? The only thing he could manage to do in that moment was clutch tighter to the horse’s reins and hope that was enough to keep him upright.

The horse did the rest of the work.

How long had they been climbing the hill now?

Too long.

He shivered, the wind ripping against his bare skin. He knew the mermaid had destroyed his shirt, but he hadn’t even been able to find his cloak. Nothing protected him from the elements of the storm currently battering the land, and him.

Each breath took more effort.

It came harder.

The muddy road ahead of him, and the clop-clop of the horse’s hooves seemed to turn fainter and fainter. Even as he tried to peel open his eyes, he had to fight to do it. Nothing seemed right, his vision turning sideways when the horse slipped past the opened gate leading into the estate. His neck had started throbbing back in the water when he’d kept swallowing it instead of air, but then it had only been uncomfortable.

Now it was a painful pulsing that matched the beats of his heart. The sides of his neck felt as though they were extending with every pulse, although he didn’t have the first clue as to why.

Was this death?

He was pretty sure it was.

“Help,” Eryx called out when they were beyond the gate.

The yard was quiet. All the business of the day gone while the people and the court at the estate hunkered down for safety from the violent storms. He doubted anyone could even hear his calls.

Still, he shouted.

“Someone, help!”

The rain pounded so hard to the ground that mud splashed up along the horse’s legs as the animal came to a stop.

He thought he called for help again.

Eryx couldn’t be sure.

The last thing he saw before he fell from the horse was two young men rushing out from the stables at the west side of the property. Those young men leaned over him, moving in closer to hear whatever it was he tried to tell them.

“My mother—she killed my mother.”

Eryx didn’t even remember hitting the ground. All he thought about was how black the sky seemed. Or maybe that was just his mind.

Because unlike his father and the rest of the people in his realm, Eryx didn’t believe in the Gods they revered faithfully. He believed when one died, the only thing that greeted them on the other side was absolute nothingness.