Now, out of my body, something tugged me deep in my belly. It was like someone had put a hook in my gut and was slowly pulling me forward, giving me no room to argue or refuse. The landscape changed as I walked farther, as my feet began to stand on air and the world turned upside down. The birds swam and the trees had roots for branches, and I was upside down, right-side up, and somewhere neutral all at once.

Focus your energy, I could almost hear the bastard’s voice for real this time, and despite every bit of my body aching to refuse his advice to spite him, I did as he said. I focused hard, back on that field where the world began.

Finally, Lydian appeared in front of my eyes.

The first thing I did was punch him.

I wasn’t sure who was more shocked—me, expecting him to maybe be incorporeal or untouchable or him, probably expecting … well, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to guess what Lydian was expecting.

He put a hand to his nose, then stared at the blood on it. “Ouch.”

I punched him again, this time in the jaw. “That was for my village and family.” Before he had a chance to move, I brought my knee into his stomach and slammed my elbow down on his back. A satisfying groan came from his lips. “That was for Rekke.” The memory of the young she-goblin who’d been forced to fight during the Hunt and was brutally disemboweled by Lydian still flashed in my mind from time to time and left me shaking with rage and sadness. I hadn’t known her well, but I knew her well enough that she didn’t deserve to die. “You know, the innocent child you killed on the Hunt,” I explained when he made a confused expression. I brought my knee up again, this time into his crotch. “That’s for what you did to me.” I released him and watched as he curled up on the ground, huddled in a ball of pain. Then I kicked him in the ribs. “And that’s because I wanted to.”

Lydian stayed on the ground, his body trembling. Or, at least, that’s what I thought until I heard the gasp-like laughter coming from his mouth. He was laughing. I beat him to the ground, his face covered in his own blood, and the fucker was laughing. Unbidden, Donnar’s words came back to me. If it’s any consolation, he was already a psychopath before I cursed him.

Yeah, I was beginning to see that.