299
Meg flew back, and this time her head cracked against the log
where she had previously found safety. She saw stars and the world
started to go dark around her.
You stay awake. The voice was ferocious now. It slapped at her
mind and forced her eyes open. It wouldn’t let her go under.
Liadan fell on her. She sat on Meg’s waist, holding her down with
the bulk of her body and wrapped her good hand around Meg’s throat.
She tried to struggle, but Meg couldn’t get her legs to move under the
heavy weight of the witch.
“I need more blood to get through that fucking wall the king
erected,” Liadan explained with a ghoulish grin.
Meg felt for the cool metal of the .357 Magnum. She’d dropped it
when she hit her head. Her fingers clawed through the mud,
desperately trying to find it. Liadan’s hands were choking the life out
of her. Meg fought for breath, but the hag tightened her hold.
“Do you know what I’m going to do to those boys when I get a
hold
of them?” Liadan moved close. Meg could smell the blood on
her breath. Her stomach turned. “I’m going to gut them. I’m going to
pull their insides out. Why don’t I give you a demonstration?”
The witch cackled and pulled back, showing off the way her
fingers changed into thick, dirty-looking claws. Meg dragged in air
the instant she could. Liadan pulled her clawed hand back just as
Meg’s fingers met metal. Pulling the gun up, Meg brought it between
her chest and the hag’s.
Meg pulled the trigger just before those knives on the hag’s
fingers met her flesh. The report boomed through the forest.
Liadan looked down at the hole in her chest dumbly before falling
over dead.