“Tessa, you are—”
A bloodthirsty shriek shattered the silence. Heart jolting, I stumbled away from Kalen and whirled toward the thickening shadows that surrounded the abandoned village. Through the haze of the mists, I couldn’t see a damn thing, not even the vague outline of whatever had made that noise.
I glanced up at Kalen. His hand had gone to his sword.
“Please tell me that was a fluffy rabbit.”
Kalen took my shoulders and shoved me behind him. “Afraid not. That was a pooka call. One has picked up our scent and told others where we are.”
I choked on my fear. “I thought they slept this time of day.”
“They usually do,” he said grimly. “It seems things are changing in the mists. Stay behind me. No matter what happens.”
Heart rattling in my chest, I clutched my wooden dagger and gazed across the silent expanse of nebulous mist. Nothing made a sound, not even Kalen. He held his sword before him, shifting to the left and then the right, but his footsteps were silent. Kalen was like the darkness itself.
Another wail crashed down on the village like shards of ice.
Bracing myself, I cast a glance over my shoulder at the little shack. The front door hung open, swaying in the wind. A shadow moved behind the window.
I shifted closer to Kalen, my shoulder brushing his back. He tensed against me.
“It’s in the house,” I whispered.
Whatever was inside must have heard me, because it threw itself against the glass window. Shards exploded toward us. I held up my arm to block my face and sharp spikes dug into my skin, slicing through the tunic.
Kalen shoved me behind him and whirled toward the wolf-like monster stalking toward us, its matted fur thick with sprinkles of glass. It didn’t even seem to notice the wound on its snout, its eyes locked on my face, churning with a hatred that shook my soul.
Its claws punched the sandy ground. One step after another, saliva dripping off elongated teeth.
“Kalen,” I whispered as he angled his sword at the monster. “It looks like it wants to eat me.”
“Don’t worry,” he said in a low growl. “It would have to kill me before I would let it take you from me.”
A shudder went through me at his words. I knew he was only talking about saving my life so that I might do what I’d promised. He didn’t truly care for me. But still…those words wormed their way into my heart and heated my chest.
The beast roared and leapt toward us. I stumbled back as Kalen took a swing, his brutal sword arcing through the mists. The steel sang when the blade made contact. It sank into the pooka’s fur, cutting down to marrow and bone. Blood splashed onto the sand like droplets of vibrant paint.
A claw sliced through my back, pain blinding me. I stumbled forward with a horrified scream as another beast leapt before me, its jaw gaping so wide that I could see rows of sharp teeth. The pain took me to my knees, and my teeth knocked together from the force of my fall.
I stared up into the dark eyes of the beast as the poison of its claw spread through me, numbing my mind, dulling my eyes, dragging me away to a world where I no longer existed. I’d fought so hard for so long. Every horrible thing the world had thrown at me, I’d somehow survived, but the flickering flame inside me started to dull. Ashes consumed me, snuffing out that spark.
This was the end for me.
I’d never find Mother and Val. I’d never again look up into a bright sky filled with puffy white clouds. I’d never see my home again.
A horrifying growl cut through my dark thoughts. Kalen appeared just behind the beast and swung his sword. He sliced the pooka in half. The beast thudded to the ground beside me, a broken thing. Kalen hurried toward me with a look of pure fear on his usually stoic face.
I reached up as he roared. Then the shadows finally claimed me.
Twenty-Eight
Kalen
Five more pookas charged at me while I tried to tend to Tessa’s wounds. I dispatched them with relative ease, cursing myself with every whistle of steel through the air. The one who attacked her had caught me off guard. I’d been too focused on the other, not paying attention to what came from behind.
These beasts were getting clever. They were changing their tactics. And Tessa would pay with her life if I did not get her to safety.
After the last pooka was dead by my feet, I hoisted Tessa up into my arms and carried her back into the house. I closed the doors and slammed the shutters over the windows. Ordinarily, Pookas did not like to go inside buildings, but I didn’t want to take any chances after what had just happened.