My body moves of its own accord, sending me hauling ass down the hall toward the stairs. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Whatever Merric has become isn’t natural, and I don’t doubt that if he gets his hands on me, he’s going to do exactly as he said. I won’t let that happen.
Shoving down my fear, I force myself to recall my human glamour. When it’s fully in place, I curse the fact that I’m not wearing any clothes because I can’t run through town completely naked. If I do, I’ll draw a lot of attention, and that’ll risk people looking me in the eye.
Thankfully, when Vaelyn flew me to Adrestia’s penthouse, I chanced a few looks at the ground, so I know there’s a patch of trees on the way there. I hope I can run into one of the three women whom I want nothing more than to be with right now. They have to have noticed I’m gone by now.
Once I’m down the stairs, I glance around, looking for a blanket at the very least. Noticing one on the couch, I snatch it and wrap it around myself. Merric lets out another snarl as heclambers down the stairs, kicking my ass into gear. I have no clue how fast the fucker is in this form, nor do I want to find out.
I’m out the door in seconds flat with Merric mere feet behind me. I hightail it toward where I think the trees are. As soon as my bare feet hit the blacktop, the stones in the pavement dig into the soles of my feet. I try with all my might to ignore the pain because if Merric captures me, I’m dead.
His harsh breaths are the only things that fill my ears as I run. I’m sure it’s because his proximity is my primary focus, but either way, it motivates me. I run faster than I ever have, even when Avyanna chased me.
When I finally reach the trees, I weave between the trunks, trying to throw him off. His abnormally long limbs have him running into tree after tree, and relief washes over me. It’s slowing him down—just what I wanted it to do.
My relief is short-lived, though, when he lets out that nasty snarl again. Trees begin crashing down after that, narrowly missing me. This was a bad idea.
Taking a chance, I make a sharp turn, heading toward the city again. Maybe if we get into the city, he’ll be forced to fall back. If the humans see him, it’ll cause far more problems for the supernatural community than anyone wants to deal with, but it might save me at least.
Ahead of me, the trees thin, and a car zips down the street. I rush forward with renewed invigoration, hope spurring me on.
I’m almost there when abnormally long arms wrap around me, a hand clasping directly over my mouth as I try to scream. My hands release the blanket covering me and go straight for the arms, digging my nails into the flesh to get away.
A winged creature lands before me, and my heart leaps. Within seconds, another creature lands beside the first while a figure on the ground appears on the other side. All three figures before me step forward, and the light hits their faces.
It’s them. The ones I can always count on.
Avyanna—the one who saved me from a life I didn’t know I needed saving from, even though she didn’t truly know me.
Vaelyn—the one who has accepted me, even when she was scared to do so.
Adrestia—the one who has given me a safe haven when I was in danger, even though that danger came to her front door.
After mere days, I know these women are everything I could ever need and more.
Chapter twenty-five
Istep toward Roxi and this monster I’ve never seen, but Avyanna grabs my arm. “Addie, don’t get too close.”
“What is it?” I ask as Roxi screams and writhes against the monster, nearly ripping out my heart.
A tremor runs through Avyanna. “It’s a Wendigo. They’re extremely uncommon, but very dangerous. He seems to have lost—“
The monster snarls again, taking a step back. “Leave, or I slit her throat while you all watch.”
Avyanna’s hand on my arm changes suddenly, the skin rippling. “That would be the last thing you ever do, Merric. I will kill you where you stand.”
“You’re going to kill me anyway because of what I’ve done. I may as well go out with a bang, am I right?” the monster says with a sinister smile, his mouth inching toward Roxi’s neck.
As he gets closer, Roxi’s eyes widen, and she stills. Then, some sort of knife flies out from Avyanna’s direction, striking the Wendigo directly in the eye. He releases Roxi and claws at the knife. Vaelyn rushes forward, scoops up Roxi, and then takes off, getting our beautiful gorgon out of here.
The Wendigo roars, drawing my attention back to him. He’s managed to dislodge the knife along with his eye, leaving only the oozing, sizzling socket behind. That’s got to hurt like hell.
“You bitch!” the Wendigo screams at Avyanna. “You’ll pay for that.”
Avyanna laughs. “And how will that be? You’ll be dead as soon as you confirm what I think you’ve done.”
I look back and forth between the two, but stay rooted where I am. Avyanna is the expert monster hunter; I’m just here for back-up at this point.
But the Wendigo fucks up my plans when he lunges for me. Avyanna and I both spring into action, but she gets to him first. In a flash of movement, she’s plunged the same kind of knife—if not the same one that was in his eye—into the Wendigo’s spinal column. He falls to the ground, paralyzed from the waist down, unless that knife is removed.
