“Stay here.” He sprinted in the direction I had just come from, heading straight for those...those...
What could I evencallthose riders? “Skeletons” didn’t seem scary enough. And they weren’t skeletons at all. They had skin.Notnormalskin, but...
And theblood…
My stomach heaved itself into my throat as I remembered the overcooked asparagus flavor.
I inhaled slowly, and exhaled with a yelping,“Gah!”as a massive shape stumbled into my peripheral vision.
The black horse—the one I’d almost gotten carted off on—gimped its way through the trees. The reins were still wrapped around its forelegs, pinning its head down. It snorted, nostrils flaring, and made a low, pitiful whine.
It sounded like the awful meow a cat emitted before it hocked up a hairball.
Was that a normal noise for a horse?
Poor thing. It probably couldn’t breathe properly with the way its head was cranked.
“Easy,” I murmured as I stepped toward the horse. I didn’t even sound like myself! My voice had gotten warbled. Like I was talking through a long pipe. “Easy.”
It wasn’t until I moved closer to the horse that I noticed the irregularities. Scales covered its body instead of fur. And it had bright red eyes. With slitted irises.Cat eyes.And theteeth!
“Jesus!” I sprang back when the horse snapped at me. It didn’t get far; only a few inches before it bellowed in pain, mouth gaping against the bit.
Two long, slightly curved fangs protruded from beneath its lips.
What thefuckwas this thing?
The horse made the hairball hacking meow again as it strained against the reins. And no wonder they weren’t breaking—they weremetal.It looked like someone had strapped two bicycle chains to the horse’s bit.
I sucked in a deep breath, wiping my sweaty palms against my dress. Okay, so this horse was the creepiest sonofabitch in the animal kingdom. Didn’t change anything. It was still an innocent animal in pain.
If I could get the bridle off…
“Easy,” I kept murmuring, hoping the horse couldn’t detect the quiver in my voice. “Easy.”
It watched me, its red eyes rolling, pointed teeth bared, but it stopped fighting against the restraint. Maybe it somehow knew I was there to help. I mean, its eyes seemedtoointelligent. They roamed across my mid-section and focused for a long while on my hands, as though looking for a weapon.
Were horses smart enough to search for weapons?
“I can get that bridle unhooked for ya. Opposable thumbs, see?” I held out my hands and wiggled my thumbs. “They’re handy in situations like this.”
The horse gazed at my fingers again. It was unnerving as fuck. The animal was toowatchful. Too human-like.
“It’s okay,” I said, taking a few more steps.
The horse cocked its head sideways, still studying me.
I raised my hands, brushing my fingers against the bridle.
With a squeal, the horse flattened its ears and whipped its head around.
“Whoa! Dude!” I threw myself backward. Just in the nick of fucking time. A needle-sharp tooth brushed against the sleeve of my jacket. No skin broken—thankGod—but that had beenwaytoo close.
“Y’know what?” I hissed as the horse writhed against the bit. “With an attitude like that, you don’t deserve to be saved. Ever hear the expression‘don’t bite the hand that feeds ya?’Yeah, well, don’t bite the hand that’s trying to free ya either. Creepy-ass motherf—now that’s not fair.”
The horse lowered its head with a small whimper. It was so damnpitiful.
My heart clenched. “Are you trolling me right now?”
