‘I’m not leaving you.’
‘Yes, you are. He’s stopped because I’m Neph, and he knows I don’t have a soul. He’s still looking for you, though. So you’re getting in that caveright now,and running as fast as you can to where they’re barricading the tunnels. I left less than an hour ago. They’ll still be working. You warn them and get these tunnels blocked—’
I cut off with a grunt as the hound flowed toward my right wing, attempting to slip past me to Yilan.
Pinning her to my back with one hand, I darted aside to block it. I stumbled on the mossy rocks, but remained upright, and kept my center of gravity low as the creature hesitated again.
‘Yilan—’
I should have known it was too smart to give up so easily. The moment my gaze slid a hair to the left, it struck—jaw wide to reveal shining, curved fangs, talons unsheathed and wickedly sharp. I had a blink to make a decision, but knew the moment it got around me, Yilan was dead. So, I blocked its leap with my body, swinging my arms wide to make myself as large as possible—and took a raking set of talons to the forearm.
I snarled in pain as my flesh was opened—but there was no time to nurse the wound, or even react to it. The moment its talons entered my flesh, the hound retreated.
For a breath, I thought it had recognized my soulless state and was shying away—to devourmewould be to kill itself.
Instead, its eyes brightened and it backed away only a few paces… then dropped its chin almost to the ground, gaze pinned on me and mouth still open, saliva dripping from its fangs.
I saw its intention a moment before its pupils contracted, and I shouted at Yilan.
“Run!NOW!”
She gasped and scrambled back, as I threw myself towards it, filling that gaping maw with my forearm, and a roar of rage.
I expected the pain. I expected the blood—but when those teeth slid into my skin, the worldshrieked.My head jerked back so hard I felt my spine shudder. My limbs jolted, and a scream ripped from my throat to pierce the night.
A burning, searing pain began where its teeth locked on my arm, but it traveled through my veins to the center of my chest where something deep within me yanked hard, thentore loose.I felt thisthingsuck at me and realized… it was devouring mysoul.
I was struck dumb, body quivering, shivering with pain, unable to move even as I pleaded with God not to let me go this way—and a split-second later my mate clambered up my back, and struck.
With a grunt and a hiss, she threw herself over my shoulder, plunging a blade straight between the creature’s eyes, burying it to the hilt.
The howl that tore out of the hound’s throat made my head spin.
Moments later, I found myself half-sitting on one of the mossy rocks, my arm clutched to my belly, Yilan’s arm thrown over my shoulder, her hand clawed into my chest to keep herself in position, as we faced an agitated, dying hound, snapping its teeth and shaking its head, trying to rid itself of the blade.
‘Well, at least we know you have a soul, now,’Yilan sent weakly.
I would have spluttered a laugh, almost felt relief as it backed away, tail lashing. But then, belly half to the ground like an angry cat, it crouched and those eyes locked on us again.
It wasn’t dead.
And now it waspissed.
I forced myself to my feet, throwing Yilan back off me, spreading my wings as wide as they’d stretch, ignoring the pain searing through my chest.
‘Go, Yilan! Please!’
‘I’m not leaving you here!’
‘Then we arebothgoing to die—we can’t win this. The moment he closes those teeth on either of us—’
The hound darted forward again, but its movements were jerky, and it slid to a halt, shaking its head—then dropped its muzzle to the ground and I watched in horror as it clawed at its own skull, hooking talons under the hilt of the blade, then pinned it to the ground as it pulled itself off the steel.
It took one, wobbling step backwards, then blinked.
Then its eyes focused again. Directly on me.
It bared its teeth with a menacing growl, as saliva dripped from its lips.
