We were about to be discovered.
I untangled myself from Rox, and she grabbed my arm, alarm in her eyes.
Be ready, I mouthed.
I needed to incapacitate the creature, do enough damage that we’d have time to get away.
She shook her head and held my arm in a tighter grip.
Covering her hand with mine, I shook my head and carefully pulled away, then crawled between the twisted roots. I looked back and held up two fingers, hoping she understood what I was telling her. Give me two minutes, then come.
Her chin was stubborn, and fire blazed in those pretty blue eyes.
This had to be done, so I turned away and waited.
The monster returned half a minute later, its mud-slicked body hunched over, walking on all fours now. Its eyeless head pressed to the mud and rot, using the two holes in the center of its face to search for our scent. Finally, it turned its back on me.
I didn’t hesitate, I burst from our hiding spot, shifting as I went—and attacked.
Chapter
Twelve
Roxy
* * *
Like hell was I going to cower under this tree and leave Lothar to fight alone, not even for two minutes. In two minutes, I’d once slaughtered eight rebel demons I’d found munching on humans, and had time to clean off my blades. He’d lost his damned mind if he thought I was waiting.
Sliding my knives free, I followed him.
He’d fully shifted, and the huge hound tore at the swamp creature. Still, it was almost twice his size. With a battle cry, I ran and jumped, landing on its slimy back, and stabbed and hacked at it. It shrieked, black sludge oozing from the tears Lothar had made with his fangs and claws and the deep cuts I’d made with my knives.
It jerked from side to side, then reached back, digging its claws into my shoulder and tore me from its back. I was tossed with such force that I was airborne for several seconds, stopped only by the huge tree I slammed into. I dropped, hitting the ground hard enough to rattle my freaking bones.
Shaking it off, I bounded to my feet and sprinted back.
The slimy beast swiped its claws across Lothar’s skin again and again, leaving his fur matted with blood. With a scream of rage, I leaped up, using my blades in its flesh like ice picks, then, gripping its thick head, I buried my blade into the opposite side of its throat and cried out as I dragged it across with all my strength, slicing its throat open.
Its roars and shrieks turned to gurgles before it finally stumbled to the side and went down, taking me with it. We hit the ground hard, and its dead weight pinned my legs beneath it.
Lothar shifted with a hiss and stood over me, naked and teeth bared. He was covered in blood and mud, and his chest heaved with his panted breaths.
“A little help?”
He cursed viciously, then shoved his shoulder into the dead bog monster, pushing it off long enough for me to roll out from under it. Yanking my blades free of its rancid flesh, I jumped to my feet. “Thanks.”
His face contorted. “I told you to wait.”
I wiped my blades across my thighs and slid them back in their sheaths. “No, you held up two fingers.”
“Which meant”—he pointed at me—“you wait.”
“You point at me again, I’ll cut that finger off and add it to my collection from other males who’ve tried to pull that shit with me. And in case that isn’t clear enough, I don’t follow orders from you.”
He growled, his fangs still extended. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“The only one of us who could have been killed is you. If I hadn’t followed, that giant bog monster would have shredded you. As it is, your back is sliced to shit and we’re going to have to clean out those wounds before infection sets in.”
